Football giants

Chapter 60 Super Nouveau riche

"I am also very puzzled!"

Charlene Lahiri gave a wry smile, but on her flowery face, even a wry smile was very touching.

As a result, her followers on WeChat skyrocketed to nearly 2000 again.

"I once threw this question to Southampton's new boss, Mr. Yang Huan, but after he listened to my question, he asked me another question in turn."

"What question?" Lineker was interested.

He believes that not only himself, but also all the viewers who watch the daily games must be very interested in this maverick owner of Southampton. If he is invited to do the show in the future, the ratings will definitely skyrocket.

Charlene Lahiri sat on a soft sofa chair, crossed her legs, and showed her charming long legs to the camera without hesitation, "He asked me in turn, does the football club make money?"

Lineker and Alan Shearer were dumbfounded when they heard this.

Yes, do football clubs make money?
"The football club that claimed to be the most profitable back then was Manchester United, but before the acquisition by the Glazer family, Manchester United's annual profit was only more than 1000 million. After the acquisition, the situation was even worse. As for Bayern Munich, which is known as the benchmark of management, what is the stake in companies such as Audi and Adidas?"

Speaking of this, Charlene Lahiri shook her head helplessly, "I found out that what he said is correct. Which football club makes money? Or, how many of them can achieve real financial health?"

"I have to admit that what he said is indeed true. Professional football, even in Europe, cannot make money!" Lineker had to admit this, "However, we should all be clearly aware that the most important thing to run a football club is sustainable operation. How can Southampton solve this?"

Charlene Lahiri replied: "Yes, sustainable operation, this is the long-term vision. From the perspective of the past period of time, the contract signed by Southampton with the sponsor Umbro was 200 million pounds, but this figure has now increased to 500 million pounds."

"Before, Southampton's jersey advertisements on the chest could not be sold, but now some companies are willing to pay 500 million pounds, but Southampton has refused. In addition, there are stadium advertisements, brand licensing, etc."

"According to my prediction, Southampton's commercial revenue this season will be at least several times that of the previous season."

Both Lineker and Alan Shearer were greatly surprised. They did not expect Southampton's business income to be so fast.

"According to the evaluation of Kesh Harris, a famous football investment banker in the City of London, Southampton's market value in July was about 2000 million pounds, but now, Southampton's market value exceeds [-] million pounds."

Speaking of this, Charlene Lahiri smiled again, "But don't forget, they are only a League One team."

"God!" Lineker exclaimed, "In just over a month, the market value has skyrocketed by more than five times. This is simply a miracle, it's incredible!"

Alan Shearer was also full of shock, feeling that this speed was too fast.

Charlene Lahiri was also a little amazed. She could be said to have witnessed everything that happened in Southampton in the past month or so. There are even many things that she is more familiar with and understands than outsiders.

If she were to evaluate it, Southampton's market value of [-] million pounds would still be underestimated.

"Okay, thank you very much Miss Charlene Lahiri for your analysis!" Lineker ended this topic, "But we still have to go back to the topic just now, why can Southampton attract Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar to join?"

Charlene Lahiri smiled, "As I said, this is actually a problem."

"Some people say that the value of a player is reflected on the football field, but the value of a professional player is not only reflected on the football field. It is like seeing Real Madrid introduce Cristiano Ronaldo. How many championships do you think he has to help the team win on the field to earn back his transfer fee and salary?"

"Actually, the value of professional players largely lies outside the football field, that is, in commercial operations."

After a pause, Charlene Lahiri smiled confidently again, "Then let's look back, after Ibrahimovic and Neymar moved to Southampton, did their commercial value increase? Or did they decrease?"

"According to the evaluation of the City of London Investment Bank, although their value on the football field has declined, the overall value is bullish, because more people know them, understand them, pay attention to them, and these are valuable."

Charlene Lahiri's remarks are completely different from those of traditional football media people.

This also made Lineker and Alan Shearer unable to digest for a while.

"When Mr. Yang Huan was interviewing me, there was a sentence that impressed me very deeply. He said that he hoped that one day in the future, after the completion of the new stadium, Southampton could tell all fans that our tickets are free, and anyone of you can come and see them whenever you want."

"It's impossible!" Lineker shook his head vigorously.

Alan Shearer also felt, "This is too idealistic!"

Charlene Lahiri laughed, "I thought it was impossible at first, but after I thought about it seriously, it is actually possible, but I don't know how far this ideal is from us."

…………

…………

When this daily game special program was broadcast on BBC-1 channel, it immediately caused a frenzy of ratings.

No one expected that such a temporarily produced special program would have the highest ratings of 1% after it was broadcast on BBC-19.00, far exceeding the ratings of independent TV stations in the same time period.

In other words, more than 1000 and [-] million people were watching this program at the same time.

The total population of the UK is just over 6000 million.

It's unbelievable to think about it. This is already the highest ratings of the daily game in the past two years.

