Chapter 753: Master of Playing with Money

Whenever the FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony comes, Zurich always becomes very lively, especially on the day of the ceremony, the opera house is full of fans from afar. Their wish to come here is also very simple, that is, to meet those popular or retired stars.

Celebrities walked on the red carpet under the arrangement of the organizing committee, causing screams and cheers from all reporters and fans present.

For example, Ronaldo, who has successfully lost weight, Beckenbauer, who is getting more and more handsome, Scolari, who is still strong and strong, and Cruyff, who has retired behind the scenes but is still famous... Countless celebrities will appear on this long red carpet.

But the biggest surprise of this night was Guardiola, the former coach of Barcelona.

Since leaving the Barcelona coaching position, Guardiola has always deliberately kept a distance from the media, even though many people were surprised to find that he often appeared in the Premier League stands, and he would be at almost every home game of Tottenham Hotspur, but occasionally he would watch the games of Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.

But what disappointed all the reporters was that every time Guardiola appeared and disappeared, no one could catch his trace, so apart from a photo, nothing was found in the newspaper.

This time he appeared at the award ceremony, and a very important reason was that he was shortlisted for the best coach of the year, which was also regarded as the most competitive award, because Bosque won the European Cup, Ye Qiu won the double crown of the Premier League and the Champions League, and although Mourinho was the runner-up of Serie A, the Portuguese has always been famous, and Guardiola was also on this candidate list.

"Hello, Pep!" A reporter from Catalonia waited for Guardiola to approach and immediately shouted in Catalan. Just now, he used this call to keep Cruyff and got a few answers.

Sure enough, after hearing Catalan, Guardiola walked closer to the reporter and stopped.

"For more than half a year, we have rarely had the opportunity to see you. How are you doing recently?" The reporter asked with a smile.

Guardiola smiled, "Very good, I feel very relaxed, it feels like I'm back to life!" The reporter also smiled, "There was news before that you might coach Manchester United in the next season, is that true?" Guardiola had anticipated this when he decided to attend this event. This is an unavoidable topic. He shook his head and said, "I can't say anything now. Manchester United is indeed one of the targets I am considering, but I don't rule out other possibilities." "For example, Tottenham Hotspur?" The reporter asked with a smile, because according to relevant media statistics, Guardiola watched the most games of Tottenham Hotspur, so some people revealed that he might go to Tottenham Hotspur to take over Ye Qiu's class. Both of them are young coaches. Although Guardiola has only coached Barcelona for a short four years, he has left a very deep mark on this Barcelona, ​​and his understanding of football and his thinking on football tactics are very recognized by professionals, and Guardiola has also repeatedly praised Tottenham Hotspur's tactics. "No, no, no, I don't think I'm suitable for Tottenham now!" Guardiola smiled and shook his head, "They already have a group of very good coaches, I don't think I can do better than them."

"But many people know that you go to White Hart Lane for almost every game."

"Yes!" Guardiola nodded, "I often go to watch Tottenham's games, because I find that this team, and even many teams in the Premier League, are worth our study and learning."

Just when Guardiola said this, he saw Bosque coming up from behind and hugged Guardiola enthusiastically. After the two smiled and said a few words, Guardiola returned to the reporter. He is always so graceful.

"In fact, if we observe carefully, it is easy to find that the tactics of the Premier League are more colorful now. To be frank, the current Premier League is the most exciting league. There are many competitions between teams of different styles in each round of games. This is not only very enjoyable in the eyes of ordinary fans, but also full of professionalism in the eyes of professionals."

"So, are you still considering going to the Premier League?" the reporter asked.

Guardiola shook his head and smiled, "I shouldn't consider it for now!"

"One last question!" The Catalan reporter held up a recorder, "What do you think of the fact that there are no Barcelona and Spanish players in this year's FIFA Golden Ball Award? Do you think this is fair? Especially Iniesta and Xavi!"

Guardiola smiled, "In fact, there is no fairness or unfairness in the so-called selection. Iniesta and Xavi are both midfielders, which in itself is destined to make it more difficult for them to win these awards."

"At the same time, we must be clear that in the past season, Tottenham Hotspur performed very, very well, and Messi and Ribery are the most dazzling superstars in this team. I think they are shortlisted for the top three of this award, there is no problem at all."

"As for Cristiano Ronaldo, I think he is the most comprehensive scorer in today's football!"

After Guardiola finished answering the last question, he nodded and smiled at the Catalan reporter, turned around and walked towards the entrance of the Opera House. When he finished walking the red carpet, he found a burst of thunder behind him. screams.

Looking back, he saw Ye Qiu arriving at the venue with Messi, Ribery, Pirlo and other Tottenham Hotspur players. A group of people were all wearing crisp Versace suits. As soon as they appeared, they immediately This detonated the atmosphere of the entire scene, and Ye Qiu also noticed Guardiola in front, smiled and quickened his pace.

