In a manor in England, Zhang Yida met the two owners of Tottenham, Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis.
Accompanying him was David Beckham, who was the one who led the way and led to this meeting.
Levi is in his fifties, with a shaved head, a serious face, and a cold expression.
Another Jewish tycoon, Lewis, was 80 years old, with sagging skin and an old face. He greeted Zhang Yida and Beckham very warmly.
"Mr. Zhang, I heard that you are in finance and I am also in finance. We need to have a good communication."
Zhang Yida smiled and said: "Mr. Lewis's name is well-known in the foreign exchange circle.
The business I am engaged in is mainly in the Internet. Even in finance, it is mostly in financial management, investment, and lending."
Zhang Yida knew Lewis very well, and his experience was indeed legendary.
He dropped out of high school at the age of 15 without any degree in finance or economics, but he was very good at foreign exchange speculation.
In 1992, he began to get involved in foreign exchange trading. He participated in the operation of financial tycoon Soros to snipe the British pound. After harvesting rich loot from the "Black Wednesday" incident when the British pound plummeted, he quietly retired with success.
Following the Mexican financial crisis in 1995, Lewis shorted the peso again, and his assets surged again.
Two successful speculations laid the foundation for his career to take off.
Of course, his first fortune, which he dropped out of school at the age of 15, came from running his father's catering company.
In other words, this guy is also a rich second generation.
Lewis nodded, "The Internet is a good business, and it makes more money than our speculation.
Google, Facebook, Amazon, which one of them is not a large company with a market value of hundreds of billions of dollars?
I also regret that I didn’t read too much back then. Otherwise, I would have set up an Internet company for fun.”
Zhang Yida smiled, but his words were a bit too pretentious.
He said modestly: "The companies I own are still far from those of them, and they are working hard."
Lewis smiled and said: "At your age, it is rare in the world to be able to achieve this.
I believe that when you are 30 years old, you will be able to match or even surpass them."
The old man was quite good at talking. Zhang Yida laughed and said, "Thank you very much for Mr. Lewis's blessing."
"Young people should enjoy life. You are worth much more than me, but your life may not be as colorful as mine."
This is true, these financial bosses are the best at playing games.
Zhang Yida knew that this man had spent 1 billion pounds on collections such as famous paintings, and even moved his office to a yacht. He was living a very cool life!
"For a rich man like you, a football team is necessary to increase your influence.
Especially since you are engaged in the Internet industry, I heard that your Musical.ly application has become popular throughout Europe. It’s really amazing.”
Zhang Yida was smiling, but the Jew knew how to do business, and he understood his situation thoroughly.
"I have been a shareholder of Tottenham Hotspur for more than ten years and I have a lot of affection for the team."
This is a lie. The Jews are investigating themselves. I have also investigated the Jews and know that this old man basically does not participate in the management of the team and has gross feelings.
"But I am also 80 this year, and my time is running out. If Zhang Yida sincerely wants to acquire Tottenham, I will also be willing to help you."
Lewis' cloudy eyes flashed with shrewdness, "I wonder how much Mr. Zhang is willing to bid?"
"One billion pounds!" Zhang Yida blurted out.
"This offer seems too insincere." Lewis said calmly with an expressionless face.
"Manchester United's market value is only over US$2 billion. How much does Mr. Lewis think Tottenham should be worth?"
Lewis did not answer, but Levi, who had been silent for a long time, took over the topic.
He sneered: "Mr. Zhang may not know much about the Premier League, let me introduce it to you.
Manchester United is currently ranked sixth in the league and has not been able to taste the Premier League championship in nearly four years. Its place in the Champions League is no longer "certain".
Tottenham are currently ranked third in the league, we were also third last season, and our results are very stable."
Zhang Yida nodded, "Tottenham's results are good, but judging from past honors and team income, we have to admit that there is a gap between us and Manchester United.
Manchester United's financial revenue last year, including commercial sponsorship, broadcasting and matchday income, achieved a record £515 million.
Their 10-year sponsorship contract of 750 million pounds with Adidas and 330 million pounds with Chevrolet is beyond the reach of other teams."
Zhang Yida had done enough homework before coming. He is not a desert tycoon, and he cannot withstand the lion's open mouth.
Levi spread his hands, "These data are correct, but our situation is not bad, our revenue in the 2015-2016 fiscal year was 209.8 million pounds.
The financial report for the 2016-2017 fiscal year has not yet been released, but it is expected to be around 300 million pounds, a 50% increase from the previous year.
The most important thing is that our club is profitable. Last year's profit was 33 million pounds, and this year it is expected to be more than 40 million pounds.
Since 2012, we have been profitable for five consecutive years.
Such a team that focuses on localization, young players, and a maximum salary of only 100,000 pounds per week has only paid 248 million pounds in transfer fees in the past three seasons.
Far lower than Manchester City's 669 million pounds, Manchester United's 455 million pounds and Chelsea's 433 million pounds, ranking only sixth in the league.
Clubs that can produce results and make money, shouldn’t they be sought after?”
After hearing this, Zhang Yida sighed in his heart, it is indeed a rare high-quality asset.
Many football clubs are losing money, and those like Tottenham that have been profitable for five consecutive years are simply rare, as rare as giant pandas.
He knew that the ability to obtain such beautiful financial statements was inseparable from Levi, the club chairman.
