Chapter 616 Shearing Sheep

When talking about the management of Premier League clubs, there is one team that must not be ignored.

What? Manchester United?

Wrong, it's Everton!

A very interesting phenomenon is that any fan who is familiar with the Premier League immediately thinks of Moyes when mentioning Everton.

They will attribute all the achievements Everton has made in the past few years to the Scotsman.

Little did people know that in Moyes' first season as Everton coach, although he successfully led the Toffees to the seventh place in the league, in the second season, Everton's ranking dropped rapidly to the seventeenth place in the league, and they were just a little bit away from relegation.

In this year, 2004, new owner Bill Kenwright took over the Toffees.

The first deal he made after joining Everton was to sell Rooney and use the money from selling Rooney to strengthen the team.

That season, Everton achieved the club's best result since the Premier League, finishing fourth in the league and entering the Champions League. Moyes also became a famous dark horse coach in the Premier League.

But in the 2005-2006 season, Everton lost its positioning and its results were greatly affected, and it fell again to eleventh place.

It was from that season that Bill Kenwright adjusted Everton's positioning, completely gave up its ambitions in the European arena, and concentrated on maintaining a mid-to-upper ranking in the Premier League.

By 2008, Bill Kenwright was on Cash Harris's client list in the City of London.

He wants to sell Everton!

The reason is simple, he has clearly seen the model and gameplay of today's professional leagues!

From Florentino taking over Real Madrid to Abramovich acquiring Chelsea, the entire European professional football has undergone earth-shaking changes, and capital has strongly dominated professional football.

For Everton, the team was already heavily in debt long before Bill Kenwright took over. The team even had to mortgage Rooney to the bank in exchange for a loan to survive. Without strong capital backing, Bill Kenwright would not be able to succeed at all.

So, after the setbacks in the 2005-2006 season, Bill Kenwright immediately adjusted the team's management direction.

Since then, Everton's worst finish has been eighth in the league and their best has been fifth.

But more importantly, since 2012, Everton, which had been losing money every year, has made a small profit.

This means that Bill Kenwright has found a way for small teams to survive!

So what is Kenwright’s approach?

It's very simple. While ensuring the team's competitiveness, invest as little as possible, tend to focus on practical, cost-effective transfers, or rent players from big teams, and strictly control the team's salary and operating costs.

As we all know, the broadcasting rights of the Premier League have been rising year by year. As long as your salary structure and operating costs do not increase, you will be close to making a profit.

In the foreseeable future, the most pragmatic approach for Bill Kenwright is to continue this momentum, reduce the team's debt through profitability, and then find ways to raise funds and resources to build a new stadium.

Once Everton's new stadium is completed and the team's finances are healthy, Everton will be relieved.

However, I'm afraid that by that time, Bill Kenwright will no longer have the ambition to give it a try.

After all, for Everton, big bets are very exciting, but if they lose, they may lose everything!

For Everton, who are at a disadvantage in terms of objective conditions such as the city and the fans, perhaps the most pragmatic self-positioning is the current situation. As long as they continue to firmly lock in the upper middle position, they will be considered successful!

…

After hearing Yang Huan's detailed introduction to the business models of mid-level teams such as Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Aston Villa, Prime Minister Hamad and others were all surprised, yet also convinced.

He was surprised to find out that running a football club involves so much knowledge.

What I admire is Yang Huan’s familiarity and understanding of professional football, as well as his candid introduction.

"Master Huan, based on what you said, how do you think we should play?" Prime Minister Hamad asked concernedly.

Yang Huan smiled when he heard this. He felt that he seemed to have stolen Cash Harris' business.

"Then we need to look at how you position yourself, what you want, and what you can give."

Prime Minister Hamad and the Minister of Sports looked at each other and nodded in unison.

"We hope to use the Premier League team as a platform to promote the image of our country, and it would be best if we could become the focus of global public attention!"

Yang Huan knew what was going on. To put it bluntly, it was just like the Abu Dhabi consortium's acquisition of Manchester City.

Judging from what the Qatari consortium did with Paris Saint-Germain, if they really acquired the Premier League team, they would probably spend a lot of money.

"I can't tell you how to do it, but I can be very sure of one thing..."

Having said this, Yang Huan paused deliberately, letting Prime Minister Hamad and others look at him inquiringly before he continued.

"... No matter what, we must establish a set of effective operating mechanisms in the shortest possible time and try to control the team's financial and salary structure within a reasonable and safe range."

Southampton's finances have always been controlled within a reasonable range. Although there are debts, there is little risk.

Prime Minister Hamad nodded repeatedly and winked at the Minister of Sports, who immediately understood what he meant.

