Chapter 732 A Game We Can't Lose

"Ron Gourlay is truly a rare talent!"

Florentino sat in the presidential stand of St. Mary's Stadium, looking at the fanatical football atmosphere on the scene, and couldn't help but express his inner emotion and admiration.

As a former Manchester United executive, Chelsea's chief operating officer and CEO, Ron Gourlay is no stranger to the core circles of European football. On the contrary, almost everyone knows his abilities.

At least, under his leadership, Manchester United and Chelsea were quite successful in both stadium management and transfer negotiations. After he left, the management level of both teams declined, especially Chelsea.

With Mourinho returning to power this season and the team's unsatisfactory performance, the attendance at Stamford Bridge has been unsatisfactory, which has made many Blues fans miss the days of Peter Kenyon and Ron Gourlay.

Yang Huan sat next to him, just smiling and saying nothing, not even bothering to say a polite word.

If Florentino praised him for something else, he might have been a little modest, but when it came to stadium management, there was nothing to be modest about.

Just now, he accompanied Florentino to the Glory Stadium, Southampton's new stadium, for a walk and tour, which almost shocked the president of Real Madrid to the point of dropping his eyes.

Because according to the data provided by Yang Huan, Southampton's annual revenue from the new stadium will now exceed 300 million euros.

If the broadcasting fees and sponsorship fees are added, the total amount will exceed 500 million, and catching up with Real Madrid is a foregone conclusion.

As for whether it can surpass that, it depends on whether Real Madrid's revenue this year can achieve a substantial increase as Florentino expected.

But a new stadium can bring in 300 million euros in revenue, which is an amazing achievement even in the United States.

But Southampton did it!

And according to Yang Huan's plan, this is just the first step. With the maturity of the entire artificial island business circle and the progress of the Southampton old town renovation project, this place will gradually prosper. And with the operation and promotion of the Saints fan points system, Southampton's revenue will also continue to rise.

In simple terms, tickets to the Glory Stadium are free, but the Saints' income is even higher!

It really proves the saying that there is no free lunch in this world!

But from the fans' perspective, they are not at a disadvantage either, and can even be considered to be enjoying some benefits.

"Master Huan, I heard that Atletico Madrid has recently hired a third-party agency to conduct research. It seems that you are planning to transplant Southampton's system to Madrid!" Florentino asked tentatively.

This was news he had just received recently, and it was said that the investigation had already begun for some time.

Yang Huan chuckled, how could he possibly hide such a thing from others?

"It is impossible to completely copy. Every place has its own unique characteristics. Southampton's characteristics cannot be copied by Madrid, and vice versa. Moreover, the tourists and consumers targeted are completely different. Therefore, this matter is not that simple!"

After a pause, Yang Huan continued: "We started conducting market research in Southampton when we started to invest in the stadium, but even so, various problems still arise now, and everyone is very busy."

“So…” Yang Huan smiled helplessly at Florentino, “Florentino, you should know that this kind of thing is hard to say, but this is a general direction, and I will not waver or change this direction!”

Florentino also understood.

If integration is the development trend of modern football tactics, then the diversification of stadium operations is also the club's biggest growth point in the future and the most critical potential.

Because every team has at least hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of loyal fans in the region. Among these fans, tens of thousands of them come to the stadium every week. Asking them to come to the stadium on time to watch the game and leave after the game is simply a waste of resources and a very extravagant stupidity!

But like Southampton, by creating a complete business ecosystem that caters to the needs of fans and keeping as many fans as possible around the stadium, this will not only bring extremely rich commercial income to the team, but will also greatly enhance the fans' loyalty and sense of belonging.

There is no doubt that at this point, Southampton is ahead of all teams in European football, and it can even be said that they are far ahead.

In fact, if Southampton succeeds, I am afraid that in the future many wealthy people will come to Europe to buy teams, and their first consideration will no longer be the wealthy clubs, but which team has greater development potential around the stadium and has more and more loyal local fans.

If this is the case, Manchester United will definitely lose to Manchester City, Liverpool will lose to Everton, and Real Madrid will probably lose to Atletico Madrid. It's truly a drama of a loser's counterattack!

"You, don't be so ungrateful. We at Real Madrid want to learn from you, but we can't!"

Having said that, Florentino let out a long sigh.

The internal interests of Real Madrid are intertwined, the power structure is also complicated, and there are a lot of fucked-up things. Even he, the chairman, may not be able to sort them out sometimes!

"Okay, I want to learn from you guys. Membership system, various discounts, various government care, how cool is that?"

Seeing Florentino about to refute, Yang Huan immediately took the lead, "Don't tell me no, not long ago, the Spanish Minister of Sports just said that he would help some teams to relieve their high debts. If it weren't for the overwhelming opposition from public opinion, I'm afraid it would have been implemented long ago!"