As for whether Guardiola will go to Manchester United, Ye Qiu has already known it. The Spaniard will basically not consider Manchester United. A very important reason is that he hopes to go to Bayern Munich, just like Ye Qiu and Cruyff. As I said, looking at the entire European football world, the Bundesliga and the Netherlands are the two countries that are best equipped to play total offense and defense, and Guardiola hopes to go to the Bundesliga to experience this unique German football culture.

The most important thing for Guardiola today is actually not how many honors he gets, but how to continue to improve his coaching level. He is still young and he needs to keep learning more things.

"How does it feel to see the Coach of the Year award but not get it?" Ye Qiu approached and asked with a smile.

"You'll find out later!" Guardiola smiled and almost punched Ye Qiu.

In fact, this year's Best Coach of the Year award is basically a competition between Ye Qiu and Del Bosque. Guardiola and Mourinho are more like studying with the prince. Basically, this award is based on annual honors and Judging from their coaching achievements, neither of them has the advantage to compete with these two favorites, which is why Ye Qiu teased him.

After Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur walked up and down the opera house, the entire venue was already very lively, but the award ceremony had not yet come, so many people were scattered around the venue, talking and killing time. time.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ye Qiu!" Florentino was near the gate. When he saw Ye Qiu and Guardiola walking in, he apologized to the people next to him and came up to him, "Long time no see." Come on, Pep!”

"Hello, Mr. Perez!" Ye Qiu greeted with a smile, and Guardiola also said hello to Florentino.

Basically, the president of Real Madrid is the type of person who is hard to hate. Many fans don’t know it. They describe him as someone who doesn’t understand football, or describe him as a football predator. In fact, these are wrong. .

Strictly speaking, Florentino's biggest characteristic is that he is very charming and very good at dancing. How could such a person offend others? How is it possible to do such trivial things as sesame and mung beans? Do you really think that a person with his status and influence would go to great lengths to decide whether a certain player should be promoted?

If Florentino is really such a person, then it is impossible for him to have such an excellent relationship network in today's European football, which can allow him to constantly poach so many stars and bring them to Real Madrid.

In the final analysis, it is actually everyone’s different understanding of football.

Some people think that football is a football game and everything serves the game; but others believe that football is not just a football game, it also includes more fields and content, such as commercial brand and club image.

If you focus on the football game, I'm sorry, then your vision is at best a head coach's perspective.

"In the latest list released by the authoritative sports economic organization, you occupy three of the top five player value lists, and you have five seats in the top ten. It is a very, very remarkable achievement!" Florentino was filled with admiration. said.

The first place is Messi, with 150 million euros, the second is Cristiano Ronaldo, with 96 million euros, the third is Ribery, with 75 million euros, and the fourth is Iniesta, 68 million, fifth is Cavani, 60 million, followed by Rooney, Falcao, Neymar, Aguero, Thiago Silva.

Among them, Thiago Silva is currently the most valuable central defender, worth 50 million euros, while the most valuable midfielder is Vidal, with 46 million euros. According to this list Among the players in the top 60 worth, Tottenham Hotspur has shortlisted 12 players in total, reaching one-fifth.

In addition to the five players shortlisted in the top ten, Vidal, Ramsey, Cech, Kompany, Marcelo, Hazard and Lucas Moura are all included in this list, among which the lowest value The biggest player is Ramsey, who also reached 31.5 million euros.

From this point, it is not difficult to see Tottenham Hotspur's strength in building star brand value and operating star brands. Even Real Madrid, which is known for its commercial operation capabilities, is far inferior to Tottenham Hotspur.

Another thing that needs to be considered is that in this list, there are 11 other players who have played for Tottenham Hotspur, including Alves, who just moved to Barcelona six months ago, that is Said that among the sixty most valuable players, 23 players were cultivated or created by Tottenham Hotspur.

This is definitely a big affirmation for Tottenham Hotspur.

"Your Real Madrid is not bad!" Ye Qiu said politely. Although Real Madrid is good, it is still inferior to Tottenham Hotspur, and many of their players are worth less. For example, Xabi Alonso is at the bottom of the list, but this is also because the Spanish midfielder is relatively old.

Just like Hazard, his performance is very eye-catching, but his value cannot be that high. One of the main reasons is that he is young.

This is a value ranking list, not a player strength ranking list, so players including Hazard, Neymar, Lucas Moura, etc. have quite high values, and this list also tends to be offensive players in the frontcourt.

"We are missing a strong center!" Florentino said with a smile.

At present, Real Madrid's center is Higuain. The Argentine is still performing well, but the management of Real Madrid does not like him very much. One of the important reasons is that he does not have much commercial value, and he is also a player introduced by Florentino's predecessor Calderon.

After hearing this, Ye Qiu understood a little. This was a sign of poaching.

