I Want to Be the King of Football

An Airbus from Iberia slowly landed at Dubai International Airport.

Ferran Soriano disembarked in the farewell of the crew.

He is the chairman of Iberia.

After staying at the airport for half an hour and drinking a cup of coffee, the call came.

It didn't take long for him to board a luxury private jet for a direct flight to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Soriano's first half of the trip was public. Everyone in the company knew that he was going to Dubai for a short three or four day vacation, but no one knew that this sudden vacation was actually just to cover up the second half of the trip. .

He was going to meet someone in Abu Dhabi.

A man who made him feel unbelievable.

...

For Soriano, the transition from vice-president of Barcelona to chairman of Iberia is nothing.

He is a native of Barcelona, ​​but unlike most Barcelona people, he does not have a strong tendency. This is related to his family education. His father is a businessman and his mother runs a hair salon. The family is not very wealthy. So that when he was thirteen years old, he became a member of Barcelona, ​​which was a bit late.

He studied business management in college, and then entered ESADE Business School, one of the top three business schools in Spain. In addition to Catalan and Spanish, he is also proficient in English and French. and Portuguese, worked in different companies on three continents, and developed a strong personal ability.

In 2003, he, Roselle and Ingra, as the backbone of Laporta's campaign team, helped Laporta defeat his opponent in the election and became the chairman of Barcelona. Chairman, Soriano is in charge of what he does best, finances.

In just four years, Barcelona has gone from being heavily in debt during the Gaspart period to becoming the highest-earning giant in European football. Especially after Sudong joined, Barcelona has done a great job in the entire financial management system. In place, the player's annual salary structure is also well established, which allows Barcelona to make great progress on the field and in the market.

It can be said that behind all of this, Soriano's promotion is inseparable.

The high-level intrigue, coupled with the departure of the most commercially attractive Su Dong, made Soriano feel disheartened. He clearly knew that without Su Dong, Barcelona also lost the most commercially attractive player. star,

The future development is limited, just as Roselle counterattacked Laporta, Soriano left Barcelona sadly.

However, his excellent work experience in Barcelona gave him almost no window period to directly enter the Spanish Airline and serve as the chairman of the board of directors. This is undoubtedly a career leap.

Soriano has done a great job at Iberia, a company that has transformed significantly in a year, but unlike at Barcelona, ​​the job at Iberia is too easy and a little boring.

This is also the characteristic of many old European companies, which is relaxed and comfortable, but not everyone likes it.

Forty-year-old Soriano began to think about his career, and he kept asking himself, is that all there is to it?

But not long ago, he suddenly received a call from a famous European headhunter.

Do you want to really take charge of a wealthy family?

Now, a few days later, Soriano took a vacation and flew to Abu Dhabi.

...

The person who picked up the plane was a man named Mubarak, who said he was the representative of Mansour.

Sitting on the extended Rolls-Royce at the reception, with police cars driving the way before and after, Soriano had no choice but to sigh.

It's cool to have power!

Going straight to a grand and luxurious building, Soriano felt like Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden.

He was well-informed when he asked himself, but he was still very surprised by the luxury of this palace.

The owner of the palace is quite ordinary, not tall, slightly dark, wearing a suit, with a beard, a typical Arab, always with a smile on his face, looks very kind, speaks English very well, when he Knowing that Soriano can speak English, he immediately communicated in English, even omitting translation.

After a while of chatting, Mansour said straight to the point why he found Soriano through the headhunter.

I was planning to buy a Premier League team, and the headhunter recommended you to me. They think you are the most suitable candidate. Mansour said his intentions with a smile.

Soriano is not surprised, he is here because he knows all this.

And that club is Manchester City.

Outside news has long been reported, but it is always just a rumor.

I want to know, what are your reasons for buying Manchester City? Not other teams?

Mansour and Mubarak looked at each other and laughed in unison, Actually, there is no other reason, just want to invest in the Premier League, Manchester City is one of the few options, and the price is more suitable, you know, Thaksin I'm short of money right now.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shin is the current owner of Manchester City, but after the acquisition of Manchester City, he was overthrown by domestic forces in Thailand. Now he is in exile, not to mention investing in Manchester City. The thing he wants to do now is to sell it quickly Manchester City, withdrew the funds.

Then why buy a Premier League team?