Although the average ratings of the whole program is only 1000 points, the number of viewers still exceeds [-] million.

This has once again become a national topic in the entire UK. Almost everyone, all newspapers, and all netizens are discussing this matter the next day, especially the inside story revealed by Charlene Lahiri in the program.

For example, what Yang Huan said, strive for one day, Southampton can achieve free tickets.

This idea immediately aroused the enthusiastic support of countless young netizens.

"Starting today, I will choose to support Southampton, please call me a saint in the future!"

This comment was pushed to the top in the comment section of major news websites.

It once again proved one thing, free is the ultimate killer, and it is the same truth all over the world.

But there are also many people who are skeptical of Southampton's approach and think it is a hype.

"Since the new season, we have seen that behind Southampton's massive signings, the team has never been able to form a combat effectiveness."

"In the third round that just passed, Southampton suffered a 1:1 draw at home with Leyton Orient. This made Southampton, which was placed high hopes by countless fans before the season, currently ranked No. 20 in the League One standings, only one step away from the relegation zone."

"We must admit that some of Southampton's unique ideas and business concepts are indeed commendable, but the most important thing in professional football is to rely on results to speak."

For this kind of statement, Southampton supporters also gave rebuttals, believing that the current status of the team is mainly the pain caused by the reform. I believe everyone knows how complicated Bielsa's tactical system is.

"Has anyone ever experienced that kind of great reform done overnight?"

"The answer is, no!"

Charlene Lahiri, who quickly became the perfect goddess in the hearts of countless British nerds, published a report in the Southern Echo, explaining her analysis of the current situation in Southampton.

"A lot of people say there is a problem with Southampton, but in my opinion there is nothing wrong with this team."

"Yes, in the past three games, they had two draws and one loss, but all of this was achieved without Ibrahimovic and Neymar. In just over a month, the team changed almost half of the main lineup, and even the coach's tactical style was completely different."

"Southampton opened the Stapletwood training base. I believe that all fans who enter this training base should be able to feel the atmosphere inside the team."

"The league has just started, it's too early to say Southampton can't do it now!"

"I believe Southampton will explode soon."

Southampton did not give any comments or responses to the remarks of the outside media, and the team continued as before.

Two days after announcing the introduction of Neymar, Southampton once again held a press conference on WeChat, this time to introduce the team's introduction of Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal from Bayer Leverkusen for 2000 million euros.

This is seen by the outside world as a key signing for Southampton to further strengthen the overall strength of the team.

At the same time, the all-pervasive Sun took photos of Schalke 04 general manager Peter Peeters and agent Kroter arriving in London at the same time, and the news that Neuer would join the Premier League team spread like wildfire.

Southampton announced the introduction of central defender Nastasic from Serbia's Belgrade Partizan for a price of 100 million pounds, but the central defender will be loaned to Serbia's Zimun in the Serbian second division for one year and will appear in Southampton next summer.

But this news was submerged in the whirlpool of Neuer's landing in the Premier League, and no one would pay attention to this inconspicuous little role.

As for the team that Neuer may join, there are different opinions.

Some people say Manchester United, others say Arsenal, and some say Liverpool or Manchester City.

All in all, almost all those associated with Neuer are top giants.

No one thought it would be Southampton!
Two days later, Southampton held a press conference on WeChat to announce that Neuer had joined Southampton.

The whole of Britain, the whole of Germany, the whole of Europe, and even the whole world are fried.

It felt like the United States had dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, and everyone was filled with shock.

Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Vidal, and now Neuer, a world number one center forward, a world-recognized most talented super genius, a powerful midfielder who has gained fame in the World Cup, and a future German goalkeeper who is very optimistic about the outside world.

Actually joined Southampton?
why?
Why is it the super upstart in the mouth of this fan?
What is so magical about this team?

Why did they both choose to join Southampton?

Is it just because the team has money?

Or is there really something magical about this team?
Rummenigge, one of the three giants of Bayern Munich, said in an interview with Bild that he was disappointed that Neuer chose to join Southampton because he should have joined Bayern Munich.

"We proposed a transfer intention to Schalke 04, but Schalke 04 refused to negotiate with us. They finally chose Southampton, which has a lot of money, and there is nothing we can do about it."

The head coach of the German national team Loew also expressed strong concern about Neuer's joining Southampton when he was interviewed by the media. "All German internationals must maintain fierce competition in the league and maintain a good competitive state. I don't think the League One can bring Neuer an improvement in strength. I will talk to him about this matter very seriously."

The German football star Beckenbauer also questioned Neuer's choice, "The only reason why Neuer rejected Bayern Munich is that we are not as rich as Southampton."

As all walks of life in Germany have expressed their opinions, many fans and the media have also speculated, how much is Neuer's transfer fee?
Is it higher than Buffon's transfer to Juventus?

　Today is the sixth update, please vote! ! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)