Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 907: A €36 billion midfielder wants to buy Guangzhou Evergrande.
Football News – The dust has settled! After two consecutive losses in the final round of the season, the former eight-time champion Guangzhou team is confirmed to be out of the Chinese Super League next season.

The Chinese national team's World Cup achievements are commendable, but on the other hand, the Guangzhou team's relegation is a cause for lament.

This was once an eight-time champion!
He has won eight Chinese Super League titles and even two highly prestigious AFC Champions League titles.

How could we have fallen to such a state!

After Evergrande went bankrupt, Guangzhou could have survived in its predicament, but its performance this season has been far too poor.

If they've been relegated to League One, then there's really nothing that can be done.

This relegation can be said to have broken down Guangzhou team's last line of defense.

In early 2023, Guangzhou team released an advertisement titled "Evergrande Football Club Recruitment Advertisement".

In this advertisement, Guangzhou team proposed the following core transfer plan: 100% transfer of club equity for a price of 0 yuan.

"Holy crap, this is unbeatable."

Upon seeing this news, Tang Ye immediately called Boer without hesitation.

"Do you know Guangzhou team? It's the Guangzhou Evergrande team from the AFC Champions League. I think we can buy them."

It wasn't that Tang Ye acted impulsively; the main reason was that buying Guangzhou Evergrande was incredibly meaningful to him.

Tang Ye is, after all, from Guangdong. The most he heard about growing up was Guangzhou Evergrande, which was right next door to him. Now, making an acquisition feels like fulfilling a childhood dream.

Upon learning this news from Tang Ye, Boer immediately began researching the Guangzhou team and brought Tang Ye very bad news three days later.

"Tom, you didn't read the whole announcement... It's true that they're acquiring 100% of the equity for 0 yuan, but the condition is that they assume all of the club's debts."

“I know this, I saw it.”

Tang Ye replied, "Of course I saw it. I'm not stupid. Taking on the debt is no problem for me. I think I can handle it."

"Well... he didn't specify the exact amount of debt in the announcement, but I did the math."

Boer reported a number to Tang Ye.

If Tang Ye wants to buy 100% of Guangzhou team's shares for 0 yuan, he will need to assume Guangzhou team's current debt of approximately 24 billion yuan.

After careful consideration, Tang Ye could probably afford to pay this amount himself if he gritted his teeth.

but!

It's not that simple.

If you really want to buy the Guangzhou team, you need to prepare operating funds for the club for at least the next three years.

With its existing debts and three years of operating funds, Tangye needs to come up with approximately 5 billion RMB.

Ok……

That's not quite right.

"This is damn expensive..."

"Well, Tom, I know you want to buy a Chinese Super League team, but my advice is to leave Guangzhou FC alone for now. Although they have a history and reputation, I don't think 50 billion is worth it."

"If you're interested in buying, you can look at other teams. But it's best not to rush. I've been observing and researching the situation of Chinese football recently, and I feel that it would be much more cost-effective to buy in a few years. For example, buy Zhejiang, or... Chengdu? I think that's what it's called, haha, I'm not sure, the pronunciation is too strange."

"Um……"

Tang Ye was about to hang up the phone, but then suddenly remembered something: "Hey, wait a minute, Bo'er!"

"What if I buy it with PPBBond? I'll invest in the company's name, and that way I'll be spending the company's money."

"...Your idea."

Boll took a deep breath. Tang Ye's idea was indeed very imaginative; he truly deserved to be a top midfielder.

"If you really insist, I will propose it at the shareholders' meeting, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that this proposal will not pass. £600 million! Our market value is only £72 billion, and that was driven up by the World Cup. If we really buy the Guangzhou team, our share price will collapse."

"...Let me ask first, thank you for your help."

"Haha, you like Guangzhou that much? Okay, I'll give it a try. But don't be sad if you fail, you can buy other teams too."

……

Dongqiudi pinned a post reprinting Xinmin Evening News: Pop Bond Company announced the latest shareholders' meeting results, including a proposal to acquire the Guangzhou team, but the proposal was ultimately rejected by almost unanimous vote.

Additional information: Pop Bond (PPBD) is a diversified company listed on the London Stock Exchange, primarily generating revenue from blind box toys, with an estimated market capitalization of £72 billion. If Pop Bond wants to acquire 100% of Evergrande's shares, they would need to assume all of Evergrande's current debts (approximately RMB 20 billion).

[Holy crap? Tang, the King of Football, is really going to save Guangzhou Evergrande? Okay, I declare you a pure-blooded Cantonese.]

Wow, that's impressive! This suggestion is a bit abstract, no wonder he's a major shareholder with a 10% stake. Tang, the King of Football, certainly has an imagination. But buying Evergrande (referring to the Guangzhou FC club, not Evergrande's parent company) isn't a good deal, is it? Consider my Shenhua instead! My Shenhua also wants to be favored by the King of Football!

