Chapter 986: Spare Tire Alliance
"Master Huan, congratulations, congratulations!"
"Here's to you, Master Huan!"
"Come on, Master Huan, let's have a drink!"
At the UEFA meeting, Yang Huan became the most watched focus at the venue.
This is not surprising at all, because the Saints are the most dazzling team tonight.
You know, usually this role is often played by super giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona, but now, the limelight has been snatched away by Southampton. This has made everyone in European football deeply feel what it means that fortune changes.
Yang Huan was also in a good mood. He would drink a toast to almost everyone who asked him to clink glasses with him, and he would never refuse anyone.
Who made him never get drunk even if he drank a thousand cups?
"Master Huan!"
UEFA President Michel Platini and his right-hand man Gianni Infantino came over.
"Cheers!" Yang Huan clinked glasses with the two of them with a smile and drank it all in one gulp.
The three of them understood each other tacitly and walked out of the crowd and came to an empty window.
"How is it? Are you in trouble recently?" Yang Huan asked Platini with concern.
The latter nodded with a serious look on his face, "The situation is not favorable to me."
"How can I help you?" Yang Huan asked.
Platini looked at Gianni Infantino, "Gianni will be the next candidate for UEFA."
Yang Huan looked at Infantino and nodded, "That's great. I believe that if Gianni comes forward, the chances of him being elected are very high."
"But we will do our best to clear him from all involvement."
Yang Huan nodded and said, "That's right. I believe that with Gianni's resume and ability, if he doesn't reveal any flaws, with the full support of UEFA, he has great hope."
Gianni Infantino is a veritable Platini die-hard. Before Platini got into trouble, he even said that he would withdraw from the election as soon as Platini was fine.
But judging from the current situation, it is unlikely that Platini will be able to escape danger. If Infantino, who is being vigorously promoted by UEFA at this time, can be successfully elected, it will be a long-term benefit for UEFA and Platini.
"If there's anything I can help with, contact Peter." Yang Huan said with a smile.
"Thank you!" Platini and Infantino both knew it well.
Peter Kenyon, Yang Huan's top general and now the CEO of Miracle Football Group, controls an astonishing amount of European football resources, and more importantly, they are still developing at a very fast pace.
There are even recent signs of a direct attack on the center of power.
More importantly, Peter Kenyon and Platini have a very close personal relationship.
Many people don’t know and think that European professional football is as prosperous as they see on the surface, but they have never thought about what kind of conflicts of interest are hidden underneath this prosperity.
Has no one ever wondered why Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have always been able to poach superstars over the years? Is it just because they have money? Connections?
One thing must be made clear here first: the transcendent status of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich in European football, as well as their amazing influence, are all built on the basis of stars.
It was because of the emergence of stars and achievements that they achieved their current status.
If you don't believe it, then look at Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea now, AC Milan in Serie A, and Juventus a few years ago.
As the saying goes, a phoenix that has fallen to the ground is no better than a chicken.
When a wealthy team loses its most dazzling star and the aura of its achievements, is it still a wealthy team?
Are heritage, tradition and sentiment useful?
Barcelona's situation is rather special. The team's top stars are all products of its own youth training, but this is only a special case. As the team's youth training grew older, the team gradually adopted the approach of poaching superstars, introducing Neymar and wanting to poach Suarez, which is enough to prove this point.
Therefore, Yang Huan said from the beginning that talent is the key!
So the question is, if talent is so important and top star resources are so scarce, why are they concentrated in the hands of a few teams? Why don't other teams dare to poach them when they obviously have the money?
As for the saying that the stars are unwilling to transfer and hope to play for top teams, that's really ridiculous.
Making money is the purpose of playing football for professional players!
There is only one purpose for staying in a top team, and that is to make more money.
Want to get personal honor? Can you make money from that?
After retiring, there are many down-and-out stars who sell their gold medals and trophies!
If Nike had not seen his commercial value and focused on developing him, there is no telling how poor Pele would be now.
Isn't the ending of Real Madrid's former great star Puskas a warning?
All those who talk about feelings, traditions and sentiments with professional football are talking to a cow!
In the final analysis, professional football is just two words: profit!
If Paris Saint-Germain offered Cristiano Ronaldo twice the income he earned at Real Madrid, Yang Huan guaranteed that the Portuguese would immediately quit without saying a word.
Can't Paris Saint-Germain afford the money?
No, they wanted to sell him a long time ago, but Real Madrid didn't want to sell him, so they didn't dare to force the player to leave. The player and the agent didn't dare to make too much trouble!
It's that simple!
Well, now, the answer is obvious. The reason why they can control so many stars is because they have the greatest say in European football, at least in the club field!
Perhaps many veteran fans will remember an organization, g14.
