"Isn't it a bit early to go back now?" Carter calculated the days and thought about the plan Leon Thompson had told him before, feeling that it seemed a bit early to return now.

"It's not early. If you go back now, you can get in touch with the people at the Florence city gǔ, so you can participate in the rebuilding of the Florence club at the earliest possible time." Leon Thompson had already calculated the timing in his mind. Originally, he also thought it was a bit early. But considering that they still needed to smooth things over with the Florence city gǔ, having a few days as a buffer would actually be better.

In his memory, after Florence declared bankruptcy in August 2002, it was the Florence city gǔ that submitted an application to the Italian Football Association, thereby forming a new team—Fiorentina Viola 1926 (or perhaps Fiorentina Lilies 1926). This team became the brand-new Florence team and marked the beginning of Florence's rebirth.

At that time, the investor contacted by the Florence city gǔ was the shoe industry tycoon Della Valle. This was because Della Valle himself was quite well-known in Florence, so after the new Florence was established, he was invited to become the largest shareholder of the new club.

It was precisely for this reason that Della Valle became passionate about football in the following months, increasing his investment in the new club and helping Florence achieve a complete rebirth.

As for Leon Thompson's plan, to be honest, it wasn't anything special. His idea was similar to what Della Valle did in history—just wait for Florence to go bankrupt, and when the Florence city gǔ was forming a new club, approach them to become the new club's leader. The only difference was that Della Valle was personally invited by the mayor, while he wanted Carter to approach them himself and sell himself.

This was also because, in the eyes of the city gǔ officials, Carter was just an unknown person. Even though he was a member of the Carter family, as the second son, he had no right to inherit the family business, and outsiders had no way of knowing his real status within the family. No one could know how much capital he could actually mobilize.

Even if he had started his own business in recent years and accumulated some funds, how much could he have earned in just a few years? After all, football is a very money-burning sport, and Italian clubs are notoriously poor at generating their own revenue. All the top clubs in Serie A rely on the financial backing of big conglomerates. In this context, it made sense for the mayor of Florence to choose a well-known businessman like Della Valle.

Given all these circumstances, Leon Thompson had to slightly adjust his plan, letting Carter return to Italy a bit earlier so he could make an impression in front of the mayor, ensuring that when the city gǔ set up the new team a few days later, the first person they thought of wouldn't be that shoe salesman.

So, the decision to return to Italy was settled. But at this moment, neither of them was in a hurry—after all, they had already waited so many days, a little longer wouldn't make a difference.

While the two were discussing how to approach the city gǔ after returning to Italy, they had already walked to the outside of the Auxerre club's training base.

Looking at the lush green training fields and the players practicing various drills, Carter laughed, "The two of us really are football 'fans'—we just wander around and end up at a football club." There was a hint of pride in his words, as if he was quite happy about his connection with football.

Leon Thompson heard Carter's teasing, shrugged his shoulders, and didn't mind: "It's not even your club, what's there to be proud of! When are you going to show me around your training base?"

But Carter suddenly became serious and corrected Leon Thompson's words: "It's our club!"

"You're the club president!"

"If we manage to take over the club, it will be the result of our joint efforts. So, it's our club!" He emphasized the word "our." "I don't want you to see yourself as an outsider. You know, this was the dream we set together when we were kids! So, the club doesn't just belong to me! You will also be a decision-maker at the club!"

Then, as if thinking of something, he added, "Although I've sold off most of my businesses over the past few years, I still have one or two companies that are entirely mine. So, I'll have to split my attention to manage those companies. As for the club, you'll have full control. I'll just be the boss behind the scenes."

This was the first time since meeting again that Carter had revealed anything about his assets, and Leon Thompson learned from his words that the funds for this club acquisition were Carter's own. "You still have a few companies? Why not just sell them all to get more funds?"