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

Chapter 934 The Decline of the Manchester United Dynasty, Guangzhou Evergrande
"Although I won the Ballon d'Or in 2024, I actually think that Manchester United's performance this season (24-25) was very unsatisfactory. I was very happy when I first won the Ballon d'Or, that's true, but I wasn't so comfortable afterward. This season, we not only missed out on the Champions League, but we also got further and further away from the Premier League title."

Manchester United captain Rodri, who won last year's Ballon d'Or, said in an interview.

The atmosphere at Old Trafford was extremely tense after the team just lost the Champions League semi-final.

It's not a big deal if you don't make it to the Champions League final, because you can't expect a team to win the Champions League every season; that's unrealistic.

However, Manchester United's dominance in the Premier League is now facing increasingly serious threats, which is something that no Manchester United fan wants to accept.

"Grezer OUT!"

"Fuck off!"

"The entire Glazer family must get out of Manchester United!"

As soon as Rodri finished speaking, the fans in the stands went wild. It's almost certain that there will be another anti-Glazer protest outside the stadium later.

"I'm sorry for Manchester United's situation this season."

The Glazer family were the owners after all, and Rodri, as a player, couldn't say anything, so he could only gloss over it.

……

Dongqiudi Match Report: Following their failure to win the Premier League title, Manchester United suffered a crushing defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals, sparking a heated reaction from the home fans. (563262 comments)

"Last season we were 4 points away from the Premier League title, but we didn't beat Manchester City. We can understand that. Mistakes are normal, and we can accept giving up a season's league title to Manchester City."

Angry Manchester United fans gave interviews outside the stadium: "But why did we lose the league title this season? And, and!"

"And we're getting further and further away from the Premier League title! Last season it was 4 points, this season it's 6!"

The Champions League elimination was the last straw for Manchester United fans. The interviewee was so angry that he even stammered.

"The Glazer family, get out!"

"TY's 5.5 million euros is not money for you!"

"Give the money back to Manchester United! Give it back to us!"

Manchester United's poor tactical performance has put Ten Hag in the spotlight, but the Glazer family is actually under the most pressure.

The transfer of Tang Ye to New Moon provided Manchester United with €5.5 million in cash, and the transfer fee was paid in a lump sum.

It was initially thought that Manchester United would use the funds to buy more top players in order to maintain the team's dominance after Tang Ye's departure; Ten Hag even said so in a press conference.

As a result, the Glazer family pulled a dirty trick, using shell companies and leverage to legally transfer their family debts directly to Manchester United, leading to charges against Manchester United for violating Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

UEFA requires clubs not to lose more than a certain amount for three consecutive years, but the Glazer family's legal debt transfer caused Manchester United to lose 500 million in one season, resulting in them being unable to buy players even though they had the money.

In the past few transfer windows, Manchester United have not made any signings exceeding 1 million euros!
……

《体坛周报》头版头条——1射1传完美发挥，王钰栋独造2球助RB莱比锡3:1击败斯图加特，保留竞争欧战名额机会。（评论数475332）

The Sun's front-page headline reads: "Glazers out!" Manchester United fans launched a massive protest demanding the Glazer family return the assets they obtained by exploiting the club.

Manchester Evening News editor: Although there's only one FA Cup title, considering the outstanding performances of Dembele and Rodri, I still believe this year's Ballon d'Or will be decided between these two players. The Club World Cup in the US in June should be crucial; the revamped Club World Cup will have a significant impact on the Ballon d'Or selection.

On April 26, Guangdong Hengsheng from the Chinese Super League was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League Elite Tournament, failing to advance to the next round.

This news is indeed very bad, because if Guangdong Hengsheng can advance to the AFC Champions League Elite Final, they will face their own boss, Tang Ye, in the final.

Chinese fans had hoped that Guangdong Hengsheng could step up and defeat their own owner, but it now seems that there is still a significant gap between Guangzhou and Asia's top teams!

The development of the Guangdong Hengsheng team is truly fascinating.

Thanks to their good performance in the China League Two, Guangzhou FC was able to return to the Chinese Super League in the 2024 season. However, by then, Guangzhou FC's financial problems were already very serious. Not only were they unable to pay the players' salaries, but they even had to pay for the airfares for traveling to matches, which was simply outrageous.

At this point, Pop Bond did something very clever. To avoid taking on the Guangzhou team's enormous debt of billions of RMB, Pop Bond first established a professional club in Guangdong and began to attract investment.