"Master Huan!" The Minister of Sports looked at Yang Huan and smiled. "We all know that Southampton has been the most popular and successful team in the Premier League in the past three years. Especially in the past season, they reversed Manchester United and won the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League as a newly promoted team."

When Yang Huan heard this, he knew that the main point of the play was about to begin.

"To be honest, we are very interested in Southampton, but we also know that you, Master Huan, have invested a lot of effort and energy in this team, so we hope to cooperate with you, Master Huan."

"Oh?" This was somewhat beyond Yang Huan's expectations.

It turns out they want to cooperate, not acquire.

"We are willing to invest 300 million pounds to hold 30% of Southampton's shares. By then, Master Huan, you will still be the major shareholder of Southampton. We also promise that we will not interfere in the operation of the team."

Three hundred million pounds?

Yang Huan was actually a little surprised.

No wonder Hamad just said that the price he offered must satisfy him. So this is what he meant!

I have to admit that this offer is indeed very attractive.

300 million pounds for a 30% stake, which means that they value Southampton's market value at around 10 billion pounds.

Is it very high?

It is indeed quite high, if we simply calculate it based on a football club!

But Southampton is just a football team now?

If so, what is the huge construction project of the new stadium?

What about Staplewood training ground?

What is the real estate project that is being built on the site of St. Mary's Stadium?

Therefore, a valuation of around 10 billion can only be considered reasonable for Southampton.

Yang Huan even had a hunch that the other party's psychological price was definitely not this!

Sure enough, seeing Yang Huan remained silent, Prime Minister Hamad thought that Yang Huan was not interested, and immediately winked at the Minister of Sports, who nodded slightly and spoke again.

"Master Huan, we can definitely discuss the price. We are really sincere and hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with you. We believe that in the future, we will definitely have the opportunity to have more comprehensive cooperation."

Qatar lacks everything except money!

Yang Huan had no doubt about Qatar's sincerity.

Because there are many, many things in this world that even if you have money, you may not be able to buy them or participate in them.

To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Yang Huan, would Hamad have been able to get involved with Prince William and others?

If it weren't for Yang Huan, would Hamad be able to get a share of the Southampton city renovation plan?

If it weren't for Young Master Huan, Hamad might not even be able to enter the upper class society!

So, Qatar now wants to use money to pave the way.

Prime Minister Hamad sat aside all the time. Although he did not speak actively due to his status, he was always keeping an eye on Yang Huan.

But he found that he really couldn't understand or grasp this young man from China at all.

Young Master Huan always had a faint smile on his face, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.

But it was obvious that the conditions offered by me were not enough to impress him!

Just when Prime Minister Hamad glanced at the Minister of Sports again, indicating that he should raise the offer, Yang Huan laughed and spoke.

"Prime Minister Hamad, to be honest, I am also very interested in cooperating with you, but I am really sorry about your investment in Southampton."

These words could not help but make Prime Minister Hamad and others look gloomy.

The feeling of being rejected in person is really unpleasant.

However, they were mentally prepared for this.

Hamad had told his father before that Yang Huan had invested so much effort and energy in Southampton, so how could he sell his team for money?

But Prime Minister Hamad feels that he should still try harder.

Because he doesn't believe that there is anyone in this world who can't get along with money.

In his opinion, the fundamental reason why he could not convince Yang Huan was that the offer he made was not high enough.

So, he decided to raise his offer again.

"Master Huan, if it's because of the price, I believe..."

But before he could finish his words, Yang Huan waved his hand and shook his head.

"Prime Minister Hamad, I must make one thing clear. No matter how high the price you offer or how generous the conditions you give, I will never sell Southampton, even if it is just a part of the ownership. This is impossible!"

Yang Huan's words were very decisive and left no room for discussion.

"As you just said, I have invested a lot of effort and energy in this team. It took me three years to bring Southampton to where it is today. I dare say that no matter how much money any other team invests now, it is impossible to build a Southampton!"

Are you kidding? The process of Yang Huan building Southampton was full of a lot of accidental factors that could not be replicated. These were opportunities that would never come back again. If he wasn't a time traveler, who could have grasped them?

Now, we finally got Southampton out, and you just want to come and shear the wool?

Is this possible?

Is there such a cheap thing in the world?

Prime Minister Hamad and the Minister of Sports looked at each other and immediately saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Obviously, they could all hear that Yang Huan's attitude was very firm, and his tone did not give them any room for maneuver. It even seemed that if they continued to dwell on this issue, then this meeting would most likely end in a bad mood.

But just when Prime Minister Hamad and others were disappointed and thought that the matter would end there, Yang Huan suddenly had a brilliant idea.

, read please.