Football feast, starting from the acquisition of European clubs

Chapter 202 One Billion Pounds, Are You Selling Crystal Palace?
"Well, I've been busy recently, so I just made one or two phone calls. Honey, what's the matter? Is there something wrong?"

"There is nothing wrong. However, if you have time, you can invite Caroline and the others to London."

"Okay honey, I'll call them when I'm done with my latest gigs."

"Honey, I have an idea, do you see if you are interested?"

"Oh? What do you think?"

Hearing Chen Ran's words, Cheryl's curiosity was immediately aroused, and her attention was diverted from the soap opera.

"That's right. As my Crystal Palace continues to win various championships, these players in the team will grow into stars one by one in the future."

"In order to increase the loyalty of these players to the team, I want you to come forward and organize the other half of these guys to form a star girlfriend/wives group."

"Then often organize some activities, such as shopping together, drinking afternoon tea, etc., so as to increase the cohesion and centripetal force of the Crystal Palace players from the side."

"How is it? Cheryl, are you interested?"

"Huh? My dear, your idea is very good."

Listening to Chen Ran's description bit by bit, Cheryl's eyes lit up.

Frankly speaking, she doesn't have many friends in the entertainment circle, and she doesn't dare to make any friends.

Because this circle is full of intrigues, it is not unheard of for her to be betrayed by her friends for profit.

Now, Chen Ran has opened up another social circle for her.

And in this circle, as the club owner's girlfriend, she is undoubtedly the top person, how could Cheryl not be tempted?
"Then you agreed?"

Chen Ran looked down at Cheryl in his arms and asked.

"My dear, but I'm worried that I can't do well. What if I mess up your plan? Besides, the company arranges a lot of performances, and I don't necessarily have so much time to organize them."

Cheryl, who was originally full of interest, fell into hesitation when she thought of her itinerary.

"Haha, little fool, I asked you to organize this wives group, not to arrange work, but to add a platform for you to communicate and interact."

"Organize activities if you have time, and don't organize them if you don't have time. Besides, isn't it just leisure activities such as shopping, afternoon tea, and dinner parties? You usually do these things, how can you not do them well?"

Chen Ran rubbed Cheryl's little head with his hands, seeing her worrying about gains and losses, he couldn't help laughing.

"Okay, then I agree. But let's talk about it first. If I don't do well, you can't blame me."

"Okay, okay, okay, don't blame you."

Three days after the Champions League match against Real Madrid, Crystal Palace ushered in the Premier League No.30 three rounds.

Considering the huge consumption of the Champions League, Chen Ran also made a substantial rotation in this Premier League.

In the end, with two headers from Jan Kohler and Thiago Silva, Crystal Palace beat Fulham 2:1 at home.

While getting three points, Chen Ran also got another "Free Kick Master Card" from the system.

In the game against Real Madrid, Ronaldo used this "free kick master card" to score a key goal, and the effect was very obvious.

Now there are new products coming in, and Chen Ran is very satisfied with this reward.

In other matches of this round of the Premier League, there is another strong dialogue, that is, Manchester United will play against their old enemy Arsenal.

In the end, with Van Nistelrooy and Scholes' goals, Manchester United beat Arsenal 2:1 at Old Trafford.

In addition, Chelsea beat West Ham United 4:1 at home, and Liverpool beat Bolton 1:0 at Anfield.

After the three rounds of the No.30 Premier League match, Crystal Palace continued to top the standings with a record of 93 wins, [-] draws and [-] points.

Chelsea are still five points behind in second place, Manchester United ranks third with 75 points, Liverpool ranks fourth with 58 points, Tottenham Hotspur ranks fifth with 54 points and Arsenal ranks sixth with [-] points.

After the game against Fulham, Crystal Palace had a rare week of rest.

In the future, the semi-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup plus the final match of the Premier League will start one after another. No need to think about it, this must be another devil's schedule.

After the training ended that day, Stephen came to Chen Ran's office mysteriously. After entering, he still turned around and locked the door behind him.

