Chapter 755 It’s all up to you!
Manchester City's City Ground is located in the eastern suburbs of Manchester.
When it was first designed, the stadium was intended to be used as the main venue for the Olympic Games. After the application for the Olympic Games failed, the venue's use was changed and it became the main venue for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
After the Games, the original comprehensive stadium was transformed into a professional stadium. The track and field track and temporary stands were demolished and fixed stands were built, which caused a lot of controversy that year.
Manchester City moved from Maine Road to the City Ground in 2003, with their first game being a friendly against Barcelona.
However, since Manchester City signed a long-term lease contract with the Manchester City Government, the ownership of the venue still belongs to the city government, so it is very inconvenient for Manchester City to operate.
Can you imagine that Manchester City's home stadium doesn't even have a fan shop? This is not only a problem for Manchester City. Serie A, where most stadiums are municipal facilities, is also facing this problem. So Juventus took a different approach and built a new stadium by taking a roundabout way to save the country, which actually opened up a new path.
Compared with the Italian government, the Manchester City Council is more supportive of football clubs.
Since acquiring Manchester City in 2008, Soriano has been communicating with the Manchester City Government, including proposing a series of ambitious plans, which were finally approved in March 2010.
Manchester City has launched a massive 1 billion pound plan, which will not only expand the capacity of the City Stadium from the current 45,000 to 60,000, but will also build the world's most advanced training base and the most advanced sports medical center in the southeast of the stadium, and will then move the training ground from Carrington to the city center.
In addition, Manchester City will also renovate the stadium and surrounding facilities, including building a fan shop and a fan service center to create a leisure and entertainment area exclusively for Manchester City fans. At the same time, it will also renovate the tram and intercity railway stations and bus stations to the north of the stadium. To the north of the train line is a large fan parking lot.
This is because underground parking facilities were not considered when the city stadium was built.
There is no subway in Manchester, and fans travel by tram, intercity railway, bus and driving. Manchester City did very poorly in this regard in the past, but now it has improved significantly.
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At this moment, Su Dong was standing on the pedestrian bridge in the north of the stadium, leading to the train station, bus station and parking lot.
Opposite is a large parking lot and train station, and the connecting pedestrian bridge is very spacious to meet the needs of fans flocking to the stadium on match days.
Under the overpass is the sports and training center that Manchester City is building to serve the fans. It will mainly be used for sports training and daily sports venues, such as tennis courts, small football fields and indoor venues.
"After signing the agreement in March last year, we immediately started construction and renovation, so we played all of the last few home games last season at Maine Road. We expect that all will be completed before the start of this season and we will be able to play at the City Ground."
Technical director Begiristain brought the city stadium's management staff to introduce Manchester City's home stadium and various facilities to Su Dong.
It can be seen that Manchester City has indeed invested a lot in this regard, and all of it is real money.
From this point, it can also be seen that Mansour's Abu Dhabi consortium really wants to take root in Manchester, otherwise, there is no need to invest so much.
Of course, this is actually part of the deal between the club and the city government.
In return, the stadium lease contract signed between the city government and Manchester City was extended from the original 99 years to 250 years. This is equivalent to directly giving the stadium to Manchester City for use, and they only need to pay a rent of two to three million yuan per year.
Compared to the huge investment in building a new stadium, the rent is really nothing.
In addition, Manchester City also obtained the right to renovate and name the new stadium.
The advantage of obtaining the renovation rights is that not only can the stadium be expanded, but also various facilities can be built inside the stadium, thereby increasing the stadium's revenue on match days, which is an indispensable part of all European home stadiums, such as VIP boxes, catering industry, etc.
Not to mention the naming rights, Manchester City has been conducting targeted investment promotion since last season.
"We have sold the club's home stadium naming rights for the next 15 years at a high price of 250 million pounds. Starting from the new season, our stadium will be officially renamed Etihad Stadium," Begiristain introduced with a smile.
Su Dong smiled and nodded tacitly. Al-Etihad is an airline from the United Arab Emirates. Its sponsorship of Manchester City is definitely not only because it values Manchester City's potential, but more importantly, it is a way for Mansour to provide blood transfusion to Manchester City and help Manchester City circumvent the financial balance policy from UEFA.
The naming rights of the stadium were sold to Etihad Airways, and the chest advertisement of the jersey was also sold to this UAE airline, with the price being around 15 million pounds per year.
That is to say, Manchester City can obtain sponsorship income of about 30 million pounds from this airline every year.
