My 1999

In addition to the growing Manchester United business, the fastest growing are Manchester United catering and Manchester United hotels.

After more than three years of development, Manchester United's "Legend Bar" and "Fan Restaurant" have grown to 39 and 25 respectively.

"Legend Bar" is named after all the meritorious players of Manchester United since its establishment.

For example, "Beckham Bar", "Best Bar", "Charlton Bar", etc.

The reason for this is to attract customers.

You should know that the British do not say that there are more football fans per capita, but at least half of them like it.

It is hard to imagine that a Manchester City fan will go to a restaurant with the name "Manchester United".

In contrast, players such as Beckham and Best are different.

There is only one famous Beckham in the UK, but there are many Beckhams.

Besides, Manchester United's famous players are also international players, and the hostile fans do not have such a strong resentment.

"Fan Restaurant" is much simpler. It is originally for fans, so they just express their feelings directly.

These more than 60 bars and restaurants brought Manchester United more than 15 million pounds in revenue in the past quarter.

Compared with 'Manchester United Catering', 'Manchester United Sports Hotel' has developed much slower.

In more than three years, only seven four-star hotels have been built.

"David, what is the average occupancy rate of the hotel?"

Xu Liang asked.

"71.6%. The hotels in Manchester and London have the highest occupancy rates, averaging 85%. The two hotels in Barcelona and Madrid were established later and have the lowest occupancy rates, only about 45%.

But I believe that with our continuous efforts, we can win the hearts of customers with integrity after word of mouth opens up." David Gill said hurriedly.

Xu Liang nodded.

"I believe you, and I will see the performance of 'Manchester United Sports Hotel' next."

Anyone can brag, but performance cannot be faked.

"Okay."

"Please contact the property owner of the hotel more often."

David Gill understood immediately, "Don't worry, we have always been in contact with the property owner."

Xu Liang told him a long time ago that the location of the hotel should be as close to the bustling urban area as possible, especially in affluent areas with beautiful environment.

It is also required that all hotel properties be rented and not bought.

He was a little confused at first.

But now that the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States is getting worse, he gradually understands the boss's plan.

Seeing him like this, Xu Liang didn't say anything more.

Now is not the time.

When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the subprime mortgage crisis reached its climax, it was a good opportunity to take action.

At that time, whether you are Manhattan or the City of London, you will fall.

In addition to operations, the construction of Manchester United's new stadium has also left a lot of debt.

The construction expenditure of 1.5 billion pounds is not enough to support such a huge debt with Manchester United's own revenue.

The UK does not allow the sale of pre-sale properties, otherwise the apartments attached to the new stadium can recover a large sum of money in advance.

In addition to the expenses of the new stadium, Manchester United's business expansion also requires money.

The latter part alone can absorb most of Manchester United's annual profits.

In addition to these two aspects, when Xu Liang acquired Manchester United, he only paid 150 million pounds in cash out of the total acquisition amount of 420 million pounds.

The remaining 270 million pounds of debt has not been repaid.

This is another large sum of money.

All things added up, Manchester United's total debt is close to 1.7 billion pounds.

Although the total debt is high, Manchester United's situation is much better than it was after the Glazer family acquired it in history.

The latter successfully acquired Manchester United in 2005, leaving the Red Devils with a debt of 660 million pounds, and an interest of up to 16%, or compound interest.

Let's make a simple analogy.

Tottenham borrowed 800 million pounds to build a new stadium, and repaid 40 million pounds of principal and interest each year. In the 18 years since the Glazers acquired Manchester United, Manchester United's interest expenditure alone has reached 900 million pounds, an average of 50 million pounds per year.

Note that this is only interest, not principal.

In 18 years, the Glazer family not only did not invest a penny, but also took 155 million pounds from Manchester United.

Under such a huge debt, the Red Devils not only did not collapse, but also won the Champions League and the league three consecutive titles.

It can only be said that the old Sir Alex is a real thigh.

In contrast, although Xu Liang brought a debt scale of 1.7 billion pounds to Manchester United, the interest on these debts was only 6%.

The interest rate is so low, not because he is handsome, although this is true; but because he encountered a good environment.

In 2002, the Federal Reserve flooded the market with money, and the federal funds rate was as low as an unprecedented 1%, or even lower.

