Chapter 995 Messi is here!
Although Stamford Bridge is located in the West End of London where wealthy people gather, it is surrounded by old traditional houses.
Everyone knows that Abramovich actually suffered a huge loss when he bought Chelsea.
Why do I say so?
The ownership of the home stadiums of most Premier League teams is controlled by the clubs, but the ownership of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge Stadium is controlled by a company called Chelsea Owners Association.
This requires us to mention some history.
Stamford Bridge was originally built to be leased to Fulham, but Fulham did not use it, so the owner of the stadium established Chelsea Club and used the stadium.
In the 1970s, Chelsea was on the verge of bankruptcy and had to transfer the ownership of Stamford Bridge to Mahler Properties, a well-known real estate developer in London, and later to Cavla Properties.
When it was in the hands of a real estate company, Stamford Bridge was almost turned into a shopping mall and department store.
It was not until Ken Bates bought Chelsea for a symbolic pound that he cooperated with the bank and redeemed Stamford Bridge in 1992. In 1997, he established the Chelsea Owners Committee and raised funds from fans to buy full ownership of Stamford Bridge.
In other words, after Abramovich bought Chelsea, he was depressed to find that it didn't even include a stadium!
This is even more disgusting than a man marrying a woman and finding out it's buy one get one free.
At that time, Chelsea's training ground was located in the north of Heathrow Airport, a shabby place that was almost like an amateur team.
This incident has been used as a warning throughout the Premier League.
That is, the waters of investing in football are so damn deep!
It has been eleven years since Abramovich acquired Chelsea, and he has been dealing with the owners' committee all the time.
He wanted to buy back the ownership of Stamford Bridge, but the owners' committee refused to sell.
OK, you don't want to sell it, right? Can't I just move it?
I can't afford to offend you, but can't I just hide away from you?
So Abramovich wanted to "open Stamford Bridge". He found the land of the former power plant on the south bank of the Thames and wanted to buy it to build a new stadium. However, the owners' committee said that they had signed an agreement with the club that if Abramovich moved out of Stamford Bridge, he would no longer be able to use the name Chelsea.
This isn't just a lie to my father, it's a lie to my ancestors as well!
Okay, if you don’t want to sell it, that’s fine. If you don’t want to move, that’s fine too. Sir, you can always let me expand, right?
Sorry, no!
Why?
Firstly, Stamford Bridge is surrounded by residential areas and there is no place for expansion unless the residents are relocated. But in the West End of London where land is extremely expensive, how much money would it cost to acquire such a large piece of land?
Besides, although the Chelsea stadium is here, the surrounding area is not a gathering place for Chelsea fans. Who cares about you?
If a fan of our sworn enemy shows up, it would be...
Well, imagine the scene where Manchester City demolished the building right in front of Manchester United fans’ homes in order to build their training base.
Also, the most important point is that the surrounding areas are all residential areas. The expansion will make too much noise and is not environmentally friendly, so it will definitely not be approved.
Therefore, the expansion and relocation of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium is mentioned almost every year, but it is shelved every year.
In addition, transportation in the surrounding area is not very convenient, even worse than Craven Cottage Stadium in Fulham.
Forget about the subway stations. Even the bus stops are far away. It is really inconvenient for football fans to run to watch a game.
In addition, Chelsea's performance in recent times has not been ideal, and it is now ranked in the middle and lower reaches. Mourinho's coaching style is not pleasing, and the Blues' home attendance is also declining.
So far this season, seven rounds of the Premier League have been played, with Chelsea having two wins, two draws and three losses, ranking 14th in the Premier League.
If compared with the Blues' glorious period, this record is indeed quite bad, but if compared with the past two seasons, it is still normal. After all, Chelsea has been ranked in the middle and lower reaches in the past two seasons.
The only gratifying game this season was the 2-0 victory over Wenger's Arsenal in the last home game.
But if we go back further, they were upset by Crystal Palace 1-2 at home, and drew 2-2 with Swansea City at home.
As for away games, the 0-3 loss to Manchester City and the 1-3 loss to Everton were both brutal defeats.
After a bad season, Mourinho had another tragic start. Almost as soon as the league started, he was greeted with boos from fans at Stamford Bridge.
There are reports that Abramovich finally can't stand it anymore and Mourinho may be sacked at any time.
But, who knows?
With Chelsea now in a state of disarray, fans are well aware of how likely it is to win against the fierce Saints.
So, even though it was a home game, in reality, Stamford Bridge seemed very deserted on the day of the game.
It’s not that there is no one, it’s just that the ball market doesn’t seem to be hot.
In fact, if someone specifically counts them, they might find that the number of Saints fans wearing red and white striped jerseys is not necessarily much less than the number of Chelsea fans wearing blue jerseys.