Not to mention comparing with top teams like Bayern, Manchester United and Real Madrid, even compared with some Premier League teams, Manchester City is far behind. The reason is that it really has little value.
Over the past few years, Manchester City has been lingering in the middle and lower reaches. The team's own commercial operation capabilities are very poor, or even almost non-existent. It relies entirely on those who come to it on their own initiative, and the biggest share is the broadcasting and sponsorship of the Premier League.
After Soriano and Begiristain took over the team, they wanted to make efforts in this aspect, but the foundation was too weak. The team itself had no outstanding results and stars. Although there was Robinho before, the Brazilian's commercial appeal was pitifully weak, so progress was very slow.
With the joining of Su Dong this season, Manchester City plans to make great efforts in this regard, but for the time being, it still needs to rely on the transfusion of the Abu Dhabi consortium.
This summer's North American training camp is a bold attempt by Manchester City's commercial department.
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Accompanied by Begiristain, after visiting the City Stadium, oh no, it should be renamed Etihad Stadium in the future, the group drove from the eastern suburbs of the city to the western suburbs of the city, passing Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium on the way.
Begiristain sat in the back row with Su Dong, and said with a sigh: "I hope that in the new season we can avoid the embarrassing ending of encountering strong teams and being defeated repeatedly in the last season, and strive to enter the European competition zone."
"It's all up to you to accomplish this!"
Su Dong looked at Begiristain, who looked much older, gave him a confident smile and said nothing.
He came to Manchester City to lead the team to rise, win the Premier League title, and even the Champions League title, to recreate Maradona's legend in Naples.
There is no need for Begiristain to say this, Su Dong will do his best for this.
…
Manchester City's training base at Carrington is next door to Manchester United.
Ronnie once said that he could kick the ball from Manchester United's training base to Manchester City's training base.
This is not the first time Su Dong has come, but this time is obviously different from before.
Soriano, Guardiola and others welcomed Su Dong at the Carrington training base, giving him enough courtesy.
Coming to the Carrington base again, Su Dong's trip is not just a simple visit. He also has to cooperate with Manchester City to undergo a physical examination, which is also a routine procedure for all new players joining the team.
As for the so-called debut ceremony for Su Dong, there actually wasn't one.
In European football, apart from Real Madrid holding introduction ceremonies for superstars, other teams basically have no such tradition.
After players join the team, they usually hold a press conference, show up in their jerseys and take some photos.
If the player is an influential star, media reporters will be invited to the scene. If the player is an ordinary player, the club will even take photos of him/herself and then send them to major newspapers.
Su Dong will invite media reporters to the Carrington training base when he makes his appearance this time.
Mainly because the Etihad Stadium is still under construction and renovation, it is not convenient, so the launch ceremony was chosen to be held at Carrington.
The physical examination process is also very simple.
Accompanied by the team doctor, Su Dong went to a nearby cooperative hospital for a detailed physical examination. After confirming that there were no problems, both parties returned to the Carrington training base. It was already afternoon by then.
Su Dong's appearance attracted more than a hundred media reporters to Carrington.
Witnessed by the media and management, Su Dong officially signed a professional contract with Soriano. The specific terms were not disclosed to the public, but the media were also able to dig out a lot.
What was really special was that in subsequent media interviews, many reporters asked about the reason why Su Dong joined Manchester City.
Obviously, many people think that Su Dong did it for money.
"That's just one part, but more importantly, Soriano, Begiristain and Guardiola are all good friends of mine. We know each other very well and I'm looking forward to working with them."
Su Dong is optimistic about Manchester City's prospects in the new season. "So far, we have a very competitive lineup of players. The next key is to integrate this lineup and form combat effectiveness. This is the task of all of us."
Head coach Guardiola was subject to great criticism last season. Some people believed that he blindly copied Barcelona's tactics and that they would not work in the Premier League. Su Dong expressed his opposition to this.
"I played for Barcelona for three years and even played against them a lot over the years. I don't agree with this view. On the contrary, I am very much looking forward to Guardiola's success in the Premier League and I firmly believe that he will succeed. This is why I joined Manchester City!"
Su Dong also believes that Manchester City is not as weak as the outside world sees, and there is not only one Su Dong.
"We have a very strong and promising young team. This is our biggest bargaining chip. I believe that in the new season, we will let everyone see a brand new and completely different Manchester City!"
Finally, Su Dong said that he had only one goal in coming to Manchester City, and that was success! "I have no doubt that in the foreseeable future, we will impress the whole world and reach the top of Europe!"
(End of this chapter)
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