Levy is a famous Grandet in the Premier League, and he is famous for his careful calculation.
In Ferguson's words: Negotiating with Levi was more painful than my hip replacement surgery.
He likes to buy those young players the most, import them for hundreds of thousands or millions, then train them and then sell them at a high price.
For example: Modric was sold for 35 million pounds, and Gareth Bale was sold for 91 million pounds.
Not only that, the players also have good tricks.
When rookies first emerge, they sign long-term contracts with them at very low salaries. When these players perform well, they choose to renew their contracts quickly.
Players should hate such club presidents, but big bosses like such talents who can make money.
Football clubs are like this. Without restraint, it is easy to overspend and then go into losses.
"Mr. Levi, can you tell me your quotation?" Zhang Yida decided to listen to the quotation first.
"£2.5 billion!"
Beckham, who was silent at the side, was drinking coffee. When he heard this number, he almost burst into tears.
The noise he made was a bit loud, Levi frowned and said: "Mr. Beckham, are you okay?"
Beckham waved his hands repeatedly, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just drank my coffee in a hurry, sorry."
He cast a sympathetic look at Zhang Yida. He had already greeted Zhang Yida before coming.
These two Jews are difficult to deal with. I guess seeing that you are young and suddenly rich, they will definitely blackmail you severely.
Although Zhang Yida was somewhat mentally prepared, when he heard the offer of 2.5 billion pounds, he almost turned over the table and left.
Suppressing the emotions in his heart, Zhang Yida comforted himself: When talking about business, the price is raised all over the sky, and the money is paid back on the ground.
"Mr. Levi, this offer is higher than Manchester United. Haha, it's almost close to Barcelona and Real Madrid."
Levi seemed not to understand the joke and said with a smile: "The club has been profitable for five consecutive years, with profits of tens of millions of pounds every year.
Mr. Zhang, would you be willing to sell such a high-quality asset at such a low price?"
"2.5 billion pounds is too outrageous. Tottenham have neither won the Premier League nor the Champions League. They are not worthy of the wealth of a wealthy club!"
Levi said forcefully: "So what if it's not a wealthy club? The club's finances are healthy and its performance is rising steadily. How many people are willing to sell such a team?
If Mr. Zhang sincerely wants to buy the team, show your sincerity."
After saying that, I didn’t forget to compliment Zhang Yida, “Mr. Zhang is worth nearly 30 billion U.S. dollars, and 2.5 billion pounds is not difficult for you, right?”
Damn 30 billion US dollars, Zhang Yida thought that Hurun’s assessment of his own worth was too high.
Zhang Yida turned his attention to Lewis again. The old man smiled and said: "Levi's opinion is my opinion."
It seems that he has really treated himself as a fat sheep. Zhang Yida also expressed his position: "The most I can accept is an offer of 1.1 billion pounds."
Levi smiled, "So we can't agree?"
"Mr. Levi, your offer is indeed too high. I think you should give a sincere figure."
Beckham couldn't stand it any longer. This was not a lion's mouth, it was a shark's mouth!
"Okay, Mr. Beckham also helped to speak. I gave him this face, so let's lower it a little, to 2.4 billion pounds. This is also our final offer."
Zhang Yida shook his head and said with a wry smile: "For me, it's still a little too high."
Levi smiled lightly and said: "In this world, good things are always expensive.
If Mr. Zhang had chosen a team from the English Championship, I'm afraid he wouldn't be so worried and entangled."
The English Championship team is a team lower than the Premier League. Zhang Yida secretly thought, what is the purpose of buying such a team? It wants fame but not fame, and it wants exposure but not exposure.
The advantage is that it is cheap. But if you want to achieve results, or even upgrade to the Premier League, you need to spend a lot of money. It also takes a long time, and you may not necessarily achieve results.
Although I like football, I am not willing to accept the extortion price of 2.4 billion pounds.
He has analyzed that Levi keeps saying he won't sell the team, but hasn't he sat at the negotiation table today?
These sanctimonious hypocrites like to say how much they like the team. But offering a price they can't refuse doesn't mean they have to rush to trade.
Today's meeting is a test of one's cards, and no one will reveal their base price easily.
"My worth is not as high as Hurun ranks me, and most of my assets are not listed.
The combined assets of the two listed companies are only four to five billion US dollars. And these shares cannot be sold at will.
It is true that our financial resources are limited and we have no choice but to give up the acquisition.”
Zhang Yida decided to retreat and test Levi again.
Levi shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Zhang, all of your Internet companies are treasures! There are several with valuations of more than 10 billion US dollars and hundreds of millions of users.
These companies are all high-quality assets. Hurun’s statistics are still very accurate.”
"Excuse me, Mr. Levy, the most I can offer is 1.15 billion pounds, and there's nothing I can do for more.
After all, it is impossible for me to drag my other businesses into the quagmire just for a simple football hobby."
Levi secretly thought it was funny, and even said that he had no money, yet he was so willing to increase the price, even adding 100 million or 50 million pounds without blinking an eye.
He himself sometimes gets into red-faced fights with others over millions of pounds over transfer fees.
Comparing the two, you can see how generous the young man in front of you is.
He guessed that Zhang Yida was interested in Tottenham. How could such an upstart be worthy of his title as Grandet in the Premier League if he didn't kill him hard?