When Gao Shen and his party drove into the city of Southampton from the highway, turned west from the Red Bridge Interchange in the east, crossed the Test River and drove less than two kilometers southeast, they arrived at Staplewood in Southampton.
training center.
Just driving slowly at the main gate, Gao Shen and others looked out of the car window from a distance and were startled by this training base.
how to say?
The conditions are really quite good, which shows that the Liebherr family has invested a lot of money over the past year.
If nothing else, just look at the standard-sized indoor football field directly opposite the entrance.
How rare is it?
Currently in the Premier League, Manchester City doesn't have it, Manchester United doesn't have it, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool... they don't have it all.
In Gao Shen's impression, it seems that no team in the Premier League has built such a membrane structure indoor training ground.
The reason is, it's really expensive.
But in Southampton, it has already been built. Although it is only the size of a standard football field, it is also expensive.
In addition, Staplewood has a large comprehensive training field, seven standard football fields, two small football fields for training young players, and three training buildings.
From Gao Shen's point of view, this is not a training base, it's all about money.
Who would have thought that there would be such a training base in the English League One.
It cannot be said to be better than Arsenal, Chelsea and other training grounds, but in English football, this is definitely one of the best.
At least better than Manchester City.
Of course, this is talking about the current Manchester City, not the new training base that is about to be built.
“This is not cheap!”
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Su Qing said to Gao Shen with a wry smile.
For a low-level club like Southampton, the most expensive thing is often not other things, but hardware and players.
Among them, the value of players is floating, and some are on loan, but hardware assets such as training bases and stadiums are the bulk of the valuation.
"It is reported that after acquiring Southampton, the Liebherr family has invested at least 20 million pounds in this training base so far." Lucas understood Gao Shen's mood.
They all feel that Southampton is the most suitable, but now it seems that their valuation of this club is still low.
And it's much lower.
If nothing else, this training base is probably only comparable to the wealthy teams in the Premier League.
No, Liverpool's Melwood and Manchester United's Carrington are not as good.
Of course, this is pure hardware, and in terms of software, the Premier League team is definitely dominant.
"Let's go and see St. Mary's Stadium." Gao Shen said calmly.
…
St. Mary's Stadium is located in the center of Southampton, near the west bank of the confluence of the River Itchen and the River Test.
The urban area of Southampton is very small, but it is a long way from the training base to the stadium.
Unlike the training base, St. Mary's Stadium is bounded by freight railway tracks to the west, residential areas to the west, and building materials markets on three sides. To the east is a huge sand washing field that is close to the Itchen River.
Gao Shen and others drove from south to north and found that the land around the stadium was very cramped.
The first thing to consider is the parking lot. Although there are three parking lots in the north, south and east, it is initially estimated that it will be enough to park two to three hundred cars, and the roads are also very crowded.
It is not difficult to see from this that Southampton’s home fans are basically residents of the surrounding areas.
Whether it is from the perspective of the stadium or the surrounding expansion space, the Saints have basically no potential in this area.
There is no subway in Southampton, so fans have to rely on buses to get around.
In this regard, the limitations are quite large.
However, St. Mary's Stadium is quite new.
"The Saints' earliest home stadium was called Little Valley Stadium, which has a history of more than 100 years. In 2001, they moved into St. Mary's Stadium. The stadium cost 30 million pounds at the time. In addition to the club's fundraising,
It was obtained by selling the naming rights of the stadium, and it was not until 2006 that the name of St. Mary's Stadium was officially adopted."
During the turn of the century, many Premier League teams set off a wave of construction and expansion of new stadiums.
For example, Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium was expanded several times during that time, and teams such as Sunderland and Middlesbrough also built new stadiums at that time, and later Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.
So much so that a very famous news at the time was that Everton was on the verge of bankruptcy with a debt of 30 million pounds, but they were desperately trying to raise money to build a new stadium. They thought that Goodson Park was too small and they wanted to
Build a stadium with a capacity of 55,000 people because they believe that the new stadium can greatly increase their match day income and escape bankruptcy crisis.
But everyone knows what happened later. Everton failed to escape success. When Rooney was sold to Manchester United, the Red Devils still took the money to the bank to redeem him.
At that time, Leeds United also called for building a new stadium instead of expanding the Elland Road stadium. The then chairman Ridsdale had been working on this for a long time, but then the White Rose went bankrupt and was replaced by Ken Bates.
Bought it for 10 million pounds.
I don’t know whether it was during the Ridsdale period or the Bates period, but it was in the hands of these two people that Leeds United sold all the stadium, training ground, and surrounding land, and then paid 3 million pounds a year.
Rent it back.
Maybe some people are wondering, why do you do this?
