Chapter 60 Super Upstart

"I am also very confused!"

Charlene Lahiri gave a wry smile, but on her beautiful face, even a wry smile was particularly moving.

As a result, the number of her followers on WeChat increased again by nearly two thousand.

"I once asked this question to Southampton's new boss, Mr. Yang Huan, but after listening to my question, he asked me another question in return."

"What's the problem?" Lineker was interested.

He believes that not only himself, but all the viewers who watch the daily matches must be very interested in Southampton's maverick boss. If there is a chance to invite him to do a show in the future, the ratings will definitely soar.

Charlene Lahri sat on a soft sofa chair, crossed her legs, and showed off her charming long legs to the camera without any hesitation. "He asked me in return, 'Does the football club make money?'"

Lineker and Alan Shearer were dumbfounded when they heard this.

Yeah, do football clubs make money?

"Manchester United was known as the most profitable football club back then, but before the Glazer family bought it, its annual profit was only over 10 million. After the acquisition, its situation became even more dire. As for Bayern Munich, which is known as a benchmark for business operations, what happened to the shares of companies such as Audi and Adidas?"

At this point, Charlene Lahri shook her head helplessly. "I found that he was right. Which football club is profitable? In other words, how many clubs can be truly financially healthy?"

"I have to admit that he is right. Professional football, even in Europe, cannot make money!" Lineker had to admit this. "However, we should all be aware that the most important thing in running a football club is sustainable operation. How does Southampton solve this problem?"

Charlene Lahri replied: "Yes, sustainable operation, this requires vision, and looking back over the past period of time, Southampton previously signed a contract with sponsor Umbro for £2 million, but this figure has now increased to £5 million."

"Southampton's shirt ads weren't selling well before, but now some companies are willing to pay £5 million, but Southampton has rejected them outright. There are also other offers like stadium ads, brand licensing, etc."

"According to my prediction, Southampton's commercial revenue this season will at least double that of last season."

Lineker and Alan Shearer were both very surprised. They did not expect Southampton's commercial revenue to increase so quickly.

"According to the assessment of Cash Harris, a famous football investment banker in the City of London, Southampton's market value in July was about 20 million pounds, but now, Southampton's market value exceeds 100 million."

At this point, Charlene Lahiri smiled again, "But don't forget, they are just a League One team."

"Oh my God!" Lineker exclaimed, "In just over a month, the market value has skyrocketed more than five times. This is simply a miracle, it's incredible!"

Alan Shearer was also shocked and felt that the speed was too fast.

Charlene Lahiri was also somewhat amazed. She could be said to have witnessed everything that had happened in Southampton over the past month with her own eyes. There were even many things that she was more familiar with and understood better than outsiders.

If she were to make the assessment, Southampton's market value of 100 million pounds would still be underestimated.

"Okay, thank you very much Ms. Charlene Lahri for your analysis!" Lineker ended the topic, "But let's go back to the previous topic. Why was Southampton able to attract Ibrahimovic and Neymar to join?"

Charlene Lahiri smiled and said, "I told you this is actually a problem."

"Some people say that the value of a player is reflected on the football field, but the value of a professional player is not just reflected on the football field. Just like when we saw Real Madrid introduce Cristiano Ronaldo, how many championships do you think he has to help the team win on the field to earn back his transfer fee and salary cost?"

"In fact, the value of professional players lies largely outside the football field, that is, in commercial operations."

After a pause, Charlene Lahiri smiled confidently again, "Then let's look back and see if Ibrahimovic and Neymar's commercial value has increased or decreased after they moved to Southampton?"

"According to an assessment by the City of London Investment Bank, although their value on the football field has declined, their overall value is rising because more people know them, understand them and pay attention to them, and these are all valuable."

Charlene Lahri's statement is completely different from what traditional football media people say.

This also made Lineker and Alan Shearer unable to digest for a while.

"When Mr. Yang Huan was interviewed by me, there was one sentence that left a deep impression on me. He said that he hoped that one day in the future, after the new stadium is completed, Southampton will be able to tell all fans that our tickets are free and anyone can come to watch the game anytime they want."

"This is impossible!" Lineker shook his head vigorously.

Alan Shearer also felt that "this is too idealistic!"

Charlene Lahiri laughed. "I also thought it was unlikely at first, but then I thought about it seriously and realized it is possible. I just don't know how far we are from this ideal."

…………

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When this special episode of the daily match was broadcast on BBC-1, it immediately caused a viewing frenzy.

No one expected that such an impromptu special program would have a peak audience rating of 19.6 percent after it was broadcast on BBC-1, far exceeding the audience rating of the independent television station in the same time period.

That is to say, more than 12 million people were watching this episode at the same time.

The total population of the United Kingdom is only over 60 million.

It’s incredible to think about it, this is already the highest ratings for the Daily Match in the past one or two years.