At this time, banks all over the world were begging you for loans.

The interest rate was lowered again and again.

It was different in 2005. In order to curb the increasingly crazy real estate market, the Federal Reserve continued to raise the federal funds rate.

In just one year, the interest rate was raised five times, and the original interest rate of less than 2% was raised to 5.56%.

Such a violent interest rate hike caused the financing cost of the world to soar.

The Glazer family, who intervened in the acquisition of Manchester United in 2003, got up early and rushed to the market late.

And the most important point is.

Although Xu Liang also made Manchester United heavily in debt, it was to improve the utilization rate of funds, not because he had no money.

The Glazer family really had no money.

Financial institutions are a bunch of vampires, so of course they would kick someone when he was down.

In addition to lower interest rates, Xu Liang also brought Manchester United US CDs worth 2 billion pounds.

As the US subprime crisis deepened, this part of the funds has received nearly 1.8 billion pounds.

Enough to completely cover all of Manchester United's debts.

"Have the prices of the bonds issued by the group fallen now?" Xu Liang asked.

At the beginning, in order to build a new stadium, Xu Liang used Hongmeng to guarantee Manchester United and issued 1.5 billion pounds of 3A bonds.

"It has started to fall since the US subprime crisis appeared at the beginning of this year. It has now fallen by 11.3%, but it has not fallen below the face value."

"Don't worry about the 1.5 billion pounds. I will handle it."

When these bonds fall to the bottom in the future, they can be bought back at 80% of the original face value, or even lower.

At that time, not only will there be no interest to pay, but hundreds of millions of pounds can be earned.

"Okay."

After the chat, Xu Liang put down the information.

"Let's go, go out with me."

David Gill stood up quickly.

Came outside and looked at the crowded office crowd in each room.

"Although Carrington is big, it is more of a training base for the team. It is still too tight for the group to use it as an office. Let's find a suitable place and move all the institutions except the club out."

"I originally thought so, but the group is in need of funds now, so it was delayed. And the rent of office buildings in Manchester is very high."

"Is the rent still high now?" Xu Liang smiled.

"It's much better now."

The subprime crisis has affected the British property market.

"Hurry up and find a place, and you don't have to rent it for too long. Once the new stadium is built, everything will be much better."

Manchester United's new stadium is more than just a stadium.

The entire project covers an area of ​​about 39.4 acres (176.4 acres), which is about 118,000 square meters.

Such a huge land is enough to build a super-large urban complex in China.

The project formats here are also very rich.

First of all, the most important thing is of course the stadium.

Manchester United's plan is to build a stadium with 250 toilets, 380 boxes, 36 elevators, 20 escalators, including multiple functional areas such as the player lounge and the honor room.

Three-story underground garage with a total of 12,000 parking spaces.

And a five-star super-luxury stadium with 90,000 seats.

Just this new "Old Trafford Stadium" has a budget of nearly 700 million pounds.

Directly benchmarking the famous "Wembley Stadium".

In addition to the stadium, it also includes a super-large four-star Manchester United fan hotel.

There are a total of 3,981 rooms and suites.

Provides a variety of restaurants including Western, Chinese and French food, and provides spa, fitness and entertainment facilities.

A large indoor shopping mall of more than 90,000 square meters.

Can accommodate 8,000 tourists at the same time.

The total budget for the hotel and the mall is 400 million pounds.

Between the hotel and the stadium, a 4.9-acre sports park and a railway station will also be built.

No mistakes, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!

The railway connects Manchester Piccadilly Station in the city center, which is convenient for tourists and fans.

After the construction of the new stadium is completed, the old stadium will be demolished and transformed into a fine-decorated apartment with 3,000 households and a 48,000 square meter luxury office building.

Therefore, Manchester United's stadium is not just a stadium, but a huge super project.

It is also one of the largest construction projects in the UK.

After a simple tour of the rooms.

"Where is Feifei?"

Li Jinling hurriedly said: "My wife took the children to the stadium to play."

"Which stadium?"

"Indoor training ground No. 1."

Xu Liang nodded. He knew where the No. 1 indoor training ground was after he came here several times.

When he came over, he quickly noticed the noise in the training ground.

The big-name stars who usually dominate the stadium are playing football on the soft lawn with three little radishes.