Florentino was really speechless about this.

Because it is true, but it's not just Real Madrid, teams like Barcelona and even Atletico Madrid will benefit.

However, Florentino was unwilling to continue on this sensitive topic and immediately changed the subject.

"Master Huan, I heard that when you went to Barcelona, ​​Rosell talked to you about the transfer, is that right?"

Yang Huan pondered in his heart, and on the surface he was a little surprised, "Wow, you know all this? Did you plant a bug on me?"

Florentino laughed. "Rosell wants to strengthen the team, especially the forward and midfield. So if I'm not mistaken, he should be interested in Suarez and Modric, right?"

Barcelona is interested in Suarez and Modric, which has been a rumor in the media for the past year.

The former can further strengthen Barcelona's forward strength. Just imagine, how beautiful the picture would be if it were a trident formed by Suarez, Neymar and Messi?

As for Modric, Xavi and Iniesta are both old and their form is declining rapidly. Barcelona really needs a midfielder in his prime to support the team, and Modric is undoubtedly a suitable candidate.

After hearing this, Yang Huan secretly laughed in his heart, "Mr. Fu, you guessed wrong. Russell has no money at all, okay?"

He still owes me a lot of debts, with IOUs written on them? And he has the money to poach my girlfriend?

But on the surface, he shook his head, "You know all this? I seriously suspect that you sent someone to follow me!"

Florentino shook his head and smiled again, "Master Huan, I believe you know my character well, so there is no need for us to say any extra polite words. If you want to sell Suarez and Modric, I will definitely buy them. No matter how much Barcelona offers, I will definitely pay more than them!"

What is confidence? What is courage?

This is called confidence! This is called courage!

What about Rosell and Calderon? Compared with the great President Florentino, they are so inferior, right?

"Okay, I'll remember it!" Yang Huan nodded.

Florentino decided to strike while the iron was hot, "Then what about the Di Maria-Modric swap..."

"I still say the same thing. If you lose this game, I will promise you!" Yang Huan said with a grin.

Florentino also laughed and cursed in his heart, this little fox is so cunning.

In fact, he also knows in his heart that Barcelona may not have the money to buy Modric now, and Southampton has no intention of selling Suarez at all.

However, he was also a little worried. After all, the conditions of Xavi and Iniesta were declining too quickly. If Rosell was really desperate and sold everything he had to buy Modric, Real Madrid would suffer a heavy loss.

After pursuing her for so long and hard, she was snatched away by Rosenborg in the end. How can Florentino and Real Madrid put their faces?

For Florentino, money is not a problem at all.

Five million more or five million less is not a big deal at all. The key is that Southampton is willing to sell!

Judging from Yang Huan’s tone, this deal seems likely.

It’s just that Southampton may not have dealt with some aspects yet, so we can’t agree to it for the time being.

After all, the transfer of core players within the team is often a very troublesome matter and cannot be rushed.

While the two bosses were talking about their bossy things in the stands, in the stadium, accompanied by the crazy cheers of Southampton fans, players from both teams walked into the stadium one after another.

Southampton, playing at home, did not make any major adjustments to their lineup.

The goalkeeper is still Neuer, and the defense line is David Alaba, Javi Martinez, Varane and Azpilicueta.

Danilo, who performed well in the last game, was replaced by Spanish right-back Azpilicueta in this game.

The right back was facing the side of Real Madrid's left winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Judging from the starting lineup, Bielsa also took a defensive stance on the right.

The midfield is a combination of Modric, Toni Kroos and Kaka, and the front trident is Hazard, Ibrahimovic and Suarez.

Among them, Hazard did not appear in the match against Newcastle after returning from injury, so in this game, Bielsa arranged for him to be the main player at home against Real Madrid.

As for Hazard's condition, this is also a concern for many media.

Southampton has sent out its strongest lineup, and Real Madrid is not to be outdone.

Because Diego Lopez made a low-level mistake in the first leg against Sanchez, captain Casillas returned to the starting lineup in this game.

The back line consists of Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos and Carvajal, which is also the standard configuration of Real Madrid this season.

The midfielders are Di Maria, Xabi Alonso and Vidal, and the front trident is Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Gareth Bale.

Both teams obviously attach great importance to this game and almost all of them will play with the strongest lineups they can put together.

So, as the two teams lined up, the atmosphere at St. Mary's Stadium suddenly became tense.

More than 30,000 Saints fans cheered in the stands, sang Southampton's team song loudly, and cheered for their team.

The head coaches of both teams were standing on the sidelines as if they were facing a formidable enemy, watching the game and waiting for the whistle to blow.

I was secretly looking forward to it in my heart. I must not lose this game!

This is a game that neither side can afford to lose!