Chapter 623 This is called a rich man

Joe Lewis did not come from a wealthy family and had no background at all.

Twenty or thirty years ago, he ran several wool sweater shops in London, targeting the wealthy Japanese tourists of the time.

Later, seeing that many Japanese tourists had difficulty exchanging currency, he opened a foreign exchange store. Unexpectedly, the money earned from this foreign exchange store was even more than that of his sweater shop.

Since then, he began to enter the foreign exchange market and accumulated a considerable fortune by speculating in foreign exchange. In 1996, he acquired ENIC and began to be involved in large-scale foreign exchange transactions. He became a top-notch billionaire, with a net worth of nearly 4 billion pounds at his peak.

In the 1990s, with the advent of the Premier League club listing boom, almost all Premier League teams, including Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, have landed on the London Stock Exchange. Although the news mogul Murdoch's attempt to acquire Manchester United ultimately failed, it stimulated Lewis.

Soon, Lewis teamed up with two Manchester United shareholders, Magnell and McManus, to try to launch a takeover of Manchester United, but failed at the last minute.

However, the failure of the acquisition of Manchester United did not shake Lewis' determination to make money from the football club's stocks, coupled with the emergence of Daniel Levy, a famous gold medal broker in the London Stock Exchange and an avid fan of Tottenham Hotspur.

As a result, the two joined forces and gradually acquired shares in many European teams including Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers, Slavia Prague, CSKA Sofia, AEK Athens, Vicenza, and Basel through ENIC, and even completed controlling stakes.

The peak moment occurred in 1999, when AEK Athens and Slavia Prague took UEFA to court, citing an old rule in European professional football that teams owned by the same person or group could not participate in the same competition for the sake of fair play.

But in the end, UEFA kicked AEK Athens out of the then UEFA Cup.

Since then, ENIC's operations have become difficult.

What is even more terrible is that with the rapid decline of the football club listing craze in the late 1990s, the stocks of almost all listed clubs have been falling, especially Tottenham Hotspur, which even fell to less than one-tenth of its listing price.

Joe Lewis lost a lot of money in this deal.

But it was also at this time that he began to adjust the direction of his business and gradually put resources on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

So, starting in 2003, he bought a large number of Tottenham Hotspur shares and appointed Daniel Levy to take over the White Hart Lane Stadium, and the North London team has seen a strong rise in recent years.

But no matter how well Tottenham Hotspur performed, Joe Lewis never changed his original idea.

He has only one purpose in running the North London team, and that is to make money!

Especially in recent years, with the economic crisis, Joe Lewis has been transferring his assets one after another, investing in medical institutions, bars, restaurants, art collections, etc.

He has long been eager to get rid of the hot potato of Tottenham Hotspur.

From the acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur to now, there is no doubt that now is the closest he is to his goal of cashing out and leaving!

Two hundred million pounds is undoubtedly a very good price.

Ultimately, it is because the competition in the current Premier League is too fierce.

Now, Lewis has to choose between continuing to invest and maintaining his top four position in the league, or simply cashing out and selling the properties, making some money and leaving.

If the offer is 200 million pounds, Lewis can at least earn 100 million.

This also somewhat makes up for the regret that he suffered heavy losses in running the football club in the past few years.

"Prime Minister Hamad, I accept your offer, two hundred million pounds!"

Joe Lewis suddenly stood up in the silent conference room and exhaled heavily.

This old British man, who is already in his seventies, still looks full of vigor and vitality. No wonder he is ranked in the top 300 on the Forbes list. He is definitely a tough guy no matter how you look at him!

"Okay, Mr. Lewis!" Prime Minister Hamad also stood up and laughed, "Give me a week to raise funds!"

Lewis nodded, reached out to button up his suit, and glanced at everyone again. There was nothing for him to do here.

The moment he nodded in agreement, he no longer had anything to do with Tottenham Hotspur.

Daniel Levy and Yang Huan both stood up to see him off. After all, he was an old man, wasn't he?

After Joe Lewis left, those present were all Tottenham Hotspur's shareholders and executives, so they started the meeting directly.

Yang Huan proposed that Daniel Levy continue to serve as the CEO of Tottenham Hotspur because he believes that Daniel Levy is definitely the best club operator in the entire Premier League and even in Europe.

Prime Minister Hamad had no objection and agreed on the spot. He also proposed that his son Hamad be appointed as the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, which was also passed smoothly.

This was already an agreement reached by the Tottenham Hotspur Big Three, and now it's just a formality.

The real highlight is coming next!

"Master Huan told me before that in the new season, the competition in the Premier League will become increasingly fierce," Prime Minister Hamad said with some worry.

Daniel Levy nodded and said, "Yes, that's right. Southampton is still the strongest contender for the championship. Manchester United is still strong and Manchester City is also ambitious. Arsenal will definitely fight hard to stay in the top four of the league, especially this summer, this London rival has set its sights on Ozil and Higuain of Real Madrid."

Interestingly, the reason why Real Madrid sold Ozil, Higuain and other stars in the team was to raise money to buy Gareth Bale and Vidal from Southampton.

"Chelsea lost the Champions League last season and even failed to qualify for the Europa League. Mourinho has returned to the club for the second time this season and Abramovich has decided to open his wallet and make big signings. The Blues' strength will definitely be greatly improved."