Everything that happened in front of Stamford Bridge was just like any other home game. The fans were excitedly discussing the arrival of the Saints. They might not be fans of the Blues, but just came for the star-studded Saints.
Or they walked into the stadium mechanically with a lack of interest. They are die-hard fans of the Saints. Watching the game is a habit for them, and they have become numb to losing.
"According to the data we got from Stamford Bridge, inspired by the 2-0 win over Arsenal in the last home game and the star-studded Saints, this home game is likely to reach a new high in the past two seasons, with more than 30,000 fans entering the stadium."
The Sky TV crew was filming the pre-match warm-up footage and reporters appeared at the entrance of Stamford Bridge.
"Now, Chelsea has arrived at the stadium in advance and started warming up. Mourinho said that the team will continue its unbeaten record in the past two rounds and will snipe the Saints at home."
"But based on the feedback from fans before the game and the odds offered by bookmakers, it is clear that most people are not optimistic about Chelsea because the Saints have performed so well this season."
"However, two or three days ago, there were media reports that Messi, who had just joined the Saints this summer, wanted to return to Barcelona before the winter break because he had not been able to play. The Barcelona media also said that they were ready to bring Messi back."
"Although the Saints have repeatedly denied the rumors, for the Saints who are now unstoppable, it really doesn't make much difference whether Messi is there or not. There are even many Saints fans who think that the high investment in Messi is purely for commercial considerations."
At this moment, the camera was aimed at the narrow road at Stamford Bridge.
"We saw the Saints bus coming."
"Southampton is about an hour's drive from London, so this time, the Saints did not arrive in London in advance, but set off from Southampton at the time of the game."
"Let's go over and take a look now!"
As the most important broadcaster of the Premier League, Sky TV has privileges that other media do not have, that is, they can enter the player tunnel and even follow them outside the locker room.
As the red and white arrow-striped bus slowly stopped at the player tunnel entrance of Stamford Bridge, the door slowly opened and head coach Ancelotti got out of the bus.
"This is the head coach of the Saints, the famous Italian coach Ancelotti. He has a pair of glasses hanging around his neck. It's really worrying. When he is directing the game, can he see clearly what is happening on the court?"
As Ancelotti got out of the car, the players also walked out one after another.
Many Saints fans at the scene had already formed a circle, and under the blockage of the Stamford Bridge security guards, they shouted the name of each player. After hearing the noise, the players also saluted the fans one after another.
The players got off the car one after another and went straight into the player tunnel.
But just when everyone thought that the group had finished walking, a figure suddenly flashed in front of the car door, and a short figure walked out of the car. Everyone at the scene was stunned when they saw it.
He was stunned for two or three seconds, and then the whole audience burst into thunderous cheers.
"Messi! Messi!! Messi!!!"
The Sky TV host was also dumbfounded, "Oh my God, Messi, we saw Messi!"
"Dear viewers, did you see that? We saw Messi getting out of the car!"
"This means that Messi is included in the 18-man roster for this game. This will be the first time this season!"
"Messi, the world's top star, has been kept in the cold by the Saints since his transfer to Southampton. There have been rumors from the outside world that Messi wants to return to Barcelona because he doesn't get a chance to play."
"But now, we see Messi finally making the match roster!"
"The Saints fans at the scene were all shouting Messi's name crazily. Oh my god, this is so surprising. There was no news before, but Messi was included in the squad!"
"The fans were crazy. Messi was as shy as ever. He greeted the fans and then went into the player tunnel, but we could clearly see that the fans were very excited."
"Yes, Messi is finally going to play for the Saints. After three months of eager anticipation from fans all over the world, Messi is finally going to play for the Saints. This will be his first game in the Premier League."
"Oh my God, Messi has already entered the player tunnel, but the fans at the tunnel entrance still refused to leave for a long time. Many fans who heard the news crowded at the entrance. They wanted to see Messi. Will the Argentine superstar really appear?"
"If Messi plays for the Saints in this game, will he make the already unstoppable Saints even more powerful? Or will he disrupt the Saints' original winning streak and pace?"
“No one knows the answer!”
"It's like, countless people are doubting that Messi will follow in the footsteps of superstars like Veron and Shevchenko and become another shining star who sinks in the Premier League, but the Saints seem confident about this issue. Head coach Ancelotti once said that Messi will succeed in Southampton."
"Now, Messi is about to play for the Saints. Perhaps the questions that we and the fans are concerned about will soon be answered."
As the Southampton players arrived at Stamford Bridge, the game was about to begin.
More and more fans gathered at the scene. When they heard that Southampton had arrived and Messi would play for the Saints, they all flocked to Stamford Bridge.
Even the media reporters who were not very concerned at first came to Stamford Bridge and bought tickets.
Messi's Premier League debut is a rare sight and will definitely be on the front page of tomorrow's news. Who would want to miss it?
For a time, no one expected that it would actually boost the attendance at Stamford Bridge.