After confirming that Guangzhou FC's debt problems were too serious to support the 2024 season, Guangzhou Bubble FC (China League Two), controlled by Bubble Bond, directly bought all of Guangzhou FC's players. Subsequently, Guangzhou FC announced its dissolution and would no longer participate in the 2024 Chinese Super League season.

Based on its outstanding performance in the 2024 China League Two, Guangzhou Bubble FC officially announced its promotion to the Chinese Super League in November 2024. Subsequently, it was renamed "Guangzhou Hang Seng" due to sponsorship and investment from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

From then on, Guangzhou Hengsheng completed the replacement of Guangzhou team. Although the Baidu Encyclopedia entry states that Guangzhou Hengsheng was founded in 2023 instead of 1954, due to the purchase of the original team players and coaching staff (in addition, Pop Bond owns all the shares of Evergrande Football School), the original Guangzhou team fans naturally all became Guangzhou Hengsheng team fans.

Although the Guangzhou team's logo, which is the club's shell, is gone, the Guangzhou team's soul lives on!

After successfully gaining promotion to the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Hengsheng, as a pilot club for big-spending football, began a buying spree. Relying on their FA Cup title, they entered the AFC Champions League Elite League and made it all the way to the quarterfinals.

Unfortunately, Guangzhou Hengsheng ran out of energy in the quarterfinals and lost the chance to face their boss as an opponent.

"I think it's still a real shame."

Tang Ye touched his hair: "If Guangzhou can advance to the semi-finals or the finals, I think it would be a great success, but the quarter-finals are also good. The new AFC Champions League (referring to the AFC Champions League Elite) is a bit more intense than before, and there are many strong teams in the Middle East. I am still very satisfied with the result of the quarter-finals. I hope the team can give Guangzhou Evergrande more patience."

"but."

In a video interview with Zhan Jun, Tang Ye made an additional mention of the development of the Chinese Super League: "As I said before, Coach Zhan should have been there at the time. Buying players from other leagues to boost performance is not the right way to do money-driven football, but we need to do it now because we first need to make the Chinese Super League strong. In my opinion, we must do that first."

"Because youth training is a very time-consuming thing. Although we have sent more than 200 players to Europe, Japan and South Korea, they are all too young and cannot bring entertainment value to the league."

As a professional player, Tang Ye has always held the view that only exciting sports events can attract audiences, which is also the direct reason for the birth of the new Guangzhou team.

What about your child?

Zhan Jun brought up Tang Rui: "Have you ever considered letting your son play football?"

"Haha, he's too young. But even if he grows up, I probably wouldn't want him to play soccer. He could try studying, like economics or management. That's the advice I got."

"Anyway, I really don't want him to play football."

"Hmm." Zhan Jun crossed his arms. The video flickered, probably due to a network lag. The chat in the live stream also hadn't refreshed for a long time.

After waiting a short while, Zhan Jun posed his last question.

"You've already played two seasons in the Saudi league, and the 'free transfer' clause in your contract will be activated in another season. What fans want to know is, in your initial plan, were you prepared to stay in Saudi Arabia for three years and then leave?"

"...I haven't thought about it yet."

……

Saudi media reports that Tyler and Cristiano Ronaldo will help Saudi Arabia bid to host the 2034 World Cup, and both will become Saudi Arabia's World Cup ambassadors.

"Due to World Cup promotional duties, TY and Ronaldo will each receive bonuses of over $100 million, with the former having been ranked number one on the Forbes Sports Stars Rich List for two consecutive years."

Cristiano Ronaldo in an interview: Saudi Arabia is better than Ligue 1. There is still a gap between Saudi Arabia and the Bundesliga and Serie A, but it is not far behind.

Both Tang Ye and Cristiano Ronaldo received money from Saudi Arabia, with Ronaldo being the most active in promoting the campaign.

According to Messi fans' statistics, this is the sixth time Ronaldo has claimed that Saudi Arabia is better than Ligue 6 since his transfer, which is simply outrageous.

At this point, Messi's fans might ask, why didn't Messi say that MLS is better than Ligue 1?
Once this question is raised, a fierce battle between the fans of both sides is inevitable.

Wang Chuqi, a well-known football blogger on Douyin, was asked related questions during a live broadcast.

"If Al-Nazario and Inter Miami were to play in the Club World Cup, who would win..."

Upon seeing this comment, Wang Chuqi laughed: "Well, you might not understand, but let me put it this way, even Miami might not be able to beat Beijing Guoan by a large margin."

"Haha, really, no joke. If Messi wants to beat Ronaldo in the World Cup, every one of his teammates has to play at twice their usual level. Well, twice is too little, let's make it three times stronger. Messi, and all 10 of his teammates have to play three times stronger. Maybe then they can win."