"Although Rogers' team sold Suarez for 40 million pounds, its overall strength is still quite good. Coupled with Everton, this season's Premier League will become more brutal than ever before."

Prime Minister Hamad has no idea about these teams or these analyses, and he has no interest in them.

"I want to know what method is available to turn Tottenham Hotspur into the strongest team in the Premier League in the shortest possible time."

Feeling the direct gaze from the Prime Minister of Qatar, Daniel Levy looked at Yang Huan with a wry smile, feeling depressed.

It seems that my new partner is a football idiot!

Do you really think it is that easy to build a strong Premier League team?

At present, almost all famous stars have been taken away by the top teams.

Southampton's rapid rise in three years was due not only to chance but also to the means and vision of recruiting players.

If it were Tottenham Hotspur, even Daniel Levy himself was not sure.

"Master Huan?" Prime Minister Hamad looked at Yang Huan for help.

Everyone present, including Charlene Lahri, immediately realized that Prime Minister Hamad's trust in Yang Huan was genuine.

Yang Huan smiled leisurely, "I've said before that today's professional football is a capital football. Spending a lot of money may not necessarily win a championship, but if you don't spend money, there is definitely no hope!"

Why has Arsenal been without a title for many years?

Don’t talk about whether it’s soft or not, or how great Wenger is, it all comes down to two words: commitment!

No input, no output!

"How do we invest?" Prime Minister Hamad asked again.

Yang Huan's expression is now interesting. Nowadays, even if you have money, you may not know how to spend it!

"It's simple. You can hire high-level players, but there is a science to it. It's best to hire players who are ready to fight and not too old."

After hearing this, Daniel Levi couldn't help but nodded repeatedly.

Master Huan’s suggestion is a good one. Money cannot be spent casually. It must be spent on the right things.

"Age around 25, preferably younger, long-term commitment, choosing a reliable world-famous coach will make it easier to achieve results."

Prime Minister Hamad listened and thought it made sense.

"Since you are going to invest, it depends on how much your budget is." Yang Huan looked at Prime Minister Hamad and asked with a smile.

This is also a test. If you, the Prime Minister of Qatar, turn out to be an absolute miser, and you are talking about investment, you might as well just cut back on your spending and diet.

Prime Minister Hamad also knows this.

He also laughed, "I believe in your vision and wisdom, Master Huan. As long as you like it and can buy it, I can afford it no matter how much it costs!"

These words also boosted the confidence of all Tottenham Hotspur management present.

What is a local tyrant?

This is called a tycoon!

No matter who you want to buy, just say it directly and buy whoever you like.

If this isn’t a rich person, then who is?

Daniel Levy immediately came out to make his presence felt and continued speaking along the lines of what Young Master Huan had just said.

"In fact, we have introduced Gary Cahill and Markovic from Southampton, Moutinho from Atletico Madrid, Eriksen from Ajax, Emre Can from Bayern Munich, and Argentine left-back Marcos Rojo from Sporting Lisbon. They are all famous stars and newcomers with outstanding strength."

Prime Minister Hamad nodded immediately. Although he did not know these players, he knew that they were all recommended by Yang Huan.

In the past few years, the vision of Southampton's scouting team has been world-famous.

Everyone knows that the player the Saints have their eyes on must be the right one.

"So, right now, we are missing a center!"

But as soon as Daniel Levy finished speaking, Yang Huan shook his head and sighed.

"Daniel, you are right, but your vision is too narrow!"

"Too narrow-minded?" Daniel Levy was stunned. What does that mean?

Even Prime Minister Hamad and everyone present found it strange.

Didn’t you, Master Huan, just praise Daniel Levy?

Why are you criticizing again now?

"I told you that you have a narrow mind, so don't be angry!" Yang Huan looked at Daniel Levy with a smile.

"You are still using the old thinking of Tottenham Hotspur. Don't you think that we are completely different now than in the past? In the past, we could still reuse Aaron Lennon, but now, can we just make do with him?"

Well……

There was complete silence.

Everyone was choked by Master Huan's words.

Aaron Lennon? Still good?

Master Huan, isn't your ambition a bit too high?

At least he is an England international, okay?

Even though he only shows his presence occasionally, there's no need to belittle him like this, right?

"If you ask me, Tottenham Hotspur's current situation is to be in the top four of the league, or even to challenge for the league championship, then the players they introduce must meet this standard. So players like Aaron Lennon, Huddlestone, Sandro, Kaboul and so on obviously do not meet the team's goals and positioning."

"For players like this, rather than keeping them in the team and wasting their salary, it would be better to just sell them to cash in, and then bring in a group of stars in their prime to further enhance the team's strength!"

It’s true, at first glance, Yang Huan’s words seemed a bit ridiculous, but upon careful consideration, they made sense.

Players like Aaron Lennon are not as good as the best players in the Premier League, but better than the worst. They are the kind of players who can be used but cannot bring much improvement to the team.

If Tottenham Hotspur's goal is still to stay at the top of the league and strive to break into the top four, then Aaron Lennon should continue to stay, but now it is obviously different.

Rather than keeping Aaron Lennon but not being able to use him and letting him depreciate, it would be more cost-effective to sell him as soon as possible and cash in on his current status as a national team player and his good performance last season.

But before Daniel Levy and others could react, Yang Huan started laughing again.

"I have a few candidates here who can definitely help Tottenham Hotspur improve its strength to a higher level. I just don't know if you have the courage!"