"Stephen, what are you doing?"

Seeing Stephen's unusual behavior, Chen Ran couldn't help being aroused by him.

"Ahem, Chen, someone wants to buy our Crystal Palace."

"Acquire the Crystal Palace? Who?"

Chen Ran was not surprised that someone wanted to buy a Premier League team.

Since Abramovich bought Chelsea three years ago, last summer, the American Glazer family also bought the veteran giants Manchester United.

However, this time someone actually aimed at his own Crystal Palace, it seems that he is quite discerning.

"Like the Glazer family who bought Manchester United, they are also from the United States. But this time it is a partnership of two people, one named George Gillette and the other named Tom Hicks."

"George Gillette is the owner of the Montreal Canadiens in the North American Hockey League (NHL), and Hicks owns the Dallas Stars in the NHL and the Texas Rangers in the Major League Baseball (MLB). .”

Huh?Why do these two people's names sound familiar?

Chen Ran carefully recalled that the two of them partnered to acquire the Premier League club, which had indeed happened in the previous life.

By the way, it was Liverpool, these two guys bought Liverpool, and then made Liverpool bear huge debts, and finally had to sell Liverpool to another American.

Why didn't these two guys go to buy Liverpool this time, but they fell in love with their own Crystal Palace?

"How much are they going to pay?"

Although he had no plans to sell the Crystal Palace, Chen Ran couldn't help but want to inquire about the current value of the Crystal Palace in the eyes of the outside world.

"They're asking £[-] million."

"How far you let them roll!"

Chen Ran's mouth was almost crooked.

The construction of the new Crystal Palace stadium alone, including bank loans and funds provided by the system, has exceeded [-] million euros.

This is not counting the value of the club itself, and the expensive players on the team.

These two Yankees of Temeow actually want to spend [-] million pounds to buy the Crystal Palace?

This is simply an empty glove white wolf.

By the way, maybe it really is an empty-handed white wolf.

These Yankees are estimated to have learned from the case of the Glazer family's acquisition of Manchester United.

The Glazer family spent a total of nearly [-] million pounds on the acquisition of Manchester United, but they only actually took out [-] million of it.

The remaining funds, nearly 7000 million pounds, were borrowed from **** banks.

The price is to include assets such as Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium and training base as guarantees.

Yes, you read that right.

The Glazer family mortgaged something that was not their own, and the **** bank even agreed.

The person in charge of operating this loan was the later Manchester United CEO Ed Woodward, also known as San Dezi by Manchester United fans.

If there is nothing tricky in it, it is estimated that few people will believe it.

The Glazer family also borrowed the remaining nearly 8000 million pounds of funds.

This time, it was three hedge funds in the United States who paid for it.

However, hedge funds are not charitable funds, and if they are willing to provide loans, they naturally need collateral.

It's just that even the Old Trafford Stadium has been mortgaged. What else can the Glazer family mortgage?

As a result, the Glazer family signed a gambling agreement with the three hedge funds.

In addition to the need to pay super high interest, the agreement stipulates that if Manchester United fails to repay the loan on time, the three hedge funds will receive three seats on the Manchester United board of directors or even 30% of the shares.

According to a report that Chen Ran read before his rebirth, since the Glazer family bought Manchester United, the accumulative interest, dividends and other expenses paid by Manchester United have exceeded one billion pounds, even if they buy Manchester United again. More than enough.

Therefore, the Glazer family's acquisition of the Manchester United Club not only brought a "vampire", but also brought a Wall Street to eat meat.

Chen Ran is [-]% sure that George Gillette and Tom Hicks must have used the Glazer family's routine.

Chen Ran was even sure that, despite the fact that these two guys hadn't bought the Crystal Palace, they might have already mortgaged the new Crystal Palace stadium that was still under construction.

"Chen, then I just reject these two Americans?"

Stephen confirmed it again.

