Chapter 599 I don’t have anything else but lots of money!
An Airbus from Iberia slowly landed at Dubai International Airport.
Ferran Soriano gets off the plane with 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 phone call came.
Not long after, he boarded a luxury private jet and flew directly to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The first half of Soriano's trip was public, and everyone in the company knew that he was going to Dubai for a short vacation of three or four days, but no one knew that this sudden vacation was actually just to cover up the second half of the trip.
He was going to Abu Dhabi to meet someone.
One that made him feel incredible.
…
From vice president of Barcelona to chairman of Iberia, this change of identity is nothing for Soriano.
He is a native Barcelona person, but unlike most Barcelona people, he does not have a strong inclination. This is related to his family education. His father is a businessman and his mother runs a hair salon. The family is not very well-off, so he did not become a member of Barcelona until he was thirteen years old, which was a bit late.
He has been an excellent student since childhood. 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 fluent in English, French and Portuguese. He has worked in different companies in three continents and has developed strong personal abilities.
In 2003, he, Rosell and Ingla served as Laporta's core campaign team, helping Laporta defeat his opponents in the election and successfully become the president of Barcelona. The three naturally became vice-chairmen of Barcelona, and Soriano was responsible for finance, which he was best at.
In just four years, Barcelona went from being heavily in debt during Gaspart's time to becoming the highest-earning team in European football. Especially after Su Dong joined, Barcelona did a very good job in the entire financial management system, and the players' annual salary structure was also well established, which allowed Barcelona to make great strides both on the court and in the business world.
It can be said that behind all this, Soriano’s promotion is indispensable.
The intrigues among the top management, coupled with the departure of Sudong, the player with the greatest commercial appeal, made Soriano feel disheartened. He knew clearly that without Sudong, Barcelona would also lose its most commercially attractive star and its future development would be limited. Just as Rosell counterattacked Laporta, Soriano left Barcelona sadly.
However, his outstanding work experience at Barcelona allowed him to directly join Iberia as chairman of the board of directors with almost no time off, which was undoubtedly a leap in his career.
Soriano did a good job at Iberia. In one year, the company had undergone a significant transformation. However, unlike when he was at Barcelona, the work at Iberia was too easy and a bit boring.
This is also a characteristic of many old European companies, relaxed and comfortable, but not everyone likes it.
At the age of 40, Soriano began to think about his career. He kept asking himself, is this the end? But not long ago, he suddenly received a call from a famous European headhunter.
"Do you want to really be in charge of a wealthy family?"
Now, a few days later, Soriano took the opportunity of his vacation to fly to Abu Dhabi.
…
The person who met us at the airport was a man named Mubarak, who said he was Mansour's representative.
Sitting in the stretched Rolls-Royce used for reception, with police cars leading the way in front and behind, Soriano couldn't help but feel emotional.
It feels so good to have power!
Coming straight into a grand and luxurious building, Soriano felt a bit like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
He considered himself to be well-informed, but he was still very surprised at the luxury of this palace.
The owner of the palace seemed quite ordinary, not tall, slightly dark, wearing a suit, with a beard, a typical Arab, always with a smile on his face, looked quite kind, and spoke English very well. When he learned that Soriano could speak English, he immediately communicated directly in English without even a translator.
After a round of greetings, Mansoor went straight to the point and told the reason why he found Soriano through a headhunter.
"I am planning to acquire a Premier League team, and a headhunting company recommended you to me. They think you are the most suitable candidate." Mansour stated his intention with a smile.
Soriano was not surprised, he was here because he knew it all.
And that club is Manchester City.
There have been reports in the outside news a long time ago, but they have always been just rumors.
"I want to know, why do you want to acquire Manchester City? And not other teams?"
Mansour and Mubarak looked at each other and laughed at the same time. "In fact, there is no other reason. I just want to invest in the Premier League. Manchester City is one of the few choices, and the price is relatively suitable. You know, Thaksin is very short of money now."
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin is the current owner of Manchester City, but after acquiring Manchester City, he was overthrown by domestic forces in Thailand. Now he is in exile abroad. Let alone investing in Manchester City, what he wants to do most now is to sell Manchester City as soon as possible and withdraw the funds.
