Chapter 980 Will the Price Increase?

Professional football is always particularly cruel.

It does not have the so-called participation at all. Its evaluation standard is that the winners win and the losers lose.

Even strong teams like Barcelona and Guardiola have to lower their proud heads in front of this evaluation standard.

The past season has brought both smiles of success and tears of failure to Chinatown.

After experiencing the low point at the beginning of the season, the team quickly got into place, caught up all the way in the league, and returned to the fourth place in the league, retaining the Champions League qualification. This basically ensures that Chinatown can earn at least tens of millions of euros from the Champions League next season, which is also a big benefit for the club's finances.

The Champions League reached the semi-finals, which was a big upset. Chinatown not only made a name for itself in European football, but also gave the team ample training opportunities. From the head coach to the players, the overall strength has improved significantly.

But this also brings a hidden danger, that is, from the head coach to the players, they have been coveted by many teams.

The King's Cup results also improved a lot, and they entered the finals, but were defeated by Barcelona with a huge advantage. This game was the biggest blow to Chinatown, and also allowed the team to see with their own eyes the huge gap between themselves and the top giants.

Gao Han is very confident in his team. With the current lineup, as long as they are trained for another two or three years, they will definitely have the strength to compete with the top giants, and have the hope of competing for the La Liga championship. Even if they are in better shape, they may be able to impact the Champions League, but Chinatown is far from it now.

This season's performance is already a high-level performance.

But more importantly, the giants will not give Chinatown such an opportunity at all.

As soon as the season ended, the hands of poaching reached the door of Chinatown.

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"I just asked the Finance Department to count that the total amount of prize money for the Champions League allocated by UEFA last season reached 40 million euros, which is the bonus income from the game plus the share of TV broadcasting."

The team disbanded immediately after the game, and many players had to rush to the national team, especially several Spanish internationals in the team, who had to return to the national team to prepare for the upcoming European Cup.

But the core management of the club cannot do that. They must calculate the income and expenditure of the past season and summarize some problems and lessons learned from the previous season.

Head coach Pochettino also started his vacation, and technical director Cantarero attended the meeting as the head of the technical department.

At the beginning of the meeting, General Manager Armando Marcos took the lead in disclosing the club's financial income and expenditure. Among them, the UEFA Champions League income was emphasized, which surprised everyone who attended the meeting, including Gao Han.

"So much?"

Gao Han's surprise made Armando Marcos happy, and he smiled and nodded: "Yes, we made it to the semi-finals. We are the last of the four teams in the La Liga, so our winning bonus is the highest."

40 million euros, if it were put in the past, it would definitely be something that Chinatown would not even dare to think about.

"However, unfortunately, although our bonus income exceeds that of Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, if we include the match day income from the Champions League matches, we have the lowest income among the four teams, mainly because our home income is too low."

The income brought by the Champions League is not only the bonus and TV broadcast fee sharing, but also the other two incomes are commercial sponsorship income and match day income.

Chinatown received 40 million euros in bonus from UEFA, which is really good, ranking third in European football, even more than Manchester City, because Manchester United received the most in the bonus pool in England.

In terms of commercial income, Chinatown has always been operating very well, but in terms of match day income, it is not at the same level as other La Liga powerhouses, let alone the three giants, even Sevilla, Valencia and other teams are better than Chinatown.

The match day income of the Champions League is also quite generous, and the ticket price is higher than the league, but Chinatown has suffered a great loss in this area, and this loss will continue until the new stadium is put into use.

It can be said that if it were not for the commercial sponsorship system that Armando Marcos has worked hard to build over the past two or three years, and the annual sale of team stars to fill the financial deficit, Chinatown would not be able to support the current lineup.

"Due to the outstanding performance in the Champions League this season, I am pleased to tell you that in the past season, our club has truly achieved a balance between income and expenditure for the first time."

Armando Marcos' words immediately made the heads of various departments in the entire conference room applaud.

This is such a difficult thing!

How many teams in European football dream of achieving a balance between income and expenditure, but they can't do it anyway, but Chinatown has done it. Although it is only temporary, it is also quite exciting.

"We will officially release it on the official website, Twitter and Weibo in China tomorrow. I believe this will greatly inspire our supporters and also make the players in the team more confident in our management."

Armando Marcos' words once again ushered in a round of warm applause.

"Of course, this is only temporary. A season of balanced income and expenditure does not mean anything. The difficulty lies in how to maintain a long-term balanced income and expenditure. Moreover, our overall salary structure is still relatively low even in La Liga, so our test has just begun." Armando Marcos said earnestly.