[Shenhua? Do they even know where I, Tang Qiuwang, am from? A handsome guy from Guangdong! We absolutely have to buy Evergrande!]

[You absolutely have to buy Evergrande shares. You'll have to pay the 20 billion you owe.]

[The World Cup semi-final shattered my spirit as the King of Football, so I'm starting to focus on the national team... But to be honest, buying Guangzhou Evergrande was a bad deal, they've already been relegated. Save your money and buy Manchester United instead, I, the King of Football, have the ability to do that. Go for it!]

RAC – Following its offer to acquire the Guangzhou team, PPBD's share price plummeted by 5.5%, reducing its market capitalization by only £4 million.

Tang Ye responded to the proposal to acquire the Guangzhou team on social media: "I only have this idea, but it is probably impossible to implement. At present, the company's cash flow is limited."

After Tang Ye responded on social media, PPBD's stock price, which had fallen, quickly rebounded.

Just like the PPBD stock, Bubble Bond itself is a "monster company" with a market value of over £70 billion, enough to buy the Guangzhou team.

But as Paul said, there is a lot of “TY bubble” in the market value of Bubble Bond. Many people choose to believe in the company because of Tang Ye. If Tang Ye does something they think is wrong, the company’s stock price will fluctuate wildly.

GGBond really wants to buy Guangzhou team, but it seems impossible for them to do so at the moment!

According to sources within the Chinese football community, Tang Ye inquired with Shandong Taishan about the acquisition price, based on an undisclosed source.

"He may want to buy his former youth academy club, but the veracity of this news is currently uncertain."

……

Dongqiudi Match Report: Manchester United defeated Arsenal 2-0 away from home, with Tang Ye providing two assists in his second consecutive match. (375321 comments)

Attached is the 2022-23 Premier League standings (up to Round 21):

1. Manchester United, 57 points.

2. Manchester City, 53 points.

3. Arsenal, 48 points.

4. Newcastle, 47 points.

5. Liverpool, 47 points.

The most surprising teams in the Premier League this season are Newcastle and Liverpool.

The takeover by the Middle Eastern consortium raised high expectations among fans for Newcastle, but no one expected them to take off in just one season.

Liverpool's situation is much worse. In previous seasons, they were playing a three-way battle with Manchester United and Manchester City, but this season they suddenly dropped to fifth place.

Klopp, what are you doing?!

Liverpool's fall from the top group is indeed very disappointing, to the point that some fans have started calling for Tang Ye to invest in Manchester United's arch-rival. This is undoubtedly a mockery of Klopp, Salah, and others, and a very damaging one at that.

"Next month is the Club World Cup, TY, this will be your first time participating in the Club World Cup in your professional career. And because Manchester United are the Champions League winners last season, you will start directly from the semi-finals, which means you only need to win two consecutive games to win the Club World Cup. Considering this, what is your goal for the Club World Cup?" "Two consecutive wins, just as you said."

"Oh, haha, okay. Al-Hilal is one of the teams participating in this Club World Cup. This Saudi team expressed interest in you multiple times during and before last year's World Cup. Will you have further discussions with them during the Club World Cup?"

"...I don't know about that."

"I'm currently focused on the Club World Cup and the rest of Manchester United's season. I'm not thinking about anything else for the time being."

……

The 2022 FIFA Club World Cup will be held in Morocco in February 2023. The schedule for the tournament has been released, but Manchester United's opponent is still undecided.

世俱杯半决赛（北京时间2月9日3:00）：曼联VS小组赛胜者1。

The Champions League winners are truly impressive, advancing directly to the semi-finals.

However, this is good, after all, Manchester United has a Champions League knockout stage match in February, and being able to directly participate in the semi-finals is fantastic for the players.

Sports Weekly – With the 2023 Asian Cup approaching, Feng Xiaoting and Yu Dabao announce their retirement from the national team.

He retired right after winning third place in the World Cup, before the Asian Cup even started. It's truly a pity.

However, Feng Xiaoting and Yu Dabao's approach was actually correct. New coach Escribá preferred to use young players like Zhang Yuning and Wei Shihao, which resulted in older players like Feng Xiaoting rarely getting opportunities.

This year, Eskeriva will definitely be leading the team to achieve good results in the Asian Cup. Under such circumstances, Feng Xiaoting and Yu Dabao will most likely not even make the roster. Since that's the case, there's no need to dwell on it.

While Japan is also a favorite to win the championship, there are some players retiring, but more good news comes from the rise of new players.

Kaoru Mitomatsu's performance in the Premier League this season has been nothing short of phenomenal, giving Japanese fans the confidence to say things like "Tata Kai, overthrow China."

[What are you pretending for? You think you're invincible just because you have one Mitsumata? Don't you know where this year's Asian Cup is being held?]

[Could we put Japan and China in the same group during the draw? It's impossible, haha.]