"The gap between Miami and Victory is indeed large."

"But I think it's unnecessary for you to expect Ronaldo to beat Messi. Both of them are so old. If they really meet in the Club World Cup, let's just treat it like a Spring Festival Gala and have some fun. Neither Ronaldo nor Messi has had an easy time either."

[Hey Qi, do you think Saudi Arabia is stronger than Ligue 1?]

[Hey hey hey, which is stronger, MLS or Ligue 1?]

"Is Saudi Arabia stronger than Ligue 1... No, haha, please stop asking me this question, okay? You've asked it so many times already."

"Saudi Arabia is definitely not as strong as Ligue 1. Any team from the top five leagues would beat Saudi Arabia badly, that's a fact. But it's also true that Brother Luo is doing his job for money."

[Hey Qi, what if Tang Ye doesn't return to Manchester United after the three-year period is up? Wouldn't Manchester United be finished?]

"This……"

Wang Chuqi is now in a very awkward position when talking about Tang Ye.

As a loyal Manchester United fan, he witnessed the entire process of Manchester United's second resurgence, their dominance in Europe, and their subsequent collapse in European competitions, which left him heartbroken.

"Ugh, I'm speechless. Saudi Arabia keeps sending money to Tang Ye, can they please stop? Don't let him retire prematurely! It feels like the Premier League is half as fun without Tang Ye."

"However, there is the Club World Cup this year."

Wang Chuqi suddenly smiled: "The Club World Cup's reform is really good. It forcibly dragged out my retired football king. There will be matches to watch then. Hey, are there any fans who went to the US to watch the games? Shout from the stands that Tang Ye should remember to come back after his three-year term is up."

……

Radio Madrid: The 2025 Ballon d'Or winner is most likely to be Dembélé or Yamal. If Messi wants to win the award, Inter Miami needs to beat Manchester United in the Club World Cup.

Many Messi supporters say that Messi can still win the Ballon d'Or at his age, but judging from his match statistics in the last six months, it seems that achieving this achievement is really difficult.

But it's not a big problem, just as the well-known critic and Madrid radio host described.

If Inter Miami can beat Manchester United or Barcelona in the Club World Cup, then the suspense of this year's Club World Cup may really be restarted!
懂球帝战报：唐业助攻帽子戏法，利雅得新月5:2击败川崎前锋再获亚冠冠军，本赛季51场比赛仅尝1败。（评论数875423）

"Al-Hilal has swept through the Saudi league, but they still have one last tough task to complete this season: traveling to the United States next month to face top teams from Europe and America."

"At that time, the fans will understand one thing: TY can only bully weak teams, and Crescent Moon is what we have always called a frog in a well."

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said in the Sky Sports live broadcast.

Carragher's remarks were met with fierce criticism from fans of Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform), but to no avail.

The Crescent Moon relies on its wealth to buy star players and then keeps bullying weak teams in Saudi Arabia, without even stepping out of Asia. It's purely bullying the weak.

Another example is Al-Nassr, who are equally disgusting. They dominate in the domestic league but refuse to play against French Ligue 1 teams that are "weaker" than themselves.

Marca: Real Madrid want Arnold to participate in the Club World Cup, but the player has to give up €100 million in salary. In addition, Real Madrid will provide Liverpool with some financial compensation.

Yamal's father: Barcelona is the biggest favorite to win this Club World Cup. Although Yamal's stats over the past half-season have been slightly worse than Dembele's, the Club World Cup title could change that.

GENEVA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- FIFA has announced the prize money distribution plan for the first revamped Club World Cup in 2025, which will be more than double the prize money for the World Cup.
国际足联官方：2025年国际足联世界俱乐部杯的总奖金为10亿美元，其中包括5.25亿美元固定参赛奖金和4.75亿美元比赛成绩奖金。冠军将独享1.25亿美元。

No wonder Real Madrid is so eager to complete Arnold's transfer; the revamped Club World Cup is truly impressive.

A total prize pool of $10 billion is what makes the Club World Cup worthy of the name!

NetEase's front-page headline: Summary of Asian teams participating in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup; Guangzhou and Shandong unfortunately miss out!

1. Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia): 2021 AFC Champions League winners, directly qualifying for the competition.
2. Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan): 2022 AFC Champions League champions, directly qualifying for the competition.

3. Riyadh Victory (Saudi Arabia): Ranked second in the AFC Champions League winner's region (Saudi League) and third in the AFC Club Rankings.

4. Al Ain (UAE): Selected for second place in the AFC Club Rankings.

……

(End of this chapter)