Although the average viewership of the entire program was only 16.2%, the number of viewers still exceeded 10 million.

This once again became a national topic throughout the UK. The next day, almost everyone, all newspapers, and all netizens were discussing this matter, especially some of the inside information revealed by Charlene Lahiri on the show.

For example, as Yang Huan said, we should strive to make Southampton's game tickets free one day.

This idea immediately attracted enthusiastic support from countless young netizens.

"From today on, I will choose to support Southampton. Please call me a saint from now on!"

This comment was pushed to the top of the comment sections of major news websites.

This proves one thing once again: free is the ultimate killer weapon, and this is true all over the world.

But many people are skeptical about Southampton's approach, believing it to be a hype.

"Since the beginning of the new season, we have seen that despite Southampton's massive signings, the team has never been able to form a fighting force."

"In the third round just past, Southampton was tied 1:1 at home by Leyton Orient. This means that Southampton, which was highly expected by countless fans before the season, is currently ranked 20th in the League One standings, just one step away from the relegation zone."

"We have to admit that some of Southampton's unique ideas and business philosophy are indeed commendable, but the most important thing in professional football is to rely on results."

Southampton supporters also refuted this kind of statement, believing that the team's current situation is mainly due to the pain brought about by the reform. I believe everyone knows how complicated Bielsa's tactical system is.

“Has anyone ever experienced a great reform that happened all at once?”

“The answer is no!”

Charlene Lahiri, who became an instant hit after the special episode of Daily Match and quickly became the perfect goddess in the eyes of countless British otakus, published a report in the Southern Echo, elaborating on her analysis of Southampton's current situation.

"A lot of people say that Southampton has problems, but in my opinion, there are no problems with this team."

"Yes, in the past three games, they have drawn two and lost one, but all this was achieved without Ibrahimovic and Neymar. The team has replaced almost half of the starting lineup in just over a month, and even the coach's tactical style is completely different."

"Southampton has opened its Staplewood training base. I believe that all fans who enter this training base should be able to feel the atmosphere within the team."

"The league has just started, it's too early to say Southampton is not good enough!"

"I believe Southampton will explode soon."

Southampton did not make any comments or responses to the comments from the outside media, and the team continued as usual.

Two days after announcing the signing of Neymar, Southampton held another press conference on WeChat, this time introducing the team's signing of Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal from Leverkusen for 20 million euros.

This is seen by the outside world as a key signing for Southampton to further strengthen the team's overall strength.

At the same time, the omnipresent Sun newspaper took a picture of Schalke 04 general manager Peter Peters and agent Klotter arriving in London at the same time, and the news that Neuer would join the Premier League team spread like wildfire.

Southampton announced that they had signed central defender Nastasic from Serbia's Belgrade Red Star for one million pounds, but the central defender will be loaned to Zemun in the Serbian Second Division for one year and will make his debut for Southampton next summer.

But this piece of news was drowned out by the whirlpool of Neuer's arrival in the Premier League, and no one would pay attention to this inconspicuous little character.

There are different opinions about the team that Neuer might join.

Some say Manchester United, some say Arsenal, and some say Liverpool or Manchester City.

In short, almost all those who are associated with Neuer are top giants.

No one thought it would be Southampton!

Two days later, Southampton held another press conference on WeChat to announce that Neuer had joined Southampton.

The whole of Britain, the whole of Germany, the whole of Europe, and even the whole world were in an uproar.

It felt as if the United States had dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. Everyone was filled with shock.

Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Vidal, and now Neuer, a world number one center forward, a world-recognized super genius, a powerful midfielder who became famous in the World Cup, and a future German goalkeeper who is highly regarded by the outside world.

He actually joined Southampton?

Why?

Why is this team called a super upstart by fans?

What is so magical about this team?

Why did they choose to join Southampton one by one?

Is it just because this team has money?

Or does this team really have some magical power?

Rummenigge, one of the Big Three of Bayern Munich, said in an interview with German Bild that he was disappointed that Neuer chose to join Southampton because he was supposed to join Bayern Munich.

"We proposed a transfer to Schalke 04, but Schalke 04 refused to negotiate with us. They finally chose Southampton, who has a lot of money. We can't do anything about it."

Germany national team coach Loew also expressed strong concern about Neuer joining Southampton during an interview with the media. "All German internationals must maintain fierce competition in the league and maintain a good competitive state. I don't think the English League One can bring Neuer's strength improvement. I will talk to him about this matter very seriously."

German football legend Beckenbauer also questioned Neuer's choice, "The only reason Neuer rejected Bayern Munich is that we are not as rich as Southampton."

As people from all walks of life in Germany have expressed their opinions, many fans and media have also speculated about how much Neuer's transfer fee is.

Is it higher than when Buffon transferred to Juventus?

Football Giants