Chapter 749 If something goes wrong, I will take responsibility!
It was still the apron of Frankfurt International Airport, still in the same position as last time, and there was still an airport shuttle bus parked behind me.
When the Boeing plane that Yang Huan borrowed from Hamad slowly landed on the runway of the airport again, Thomas Lake breathed a sigh of relief and immediately went to greet it.
But this time, it was not Yang Huan who got off the plane.
The first person to walk out of the cabin was Dietmar Beiersdorf, the partner who was ordered to go north to Hamburg. As soon as he appeared, he immediately nodded slightly to Thomas Lake, as if to say that everything was going well.
Following closely behind him came a white-haired, tall and slightly thin old man who seemed to be in good spirits.
Thomas Lake recognized him the moment he saw him.
This man is not very old, about sixty years old. He is the chairman of Hamburg, Karl Edgar Kerkhove.
Following Khov was a middle-aged German man wearing a gray suit. He was about 40 years old, but looked very gentlemanly and his looks were almost as good as Löw's.
Oliver Kruse, former Bayern Munich international and current director of football at Hamburg.
Thomas Lake did not recognize the next two people who came out, but Beiersdorf had called him before and said that they were both members of the Hamburg board of directors and former Hamburg celebrities.
This also made Thomas Lake involuntarily think of what Yang Huan had said before.
For some people, celebrities are a panacea that works time and time again and can cure all diseases.
If you encounter any problem that you can’t solve, you can never go wrong by looking for a famous person!
But according to his understanding, Hamburg's poor management over the past few years was precisely due to this group of celebrities.
Let’s not talk about others, let’s just talk about the football director Kruse.
Born in Karlsruhe, he peaked at Bayern Munich in the 1990s, then moved to Austria and became the football director of the Austrian Salzburg Red Bull team. A year later, he moved to Graz, Austria, and did a good job, bringing Graz a league championship.
In 2010, he was recruited to Karlsruhe with a large sum of money. The team, which had been relegated to the German Second Division, hoped that he could save the team.
But what is the result?
Three years later, Karlsruhe was relegated from the Bundesliga to the 3rd division.
But what is interesting is that Oliver Kruse was not affected by Karlsruhe's relegation. Instead, he jumped to Hamburg and became the football director of Hamburg. This really makes people worry about Karl Edgar Kerkhove's selection of players.
Some media even joked that it was because Cruze was handsome!
As soon as he saw this group of people coming out, Thomas Lake immediately went up to them and smiled from afar.
"Hello, everyone, welcome to Frankfurt!"
Beiersdorf immediately introduced Thomas Lake to the side.
It turned out that the other two people he didn't know were Peter Nogli and Holger Hieronymus.
Both of them are Hamburg's legendary players and core stars during their glorious past.
"Everyone. Please follow me!"
Following Thomas Lake's gesture, everyone present immediately walked towards the nearby airport reception car.
After getting in the car, the driver drove to the passage of Terminal 1 of the airport.
Follow the passage and enter the Sheraton Hotel.
But this time, instead of going to Yang Huan's room, he took them directly to the hotel's high-end conference room.
"Master Huan, we're here!"
Thomas Lake received the Hamburg management while calling Yang Huan.
In less than three minutes, Yang Huan, accompanied by Cash Harris, Long Wu and two representative lawyers, pushed open the door of the conference room and walked in with a smile.
Beiersdorf also immediately stood up and took the initiative to introduce everyone present to Yang Huan.
In his heart, Yang Huan looked down on these guys who were just sitting there doing nothing, but at the moment he had to put on a smile and pretend to be nice to them, even pretending to be sincere.
Hamburg chairman John Khoff was full of praise for Yang Huan's Southampton's away win over Bayern Munich two days ago. He believed that the Saints would be the number one favorite to win the Champions League this season and said that Hamburg was very much looking forward to cooperating with Southampton.
After some polite exchanges, both sides quickly got down to business.
In the past few days, Thomas Reck had frequent contact with Hamburg's management, but more often with Khoff and Kreuzer. This time, Hamburg's transformation into a joint-stock company was their doing.
It should be said that since one party is willing to sell and the other is willing to buy, it can basically be said that they hit it off.
But there are still differences.
For example, how many shares should be sold?
According to the information Yang Huan obtained from Thomas Lake, Hamburg's original intention was to sell only 25% of the shares, and the offer price was 30 million Euros. However, during the negotiation, Thomas Lake suggested that 25% was too little.
He also said that Yang Huan hoped to get a higher stake and the price would be more negotiable.
So, after several contacts between the two parties, Thomas Lake did a pretty good job and negotiated a 35% stake, and Yang Huan offered 45 million euros, which was much higher than the previous offer.
But soon, the negotiations between the two sides ran into trouble over the number of board members.
Hamburg was only willing to give out two places at most, but Yang Huan naturally couldn't agree to that.
Because after holding 35% of Hamburg's shares, Yang Huan became the major shareholder. If he could not have a say at the club's board of directors and participate in the club's decision-making, what was the point of these shares?
Oh, is it possible that I am going to give Berlusconi money for free like Thohir did?
Therefore, Yang Huan's attitude is also very firm.
Finally, with the help of Beiersdorf, the two sides reached a compromise.