Contrary to Xu Liang's expectation, the two little princesses seemed to be better at playing with this round thing than their brother.

They laughed and laughed, very happy.

On the contrary, although his son was also playing, he had obviously fallen many times from the grass color on his clothes.

Mo Hongzhuang stood by and watched with a smile, letting the three little guys play.

Next to him was the old Sir Alex, with a smile on his face.

Obviously, in the eyes of outsiders, he was not tolerant of sand in his eyes, had a strong character, and he was the one who had the final say in Manchester United, but he still knew his position clearly.

He knew that pillow talk was not good.

His players wasted time playing with the boss's children, so he wisely let it go.

Hearing footsteps behind him.

They turned around and looked over at the same time.

"Dear."

Mo Hongzhuang hurriedly came up and hugged his arm.

After smiling and patting her jade hand, Xu Liang took a few steps forward.

"Alex."

The old Sir Alex hurriedly held his right hand that he stretched out.

"Boss, I thought you wouldn't come."

"Haha, no matter what time, the club is our core business. Even if other departments don't go, I will come here to take a look."

After a brief chat, Xu Liang looked at the players in training uniforms on the field.

"How about it, can they win the Champions League this year?"

"Although I have great confidence in them, the ball is round, and anything can happen."

Xu Liang nodded slightly.

He is not from the Glazer family, and he has always been generous in Manchester United's transfers.

In 2005, getting Kaka for Manchester United was a sensation in the global football world.

Manchester United's current lineup is really not bad at all.

Defenders: Evra (left), Vidic and Ferdinand (center), Gary Neville (right).

The substitutes include Brown, O'Shea, Sylvester, Gibson and other jacks of all trades.

The midfielders are Kaka, Modric, Scholes and Carrick.

The substitutes are Giggs, Gareth Bale, Park Ji-sung and others.

Manchester United's midfield is very strong now.

Modric and Kaka, two engines in front and behind, directly made Manchester United's organization reach the world's top.

Carrick and Modric partnered as midfielders, which made Manchester United's organizational ability even better.

If there is any shortcoming, it is that the hardness is a little lacking.

Whether Carrick or Modric, although their defense is not bad, they are not the kind of midfield gate.

Fortunately, with Vidic and Ferdinand, a pair of world-class central defenders, Manchester United's defense has always been strong.

Plus goalkeeper Cech.

Last season, Manchester United only lost 12 goals in 38 league games.

The forwards are Rooney and Ronaldo.

Rooney is the center forward, and Ronaldo is the shadow forward.

Many times, the old Sir Alex Ferguson would also let him and Gareth Bale play as left and right forwards.

The two plus Rooney are increasingly playing the role of a front trident.

Saha and Solskjaer are also sitting on the forward bench, which is not bad.

This result also directly led to a huge change in Manchester United's signings from history.

Anderson and Hargreaves, who should have joined this season, are missing.

Manchester United's midfield is not short of people at all.

Modric, Kaka, and Carrick are only in their twenties and are in their prime.

The only older Scholes, and the rapidly rising Gareth Bale can replace him.

Therefore, there is no need to spend a lot of money to introduce the main midfielder.

High-quality substitutes are what Manchester United needs, so Nani is here.

Plus veterans including Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, and Park Ji-sung.

Enough.

In terms of strikers, 'Carlos Tevez', who should have formed a trident with Rooney and Ronaldo, is also here.

Manchester United needs a strong striker to fight on three fronts.

Saha is still a little short, and Solskjaer is too old.

"Alex, Gary should be 33 years old?"

The old Sir Alex instantly understood what he meant and nodded slightly.

"He will be 33 in four months. But Gary is a strong guy, and I believe he can still play on the right side of Manchester United."

"I trust him too. But injuries are something that none of us can predict. Once Gary is injured, Brown alone can't support the right side of the face."

The old Sir Alex no longer beats around the bush.

"Do you have a more suitable candidate for the right side?"

The several players recommended by the big boss are all very good, no, they should be geniuses.

Modric has become the pillar of Manchester United, and he is also the kind of player he has always wanted, who is creative, can hold the ball, and has extraordinary organizational talent.

Not to mention Gareth Bale, who is definitely a young version of Ryan Giggs.