[Let me go during the draw; I can see through the glass ball and the Chinese national team will punish Japan in the final! It will make up for the disappointment of Japan not being thrashed by China in the World Cup.]

[Keep it up!]

After the World Cup comes the Club World Cup, followed by the title races of the top five European leagues and the Champions League final. After the Champions League final, it's the Asian Cup, hosted by China.

There were so many matches this year, the players worked so hard, but the fans were truly happy.

……

On February 4th, Manchester United continued their winning streak in the Premier League, and Transfermarkt released its latest player valuation data for the top five European leagues, resulting in a new global football ranking:
1. Tang Ye (Manchester United, China), €3.6 million.

2. Kylian Mbappé (Paris, France), €2.2 million.

3. Ousmane Dembélé (Manchester United, France), €2 million.

3. Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), 2 million euros.

5. Rodri (Manchester United, Spain), €1.6 million.

Many commentators' previous statements have been confirmed here: if Tang Ye wants to break through the 3 million euro mark, he needs to focus on national team matches.

This statement is correct. After winning the Golden Ball and Golden Boot at the World Cup, Tang Ye's market value skyrocketed by 6000 million euros.

It's worth noting that after his net worth surpassed 2 million euros, Tang Ye never saw such an exaggerated increase of 6000 million euros again!

His €3.6 million price tag is historic and has been the focus of recent discussion among fans.

Tang Ye, the protagonist of this incident, is busy with other things.

The Asian Cup is still four months away, but Tang Ye is already very busy.

This is because Tang Ye has a lot of things to do.

"Yes, the Asian Cup is key to your success. It follows the World Cup, so this year's Asian Cup is crucial."

On the balcony, Bohr sat opposite Tang Ye, the Dutchman talking non-stop.

"Having had the experience of the World Cup, you'll definitely have a lot of sponsors contacting you three months before the Asian Cup starts. Including now, about a dozen companies have already contacted me, but as you said, I haven't replied to any of them yet."

Tang Ye nodded: "Yes, but my sponsorship is my own sponsorship, it has nothing to do with the national team. It has to be the kind of sponsorship that the national team can also receive."

"Yes, it would be even better if it wasn't just the national team that was sponsored, but the entire Football Association as well."

"..."

Boll shrugged: "I think I understand what you mean, but you have to understand, China is a very big country, extremely big. With your current abilities, if you were from Portugal or another smaller country, you could single-handedly influence the football of the entire country. But China... China is too big, far too big."

Bohr repeatedly emphasized China's size, simply hoping that Tang Ye would back down.

But Tang Ye is a stubborn and single-minded person; once he has an idea, he's unwilling to give it up.

"I...I still want to win the World Cup."

After saying that, Tang Ye turned his head away, his face slightly red.

It's a bit embarrassing to talk about China winning the World Cup, because everyone knows how difficult it was to achieve.

Just as Tang Ye himself said before: This is almost impossible.

"……All right."

"Actually, I knew you would say that..."

Paul sighed: "In that case, I have actually thought of a solution, but I'm not sure how much it would help in practice."

"what?"

Upon hearing that Bohr had an idea, Tang Ye quickly urged his agent to speak up.

"Well...aren't there a lot of sponsors approaching you? I roughly estimate there are over 100, all leading companies from around the world. What I mean is, you should make a statement, telling these companies that if they want to sponsor you, they must also sponsor Chinese football."

"Hmm... For example, if they want to sponsor you with 2000 million euros, then they must provide an additional 400 million or 600 million euros to China. Hmm, this additional amount can be determined later, it's quite flexible, there's no need to rush. The key is to collect more money from them."

Paul looked into Tang Ye's eyes: "It might be hard to understand, but you can think of it as... tariffs?"

“Well, you collect an extra tariff from the giant corporations that sponsor you, and give that tariff to the national team and the top league in China, as start-up capital for the era of big money.”

"..."

Tang Ye's lips twitched: "This... is too abstract, isn't it? It won't work, will it?"

"The success rate is about 90%. You're still underestimating your own popularity."

Boll appeared confident: "And the Chinese national team is also very popular, especially after the World Cup. So I say this is a key point, after the World Cup third place and before the Asian Cup, there may not be such a good opportunity again. The Chinese team is currently in the center of a storm of popularity, you can get them to sponsor the Chinese team, and you only need to pay an extra 40%... well, tariff, wouldn't that be great? If I were a shareholder, I would agree."

"Think about it, you spend 2000 million to sponsor the best player in the world today, and then spend another 600 million euros to sponsor his national team, just in time for his national team to participate in a major tournament."

"This is great! Now is the best time to harvest. If we don't harvest now, we won't have anything to harvest later."

As he spoke, Bohr became excited: "How about it? As long as you agree, I can earn at least $100 million for Chinese football in the next four months. Just watch me do it."

"..."

……

(End of this chapter)