The answer is simple, they are unwilling to invest money.
The annual rent can be included in the club's operating costs and borne by the club's finances, and it is the club's money that is spent.
What?
No money?
Then I'll owe you a debt.
Don't be surprised, it is very common for English teams to be in debt.
There was some news at the beginning that after a foreign capital acquired an English team, it was suddenly discovered that the club still had a large hidden debt that was not disclosed to him, so the two parties went to court, which caused a lot of commotion.
This case happened not just once, but several times.
In the early years, the management methods of these local club investors in the UK were really rough and there were many unruly methods, such as Ken Bates, Sheppard of Newcastle, etc., and even the owners of teams such as Manchester United and Manchester City. Many of them
This is the number.
Many local British fans are opposed to foreign investment, but in fact they have never thought about it. It is the influx of foreign investment that has standardized the operation of the Premier League, which in turn has promoted the overall internationalization of the Premier League.
If we really want to continue to let Ken Bates, Sheppard and others run the business, will the Premier League still have a future?
…
After Gao Shen and his party walked around Southampton, they basically knew everything in their mind.
Heading north to London, checking into the hotel booked in advance, Lucas went out to meet people in the City of London.
In London, there are many bankers who specialize in football club transactions. Their business is to help foreign investors acquire clubs in England. Previously, Abramovich, Mansour, Vichai, Thaksin and others all acquired Premier League teams.
This is the way to go.
Gao Shen took the opportunity to take Su Qing out to visit Knightsbridge.
Both men had a hunch that Southampton's asking price would be high.
If nothing else, it's definitely not cheap if you focus on the training base.
Three hours later, Lucas returned to the hotel and brought back the latest news.
Southampton investors currently have no intention of selling.
"According to them, when the old Liebherr died last year, his daughter, who is now the helmsman of Southampton, was interested in selling. She was not interested in running the club, but the current operator Nicola Cote
Si convinced her, so she continued to invest more, determined to break into the Premier League."
Gao Shen understands.
He is optimistic about the potential of the Premier League, and others are also optimistic about it. This is normal.
The only difference is that he knows better than anyone else that the potential is simply astonishing.
If he remembered correctly, after Southampton entered the Premier League, they made crazy money by buying high and selling low. Later, when Chinese investors acquired it, they bought 80% of the shares for more than 200 million pounds.
One can imagine how much the Liebherr family has earned over the years.
These investors are not stupid, and it is not that easy to take advantage of them.
Of course, if Gao Shen wants it now, he can do it, but he must spend money.
"Where's Leeds United?" Gao Shen asked.
"I have also inquired that Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has been looking for buyers, but all investors are shunned by Leeds United. Earlier, due to continuous insolvency, the 2006-07 season was canceled in the English Championship.
They were fined ten points and had no choice but to be relegated. The next year they were fined another fifteen points in League One."
Experts know this, but Leeds United are also tough enough. In the season when they fell into League One, they were deducted fifteen points, but they still managed to finish fifth in the league and enter the promotion play-offs. Without those fifteen points
, they can even win the league championship.
But unfortunately, Leeds United lost to Doncaster in the crucial promotion play-offs.
Not being able to return to the English Championship, people were distraught. In addition, the club could not pay salaries, and all competitive players were gone.
This is also a big problem for Leeds United right now.
"They can no longer pay the players' salaries!" Lucas said with a wry smile.
It was indeed unexpected that the Young Guards, who were once famous in European football, would now be in this situation.
"Then what?"
"Ken Bates' current requirements are actually not high. He just wants to recover the cost. As long as someone is willing to take over, he will be happy to let it go, so he has been entrusting banks in the City of London to sell it over the years, but investors are more worried.
"
"When I was in League One, no one cared about me. In 2009, when I was promoted to the Championship, the situation improved slightly. But you also know that in the past two years, affected by the economic crisis, foreign investors have had a hard time, and no one is willing to invest in football.
Already."
Gao Shen fell silent and carefully thought through his thoughts in his mind.
There is no doubt that now is a good time to buy the dip.
Gao Shen even thought that the Liebherr family was unwilling to sell the club at this time, maybe because of this.
At this time, it is difficult to sell the team at a good price.
Gao Shen is thinking that if Southampton does not plan to sell, Leeds United is a good choice.
The most important thing is that based on the information he currently has, Leeds United's price should be cheaper than he expected, but the environment will be worse.
For example, the stadium is very old, the training ground is also remote, and the youth training is not ideal. All of these require investment.
Of course, these can all be solved.
That is to make a profit by selling people, and then invest it after making money.
It's like Wenger used the money from selling Anelka in exchange for Henry and a Colney training base.
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