"I heard that Cavani's contract renewal encountered some problems."

"You know this too?" Ye Qiu was a little amused. It seemed that Real Madrid had indeed made sufficient preparations.

This was no wonder. Florentino either did not make a move or made sure to hit the target. This was the means and ability that the Spanish were most proud of. Moreover, looking at the whole of Europe, there was really no team that could spend money like Real Madrid. First, they had money, and second, they knew how to make money. Another point was that the tax rate in La Liga was very low.

In 2009, the Spanish Tax Department once raised the personal income tax of foreign players to 43%, the same as that of local players, but the specific implementation time was January 2011, and it would not be retroactive for previously signed contracts.

But the current tax rate in the Premier League is as high as 50%!

From this point of view, La Liga teams still have a little advantage over other European teams in terms of introducing stars.

Real Madrid has been trying to poach Tottenham for a long time. He wanted to get Messi long before Florentino came to power, but Tottenham was ambitious at that time. Ye Qiu put Messi in the most critical position and could not let him leave the team.

Later, Messi's price was too high. It was impossible to get him now without spending a lot of money. Moreover, Tottenham could not let Messi go easily. In addition, after introducing Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid gave up Messi and turned its attention to Cavani based on the concept that there is no room for two tigers in one mountain.

The reason is also very simple. Introducing Cavani and forming the golden trident of Cristiano Ronaldo, Cavani and Gareth Bale is definitely the sharpest and most brand-valuable trident in today's football.

To be honest, Cavani's price is not cheap. If he is forced to poach, how much money will Real Madrid have to pay to convince Tottenham to let him go with Cavani's value of 60 million euros?

As someone helped Tottenham Hotspur calculate, if they want to buy Messi, they must pay a transfer fee of 250 million euros. If you add salary, taxes and other expenses, the total expenditure must reach at least 600 million euros to be able to afford it, so this is not a deal that anyone can complete.

There is a saying in economics, "Today's money is always more valuable than tomorrow's money."

This sentence means that in the era of high inflation, you have to spend money quickly, and for people and teams like Florentino and Real Madrid, how much money you spend today can easily make more tomorrow.

As Florentino said, the stars that money can buy are always the cheapest, because you can't buy the most expensive one!

Florentino didn't get angry at Ye Qiu's ridicule, and laughed, "You should know how I know, and I believe you must also know my sincerity very well!"

"Your abacus is really loud, I'll think about it!" Ye Qiu nodded to Florentino.

Many fans don't understand the twists and turns here. In fact, there is a lot of knowledge in it, far more than countless fans imagine. Do you really think it's just a deal for stars?

Wrong!

Real Madrid signed a broadcasting contract with a Spanish TV station in 2006, seven years and 1.1 billion euros, expiring in 2014, and this is only the La Liga, not including the Champions League and the cup.

After experiencing the downturn and darkness of the Calderon period, Florentino took over Real Madrid again and immediately brought huge changes to the team. The entire Real Madrid brand was completely renewed.

Today, with many superstars, the team's football style is so tall, rich and handsome. Therefore, no matter from any angle, signing more superstars can allow Real Madrid to win more bargaining chips in the upcoming broadcasting rights negotiations. There are even reports that Real Madrid's psychological price is 200 million euros a year.

Crazy?

Maybe, but this is a very realistic deal!

So looking back, even if you spend 100 million to introduce a superstar like Cavani, with the huge brand effect and the market effect brought by the superstar's astonishing price, do you still think Real Madrid is losing money?

Everyone has to admit that Florentino is definitely a master of playing with money. He never does business at a loss, and the special platform of Real Madrid just brings out his ability to the fullest.

To be honest, Tottenham Hotspur is now more commercial than Real Madrid, and more star-making than Real Madrid, but the overall income is still worse than Real Madrid. What is the reason?

The attendance rate of the Bernabeu Stadium, the amazing annual membership fee income, and the enviable gap in broadcasting fee income.

Even if the Premier League's next championship prize will be close to 100 million, Real Madrid is looking at 200 million euros. Even compared with Juventus and AC Milan, it is still a lot worse. Juventus is 150 million euros, and AC Milan has reached 125 million euros.

From this point of view, except for those big tycoons who burn money, the Premier League teams will never be able to beat the two giants in the Spanish Super League if they want to raise salaries. The extra 100 million a year is enough to burn you to death!

Of course, there are gains and losses. Behind the huge broadcasting rights income of the Spanish Super League duo, Juventus and AC Milan, the lower-middle teams in Serie A and La Liga are unable to make ends meet and are in a serious debt crisis. In this regard, the Premier League teams are in a more relaxed situation, especially after the salary and debt restrictions began this season.

By the same token, whether the players choose the high salary of La Liga or the high exposure of the Premier League depends on their own choice.

As the saying goes, everyone has their own preferences. Ye Qiu has always felt that this world is very fair.