In the past few years, with the continuous influx of external capital and the advent of the information age, European football has ushered in explosive growth, and the financial revenue of various clubs has also increased by leaps and bounds, but the consequences are also obvious, that is, as a scarce resource, the value of stars is getting higher and higher, and their salaries are also rising rapidly.

The Premier League is a leader in this regard. When the relegated teams in the Premier League can wield a transfer budget of tens of millions of pounds, it is conceivable to what extent the value of Premier League players will soar.

In addition, teams owned by local tycoons such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Malaga have all increased their investment, and old giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and Manchester United have also had to start an arms race. The transfer fees of players in European football continue to set new highs, and the salaries of players continue to set records.

Gao Han had predicted this situation a long time ago, so he reached an agreement with Armando Marcos early on. He would rather sell players than maintain the club's salary structure. It can increase, but not skyrocket.

The reason is simple. Slow growth leaves a way out. Once the salary increases explosively, when the team's income fluctuates, the club's finances will face a huge crisis, and once the salary structure is raised, it will be difficult to lower it, so it has to be treated with caution.

For this, including Armando Marcos, everyone admires Gao Han.

Although Gao Han spent money like water in Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, hundreds of millions of dollars were burned without blinking, but in fact he is smarter than anyone else and sees more clearly than anyone else, so he can create a balance between income and expenditure in Chinatown this season.

"According to reliable information we have received, Barcelona is planning to renew Messi's contract, and his annual salary may reach 15 million euros, and Manchester City will soon renew Cristiano Ronaldo's contract, and the Portuguese's salary may also reach this astonishing figure."

When Armando Marcos said this, his face became very solemn.

"According to our analysis, we have every reason to believe that in the next few years, the salaries of European football players will once again usher in a rapid surge, so we must prepare countermeasures in advance."

This is not difficult to understand at all.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two leading superstars in the world of football today. If they are likened to the locomotives of the stars' salary increases, then when this locomotive keeps rushing forward, the star phalanx behind will also rush forward. Although the increase is not as good as theirs, the salary increase is inevitable.

Let me ask, if the two superstars have increased, will Manchester City's Kaka, David Silva, Modric, Sanchez, Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Cech increase? Will Ibrahimovic, Xavi, Iniesta, Pique and Alves of Barcelona increase their salaries?

If these two teams increase their salaries, will the annual salaries of the ace players of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and other teams increase?

In the environment of rising salaries, it is difficult for Chinatown to remain immune.

"Last season, the team renewed contracts with many players in the team. Some players have just joined the team, but salary increases and renewals must be put on the agenda again. For example, Pelle, his annual salary and release fee are lower, and Rakitic, Hazard, Isco and other players must renegotiate renewals."

The team performed well and the players shined, but the consequence is that they face more poaching.

For example, Pelle, when he joined Chinatown a year ago, he was worth only 1 million euros, but what about now?

After this season's training, the performance and tactical role of this Italian center forward have been recognized, and his value has soared fifteen times. The valuation of a German authoritative agency is 15 million euros, while Pelle's liquidated damages are only 20 million euros, which was very high a year ago, but now it seems very dangerous.

Many Italian teams, including Juventus, AC Milan and Roma, are interested in Pelle. If they really make a move to poach him, would they still be unwilling to pay the 20 million euros liquidated damages?

Of course, these three teams have not yet had any contact with Chinatown, but have only released rumors in the transfer market. Obviously, they are still not confident in Pelle, worrying that this center forward who has not proved himself in Italy will only occasionally explode in one season.

But the transfer market has changed suddenly, who dares to say that they will definitely not make a move to poach Pelle?

What if they make a move on the last day of the transfer period?

Even if they don't make a move, based on Pelle's performance last season, is it reasonable not to give him a salary increase?

Without a salary increase, can he continue to maintain the performance level of this season next season?

To put it bluntly, players work for the club, and they should be paid according to how much work they do. Otherwise, it will inevitably dampen their enthusiasm and may also stimulate them to change jobs.

There are many players in the same situation as Pelle, such as Aubameyang, Hazard, Rakitic, Isco, Carvajal and other players, who are facing the situation of having to increase their salaries.

This is one of the consequences of the team's excellent performance last season.

Once it reaches the point where there is no more room for increase, the only option is to sell players.

Of course, there is also a situation where the other party's conditions are too generous and Chinatown cannot afford them, so they can only sell players reluctantly.

For example, Alba, who Barcelona wants.