“Then why buy a Premier League team?”
Mansour smiled again. "Two reasons. First, as you know, the U.S. subprime crisis has seriously affected the whole world. All countries have been affected, especially Europe. Now is the best time to buy at the bottom. In addition to high-quality assets such as real estate, hotels, and banks, we are also very interested in sports. We are very optimistic about this prospect."
"Second, the whole world knows that the Middle East is rich in oil, but few people know Dubai, the UAE, and Abu Dhabi. We have a demand in this regard, just like Dubai."
Soriano nodded and summed it up in two points: profit and advertising effect.
"What are your long-term plans?" Soriano asked again.
"We need you to manage this for us, because you are the expert and we are laymen. But I can promise that you can rest assured that we are not Thaksin. We will not just say a few words and then call it a day. 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 again, and finally he began to believe that Mansour acquired Manchester City with the intention of investing in the business for a long time, but he hoped that Manchester City could become one of the top European clubs as soon as possible, and then realize its own profitability, rather than relying solely on transfusions from the consortium.
This is also a very realistic idea.
Soriano thinks it's not impossible.
Manchester City now seems to be in a state of disrepair, but precisely because its foundation is so poor, the cost of tearing it down and rebuilding it is lower.
The good thing is that Manchester City has a brand new stadium that can accommodate nearly 50,000 people. It is located in Manchester, the same city as Manchester United, and even has a greater influence on fans in the local area than Manchester United.
The benefit is obvious, that is, Manchester City can tie up with Manchester United for same-city marketing, such as the same-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 significance of the derby. But Manchester is different. There are only two Premier League teams, and Manchester United is the most successful giant in the world. It would be great if they could be tied together.
There are certain risks in tying up to Manchester United. If the team is too weak and is abused too badly, the result will be more harm than good.
Soriano believes that the first step after acquiring Manchester City should be to transform the management.
Premier League teams lag behind continental European teams in this regard because the British are still very conservative in terms of professional football management. For example, technical directors, which are very common in other European leagues, are still very new in the Premier League.
One benefit of establishing 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 the style every time a head coach changes? This requires a professional in this field to carry out long-term control.
Soriano recommended Begiristain. He believed that the former technical director of Barcelona was an excellent professional. More importantly, the entire European football world now knows that Barcelona's passing and controlling style will be the long-term trend in the future.
But no one expected that Barcelona would choose Mourinho and go back to the old ways.
…
Soriano talked a lot with Mansour, basically covering everything from the club's business management to daily operations to commercial brand promotion.
This is also due to his in-depth understanding of professional football.
Both Mansour and Mubarak were very satisfied with Soriano's insights, and when they talked about commercial 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 attracted the fanatical pursuit of Indian fans.
This was big news around the world this year, because no one believed before that there were so many fans in India.
"My people told me that he is the best player in the world. Is there any way to get him to my team? Let the best players in the world play for us, contribute the best football in the world to our fans, and create the best football brand in the world." Mansour's tone was a little excited when he said the last sentence.
Soriano suddenly had a feeling. He suspected that the reason Mansour contacted him was not because of some strong recommendation from a headhunter, but because of his relationship with Su Dong.
Of course, his abilities definitely meet the requirements, but there are many people who meet the requirements. He was chosen because of Su Dong.
Everyone knows that during Su Dong's time at Barcelona, the two people in the management who had a better relationship were Soriano and Begiristain.
At least, he got a lot of tickets through Soriano.
Soriano laughed immediately. "He is my friend and the most influential superstar in the world. His commercial value is greatly underestimated. If he can come to Manchester City, it will definitely make Manchester City famous all over the world overnight!"
Mansoor burst into laughter immediately. This was what he wanted.
"But..." Soriano changed the subject and hesitated, "He's very expensive!"
"Expensive?" Mansour and Mubarak both laughed.
"It's okay, I don't have anything else but a lot of money!"
As long as a problem can be solved by digging a few more barrels of oil, is it still a problem?
(End of this chapter)
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