Yang Huan’s request was that since the club had been changed into a joint-stock company, it should hire a professional manager to reform and reorganize the company’s management system, instead of being in chaos like in the past.
And this professional manager must be appointed by him!
In addition, Yang Huan also hopes to be involved in the team's transfer operations and daily management, so he proposed to add a technical director, who would be appointed by himself.
After negotiations between the two sides, Hamburg agreed to the previous proposal.
Hamburg initially disagreed with the latter proposal, but then Yang Huan proposed Beiersdorfer, and Hamburg finally agreed to this choice.
In this way, although Yang Huan only has two seats on the board of directors, he holds real power rather than just a figurehead.
Of course, if the board of directors wanted to find fault, Yang Huan would still be at a disadvantage with two director seats.
But you can’t become fat in one bite, take it slow!
After the two sides reached a preliminary agreement, Kekhov proposed to meet with Yang Huan in person.
So, this meeting in Frankfurt took place.
"Master Huan, I wonder when the 45 million euros will be credited to your account?" Khoff asked with great concern.
Defaulting on debts is very common in professional football, so he is a little worried.
Even though Yang Huan is famous, who says that people with a good reputation won't cheat?
Yang Huan laughed, "Don't worry, as long as we sign the contract, I will pay you right away!"
Upon hearing the news, the Hamburg directors were relieved and exclaimed.
These Chinese people are really rich. They just took out 45 million euros so easily.
As if he was afraid that the Hamburg directors would not believe him, Thomas Lake, who was sitting next to him, also said, "Master Huan has a very high credit rating in our Deutsche Bank. He can use more than 100 million yuan at any time. He can pay at any time!"
One hundred million? More than that?
The group of Hamburg directors present were amazed again.
My goodness, this is too rich, right?
Oh, by the way, I heard that he sold his stocks to Apple not long ago and seemed to have made 20 billion. No wonder he is so wealthy.
"Then I wonder what specific personnel arrangements Master Huan will make?" Khoff asked again.
Since Dietmar Beiersdorf has been chosen as the technical director, what about the club's CEO?
Yang Huan smiled slightly and looked at Thomas Lake, "Here, it's him!"
"he?"
"I?"
Not only were everyone shocked, even Thomas Lake himself was taken aback.
No wonder Young Master Huan had to prepare so much materials and conduct so much investigation on his own.
It turns out that he wanted me to join the management of Hamburg!
"Master Huan. How...how can I do this?" The elite talent of Deutsche Bank was shocked.
"I have never been involved in club management and have no experience in this area!"
"Yes, Master Huan!"
Oliver Cruze, who had been silent all this time, also spoke.
After the club was transformed into a joint-stock company, he had been coveting this position, so naturally he wanted to fight for it now.
"Running a football club is completely different from other industries. If someone who is not familiar with the football industry rushes into the football field, I don't think it is a good idea!"
"Yeah, Oliver's right, I don't think that's a good idea either!"
"He may be a fan, but he may not know how to run a team!"
Everyone in Hamburg said this almost in unison.
If they were allowed to choose, they would prefer Oliver Kruse.
But who is Yang Huan?
Damn it, you guys are just sitting there doing nothing. The news has already spread throughout the Bundesliga. Your management is so poor, God knows what you do on a daily basis?
If I can't place one of my people in the most critical position in the club's operations, I'm afraid I'll be betrayed by you and still be happy to help you celebrate.
Besides, Beiersdorf may not be fully trusted.
On the contrary, Thomas Lake, who participated in this acquisition, is very familiar with Hamburg. In addition, he has no roots in Hamburg, and Yang Huan is his biggest supporter, so he is more trustworthy.
"You are absolutely right, he is indeed unfamiliar with club management!"
Yang Huan still had a smile on his face. "But what we want now is not someone who is familiar with football and club operations, but someone who can help the team complete management reforms. I think Thomas has all the skills he needs!"
Are you kidding? He is a top student from Frankfurt University's School of Business Administration. With this academic qualification, he is enough to kill everyone present in seconds!
Moreover, he jumped from Allianz Insurance to PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four accounting firms, and then to Deutsche Bank. Almost every time he changed jobs, it was across industries and fields, but he adapted quite well.
Now he is just asked to manage a football club on behalf of Yang Huan, there is no problem with that.
Besides, even if he can’t do it, doesn’t he have Yang Huan behind him?
When the time comes, just transfer a few people from Southampton to assist him. Is there anything that can't be solved?
"Anyway, I will decide on this candidate. You don't need to discuss it anymore. Thomas Lake will take the position. If anything goes wrong with him, I will bear all the responsibility!"
Yang Huan's last words were spoken in a very decisive manner.
Anyone who dares to speak out against this will be standing against Yang Huan.
With Young Master Huan's personality, if anyone makes me unhappy, I will make him even more unhappy!
So, the Hamburg board of directors looked at each other, and then Beiersdorf remained silent. It was obvious that he knew very well which side he should stand on.
Khoff, Kruze and others looked embarrassed.
They finally realized that this Young Master Huan was no pushover!
Seeing this wake-up call from him, it was obvious that he was telling them that he was not the kind of layman who could be manipulated by others.
On the contrary, if these directors were caught with something wrong, they would all have to leave one by one.
Thinking of this, these people suddenly became dispirited and dared not say anything more.