With the train of thought clarified, everything became much clearer. The ten teams now facing him included not only Premier League teams but also those from other leagues in the top five European leagues.
However, upon closer consideration, if he wanted to continue playing in the Premier League, five of the teams could be immediately eliminated.
This included teams from Ligue 1, Serie A, the Bundesliga, and La Liga, leaving fewer options.
Cao Baming wrote down the names of these five teams one by one on a white sheet of paper before him. The teams were West Ham United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, and Leicester City.
The names listed here were essentially teams they had discussed before. Although Cao Baming himself had not yet met with the team's head coach, Mike had already engaged in some preliminary discussions with the club's upper management on his behalf.
These discussions, however, had not touched upon truly sensitive topics. They had only discussed the team's current situation and future direction. Whether their club executives had even considered that Cao Baming might actually come was truly unknown.
Even if they saw Cao Baming's manager personally appear at their club to inquire about these matters, they could only wonder why he would care about such information. Was it to consider other background factors for Cao Baming's future transfer?
They could only guess that perhaps the transfer target they were seeking was on a team in the Premier League, but ultimately it would have no bearing on themselves.
After all, Cao Baming was a world-class superstar, and at present, he was arguably in a league of his own worldwide, the player with the highest market value. How could such a prominent figure possibly be accommodated in their small, insignificant place?
They dared not even think about it, and it was impossible to blame them; it was only human nature.
Mike had visited these clubs one by one a few days prior, and the club executives' thoughts were all the same. They could only speculate that Cao Baming would eventually land with a team in the Premier League. He couldn't even be certain, as Mike had only asked for information.
As his agent, he was also waiting for Cao Baming's own opinion. Only after he made his final decision would it be convenient to discuss more sensitive matters.
At that time, those club executives who had previously spoken with Mike would likely be astonished because they could never have imagined that Cao Baming would actually come to their club.
After all, small teams like theirs had never harbored such hopes of a world-class superstar joining their team to become the core of the squad. Thinking too much about it was useless, as it was simply unrealistic.
Looking at the final five team names listed before him, Cao Baming recalled the previous discussions with Mike. Each of these five teams had its own characteristics, and finding the best choice would not be an easy task.
Regardless of the ultimate choice, there would be both advantages and disadvantages, and a comprehensive evaluation was necessary.
Moreover, for Cao Baming, the most important thing was not the benefits he would gain from the team, nor the team's future performance, as these were not important to him. What truly mattered was that he could live comfortably in the days ahead.
Crystal Palace and Leicester City had performed impressively last season, and both teams had previously experienced the highs of finishing as Premier League runner-up or even champions.
Although their performance in recent seasons had not been outstanding, they had once been strong teams with a substantial fan base. Their strength might fluctuate, but this was also a good thing, as they were not consistently at a relatively low level, which created many possibilities for the future.
Although Cao Baming wanted to join a weaker team, that team must at least possess a professional standard. If it were too weak, wouldn't it be like him playing alone, completely out of sync with everyone else? Such a feeling would be very uncomfortable.
Overall, these two teams could be considered in a stronger tier among the five. Following them was Nottingham Forest.
Last season, Nottingham Forest had loaned Manchester United's goalkeeper Ederson and Paris Saint-Germain's goalkeeper Navas. With these two top-tier goalkeepers, Nottingham Forest's defensive performance had been quite commendable, even ranking among the top positions in the Premier League.
Even Salah and Haaland, who had been scoring goals prolifically this season, had only managed one goal in total over their two matches against Nottingham Forest.
The last tier included Everton and West Ham United. Both teams could be considered decent, but one had narrowly avoided relegation, and the other had directly fallen into the relegation zone, likely not even playing in the Premier League next season.
Although he had received an invitation from West Ham United earlier, at this moment, looking at their performance, Cao Baming could only shake his head helplessly. This team would have to be temporarily excluded from consideration.
After all, while he wanted to join a new team to experience the feeling of carrying the entire squad, he did not want to play in the Championship! At the very least, it had to be in the Premier League!
After repeated consideration, Cao Baming ultimately removed three teams from his shortlist of five. These three teams were West Ham United and Everton, who had consistently performed poorly in recent seasons, and Crystal Palace, who, despite their good performance, lacked any standout moments.
As for Leicester City, Mike had learned that there were already some open conflicts brewing between the team's players and the head coach. These conflicts were bound to affect their performance in the upcoming season, and Cao Baming naturally did not want to be the biggest victim of these conflicts.
This left only one team: Nottingham Forest!
At this instant, looking at the name that was the only one not crossed out, Cao Baming felt a sense of familiarity, even a fondness.
There it was, it was that simple!
Using the process of elimination, the choices were immediately narrowed down to just one!