Mansour smiled again, Two reasons, first, you know, now the US subprime debt crisis has seriously affected the whole world, all countries have been affected, especially Europe, now is the best time to buy the dip In addition to high-quality assets such as real estate, hotels, and banks, we are also very interested in sports, and we are very optimistic about this prospect.”

Second, the whole world knows that the Middle East is rich in oil, but few people know about Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Abu Dhabi. We have needs in this area, just like Dubai.

Soriano nodded, summed up in two points, profit and advertising effect.

What are your long-term plans? Soriano asked again.

This requires you to run the business for us, because you are the expert, and we are laymen, but I can promise you, don't worry, we are not Thaksin, we will not just say a few words and just put in the work, we are not blindly entering Football, but hope to work in this field for a long time, ten, twenty years, or even longer, we believe that football will be a long-term high-quality industry.”

Soriano asked a lot of questions, and finally he began to believe that Mansour’s acquisition of Manchester City really wanted to invest in the business for a long time. rely on the blood transfusion of the consortium.

This is also a very realistic idea.

Soriano doesn't think it's impossible.

Today's Manchester City seems to be in ruins, but precisely because he is poor enough, the cost of knocking down and rebuilding is lower.

The good thing is that Manchester City has a brand new stadium that can accommodate nearly 50,000 people. It is in the same place as Manchester United, and even has more fans in the region than Manchester United.

The advantage of this is obvious, that is, Manchester City can bundle Manchester United for intra-city marketing, such as intra-city derby.

London is undoubtedly the most influential city in the UK, but there is a problem with football in London, that is, there are too many teams in the same city, which seriously weakens the meaning of the derby in the same city, but Manchester is different, there are only two Premier League teams, Manchester United is another. The most successful giants in the world, bundled together, it's not too cool.

There is a certain risk in tying Manchester United. If your own strength is too weak and you are abused too badly, it will not be worth the loss.

Soriano believes that after the acquisition of Manchester City, the first step should be a management transformation.

Premier League teams lag behind continental teams in this regard, because in professional football management, the British are still very conservative, such as technical directors, which are already very common in other European leagues, but very new in the Premier League.

One advantage of setting up a technical director is that it can control the long-term planning and development of the club.

Head coaches change frequently, which is inevitable for any team, but how to avoid changing styles every time a head coach is changed?

This requires a professional in this area to carry out long-term control.

Soriano recommended Begiristan. He believes that the former technical director of Barcelona is a very good professional. More importantly, now the whole European football knows that Barcelona's passing style will be the long-term future. trend.

But no one thought that Barcelona would choose Mourinho and go back.

...

Soriano talked and talked a lot with Mansour, basically talking about the club's management, daily operations, and commercial brand promotion.

This also benefits from his in-depth knowledge of professional football.

Both Mansour and Mubarak were very satisfied with Soriano's insights. When talking about business promotion, Mansour suddenly pulled out a newspaper from his side and gently pushed it in front of Soriano. .

The photo above is of Su Dong.

The background is that Su Dong visited India on behalf of Bayern, which aroused the fanatical pursuit of Indian fans.

This is the big news all over the world this year because no one believed before that there are so many fans in India.

My people tell me he's the best player in the world, is there a way to get him into my team? Let the best player in the world play for us and give our fans the best in the world Football, to create the best football brand in the world. Mansour said at the end, his tone was a little excited.

Soriano suddenly had a feeling that he suspected that the reason why Mansur contacted him was not because of the strong recommendation of the headhunter, but because of his relationship with Su Dong.

Of course, the ability must meet the requirements, but there are many people who meet the requirements, but he chose him because of Su Dong.

Everyone knows that Soriano and Begiristan had a better relationship in the management during Sudong's time at Barcelona.

At least, he can get tickets through Soriano a lot.

Soriano laughed immediately, He is my friend and the most influential superstar in the world. The commercial value is far underestimated. If he can come to Manchester City, it will definitely make Manchester City famous overnight. worldwide!

Mansour laughed immediately, that's what he wanted.

But... Soriano changed the subject and hesitated, He's expensive!

Expensive? Both Mansour and Mubarak laughed.

It's okay, I don't have anything else, just more money!

As long as it is a problem that can be solved by digging a few more barrels of oil, is it still a problem?

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