Although the name is G14, there are actually eighteen teams because the league was expanded later.
This organization represents the highest voice of European professional football clubs. They are like the top of the pyramid. If you want to join this organization, you must win a Champions League and be voted through by the organization's members.
Do you notice that this is a bit like when China was about to join the WTO?
Peter Kenyon was the founder of this organization when he was at Manchester United, and later served as the rotating chairman of the organization.
The reason why Abramovich chose Peter Kenyon was because he was impressed by his connections at the top of European football, so he did everything he could to poach him from Manchester United to Chelsea.
The purpose is simple, Chelsea wants to be recognized by these top teams at the top of the pyramid and integrate into them.
But it turned out that Chelsea failed.
However, Peter Kenyon took another path by relying on his connections in European football.
That is Platini, who has joined the newly appointed UEFA president and won the position with the votes of many small countries' football associations.
The latter wanted to fulfill his campaign promises, so he had to weaken the interests of the top teams. At that time, Platini's approach was to win over a group of European teams, including Chelsea, that had good strength and influence but were excluded from the G14.
At the same time, Platini is also dividing the G14 organization and has made many promises and policies, such as subsidizing clubs for national team competitions, and reforming the Champions League quotas and qualifications of the five major leagues.
Everyone knows the final result: g14 split internally and announced its disbandment.
But what many people don’t know is that at the same time that G14 announced its dissolution, a brand new organization called the European Club Association was announced to be born as the only official organization recognized by UEFA and FIFA.
From the day this organization was founded until now, there has always been only one chairman of the executive committee who represents the highest power. Rummenigge of Bayern Munich and Peter Kenyon of Chelsea were among the first three vice-chairmen.
If we use the conspiracy theory, in 2008, the European Club Association was established, Bayern Munich was one of the 16 founding clubs, and Rummenigge was the chairman of the executive committee.
So, when did Bayern Munich start to be on par with Real Madrid and Barcelona?
Of course, player transfers are a great test of a club's ability to select talent, but in European football, in an age of such information and transparency, this is no longer the most important thing.
The most important thing is to be able to buy people!
Just like this time, Bayern Munich wanted to buy Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman from Hamburg, but Hamburg refused to sell them. What could Bayern Munich do?
There is nothing they can do but to dig for Firmino and Draxler.
In recent years, with the influx of foreign capital, Premier League teams have acquired a number of veteran teams, including Peter Kenyon and David Dunn of Arsenal and David Gill of Manchester United. A group of talents who once had extensive connections in European football have gradually withdrawn, and have been replaced by professional managers such as Ed Woodward and Gazidis.
Chelsea fired Peter Kenyon first, and then Ron Gourlay, replacing him with Granovskaia, who didn't have many connections at all.
This has greatly weakened the voice of the Premier League at the core of European football.
The European Club Association divides its internal members into two major groups: formal members and informal members.
The former has voting rights, while the latter does not, and is more like a reserve team.
Responsible for the daily operations and major affairs of the European Club Association is an executive committee composed of 15 teams.
The Premier League is also a very special existence in the European Club Association, with a total of six official member teams, which has exceeded the provisions of the European Club Association's charter.
The six teams are Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Among them, Arsenal's Gazidis is also a member of the European Club Association's executive committee, but he serves as a legal adviser.
There are also three informal members, namely Aston Villa, Everton and Newcastle.
Interestingly, Southampton is not even an associate member now.
Previously, many people suggested that the Saints apply to join the European Club Association, starting as an informal member and then looking for an opportunity to become a full member.
But Yang Huan's attitude was very clear: No!
Isn’t it?
What's so great about being an associate member?
The European Club Association covers more than 200 European clubs, only half of which are formal members, and the rest are informal. In the words of our Master Huan, this group of informal members should set up their own organization called the Spare Tire Alliance.
When will it be regularized?
Isn't it still up to the male gods to look at their faces?
The key point is that they only have the right to attend, not to mention the right to vote, they don't even have the right to speak, so how can they participate?
Besides, does it matter to the saints whether they participate in such an organization or not?
With Master Yi Huan's connections in European football, what is there to worry about?
Oh, by the way, it seems that it is time for the European Club Association to change its leadership again. The chairman and eleven of the fifteen executive committee members will be elected in the near future. It seems that there will be some excitement again.
You know what, as soon as Cao Cao is mentioned, he will appear.
As soon as Master Huan mentioned the European Club Association, its chairman, Rummenigge, was watching from the side, and it seemed as if he would come over as soon as he got the chance.
Platini and Infantino also noticed him, so they apologized and left.
As soon as the two of them left, Rummenigge came up immediately.
Master Huan was delighted, haha, you finally found yourself!
I've been waiting for you for a long time!