"In this way, don't talk too much. Just tell them, if they are willing to bid a billion pounds, then I am willing to talk to them. If it is lower than this figure, then there is no need to meet."

"Eh Chen, what if they really agree to pay a billion pounds? Are you really willing to sell the Crystal Palace Club to them?"

Stephen looked at Chen Ran with some concern. His good friend's thinking was wild and unconstrained, and he often made some surprising moves.

"Stephen, don't worry, those two Yankees can't come up with so much money. Even if they do get a billion pounds, I won't sell Crystal Palace to them. I just want to try, we Crystal Palace now How much is it worth?"

Chen Ran never had the idea of ​​selling the Crystal Palace club. However, just now when he recalled that these Americans used Wall Street capital to acquire the Premier League team, he suddenly remembered an important thing.

That is, the 2008 financial tsunami.

By that time, countless assets have shrunk significantly.

Many rich people now will have to cut their flesh and sell their assets.

And people like George Gillette and Tom Hicks who have borrowed heavily to buy Premier League clubs will have a hard time then.

If I sell the Crystal Palace Club at a high price now, and wait until the 2008 financial tsunami, and then buy the team back at a low price, it must be a very wonderful operation.

Of course, all of the above are just fantasies in Chen Ran's heart, and it's nothing more than a dry addiction.

If he really wanted to sell the Crystal Palace, which had been brought to this position with great difficulty, he would be reluctant.

"That's good, I thought you were really moved."

Only then did Stephen breathe a sigh of relief, this time his good friend finally didn't frighten him this time.

"However, Stephen, we have to be mentally prepared."

"Psychological preparation? What's the matter? What happened?"

Stephen was taken aback by Chen Ran's words, and didn't understand what he meant for a while.

"Look, the Glazer family bought Manchester United last year, and now a new American consortium is targeting us. It is foreseeable that the future Premier League will attract funds from all over the world. Similar acquisitions, it is estimated that There will be endless streams.”

"Chen, do you mean that many teams in the Premier League will be bought by foreigners in the future?"

"That's right. It's not scary for an American to be the owner, because many of them buy with borrowed money. They have to rely on the club to repay the debt, and they still want to make money, so they don't invest too much in the team."

"The scariest ones are those oil tycoons from the Middle East who have a lot of money and don't know how to spend it. They buy teams, maybe just for fun, or just for face."

"So they're most likely going to throw money at the team regardless of the cost, and then quickly build a strong, competitive team."

"Chen, if you follow your plan, wouldn't the Premier League become more and more difficult to play in the future?"

Stephen has no doubts about his friend's judgment.Because countless previous cases have proved that Chen Ran's predictions are always so accurate.

"That's for sure. It's just that we made the move earlier, and now we can still enjoy a wave of bonuses. When the big guys from all walks of life enter the arena, our life will not be so happy."

"Chen, if the two Americans really agree to pay a billion pounds this time, then you might as well sell Crystal Palace to them, and then go to another league with less competition and buy a team to start the business again."

Hearing Chen Ran's prediction that the Premier League would become more and more difficult to play in the future, Stephen immediately thought of the two Americans mentioned just now.

In his view, it is the most ideal investment behavior to take profits on rallies and then re-select the target to buy at low positions.

As for the current achievements of Crystal Palace, Stephen doesn't care too much.

He believes that as long as Chen Ran is there, he can be brought to the current position of Crystal Palace in any team.

After all, the original starting point of Crystal Palace was not so bad.

I'm going, why did this guy Stephen say what he was yelling in his heart just now?

Is this the so-called "heroes see the same thing"?
Seeing Stephen's eagerness to try, Chen Ran, who was only flirting in his heart, also became a little moved.

Fortunately, his mind is still relatively clear.

"Ahem, Stephen, this matter is not in my plan for the time being."

"One is that those two Americans are unlikely to come up with a billion pounds."

"The other is that my current goal is to lead Crystal Palace to win the Champions League and the Premier League this season. If conditions permit, I will also win the FA Cup."

(End of this chapter)