[Chapter 533: Outsider]
William White was no stranger to soccer. While he was not exactly an expert, he could na the players and coaches with ease.
As for why he was so familiar, well, you see, Aricans might not be keen on soccer, but they do love FIFA Soccer Manager. However, the manager in the gaming world could never match the excitent of the real deal.
Alright, imagine he was a manager with cheat codes -- that was just too amusing.
When the news broke that Aricans wanted to buy Manchester United, the British couldn't keep their cool any longer.
"Damn it, you guys are way out of line! We don't need your involvent; this is an awful decision."
Manchester United's performance could barely be regarded as satisfactory. Ever since that tragic air disaster, they had languished in the doldrums. Just when things seed to be improving, they found themselves in the crosshairs of so capital predator.
England was quite dismissive towards this outsider. "Why don't you go play basketball? Soccer isn't your strong suit."
"Two hundred million pounds! Who's for it? Who's against it?"
I have to admit, the outsider was clueless and truly did not understand soccer. But really, who has grievances against money?
William White offered an outrageous price, one that was hard to refuse.
So might say, "What do you an outrageous? One Cristiano Ronaldo is worth a hundred million; this is absurd!"
Ha! Folks, it's the '90s. Even if you plan to acquire Maradona, it wouldn't exceed five hundred thousand pounds. The constant rise in player values is thanks to Mr. Abramovich. Before him, aside from the Galacticos being sowhat unreasonable, player trades were generally within a sensible range.
The key point was, at that ti, this is the English Football League One; the surge in team valuations was due to the Premier League era. And let's face it, people were all about Serie A now; the English Football League One was just a pasti for your own entertainnt.
A purchase price of two hundred million does include taking on debts. Toss in so miscellaneous expenses, and it definitely counts as a sky-high acquisition.
...
Of course, in hindsight, this acquisition looks practically like a giveaway.
"Mr. Ferguson, this is William White. I apologize for the intrusion, but I have a pressing reason for calling."
"Hello, Mr. White! It seems your acquisition is running into so trouble."
"Well, I wouldn't say it's just a little trouble; it's quite a bit. However, I hope off-field factors won't affect the team."
"Alright, I think I get the point of this call. I can manage the team and ensure there are no mishaps."
"Thank you very much. You know, I'm not well-versed in running a soccer team, which actually works to your advantage."
"Um, I don't quite understand what you an."
"Simple. I only care about the results; I'm not concerned about the process -- let's say I'm not worried about profit. The team is in decent shape but not good enough. If I successfully acquire the club, I need to bolster it imdiately. I think ten million pounds could get us the players we need."
Alright, William White was quite wealthy; to keep Ferguson satisfied, he was ready to throw money around.
"I'm not quite understanding, Mr. White. No offense, but two hundred million pounds is a massive amount. You could buy any club; why Manchester United?"
"Ha! I like red! You know, the Houston Rockets are also red."
"Well, that's a pretty strong reason."
Ferguson understood that no matter how much fans opposed it, the fact that the club was being acquired by Aricans was hard to change.
Unlike others, he didn't reject the acquisition. He knew who William White was. Just look at the current Rockets; they were all about sophistication.
The most amusing part was that William White didn't care about daily affairs.
Well, if the richest man was this idle, it would be quite a joke. He always said, "Let professionals handle professional matters."
Though many people claid that, few could actually manage it. Just recovering from a trust crisis, Ferguson found it hard to wrap his head around how an Arican who knew nothing of soccer trusted him so much. anwhile, these board mbers always loved to ddle.
He knew the club was unified on this issue. At least, the opinions of the shareholders were very much aligned. They believed William White was completely out of his mind; it was just a League One club. Selling Manchester United would easily fund the purchase of two more clubs.
No matter if he had money to burn or was simply clueless, this acquisition wouldn't face any hurdles. As for approval from the Football Association, that wouldn't be a roadblock either.
William White was undoubtedly an Arican; he had significant investnts in London. In fact, many believed Arsenal would have been a better pick.
...
"I an, why aren't you running a league in the U.S.? What makes you want to buy a League One club?"
"George, you are such a fool, you can't make any sense. You know what's brilliant about the British? It's not their clubs; it's their youth training bases. Manchester United has the best youth academy. If I invest more, well, you know..."
"Damn, is that how it works? Is this your sneaky way of benefiting the country?"
"If there's enough ti, I could give it a shot. If you need a soccer team now, you'd better pray to God."
"I get it now; so that's how it is. Why not Serie A then? I heard it's like a mini World Cup."
"Hey, good point; I believe that. Serie A is indeed way better than League One -- by a long shot. But they can be a bit soft. If not, why don't you pick up one of their teams for fun?"
"Is that so? Never mind, forget I said anything."
William White couldn't quite figure out why this character suddenly took an interest in soccer. After all, he had no gaming experience.
So pointed out that running the Major League Soccer was fine, but it didn't really do much for personal growth, did it? Did he expect to manage the national team? Even if it was possible, he couldn't just let a bunch of foreigners take the field, could he?
That wouldn't be an issue. In fact, while the U.S. is a sports powerhouse, they hadn't really pushed any particular sport.
Whether one could represent the national team depended on performance. Without the points from those competitions, no amount of fa would matter.
If you could manage the Olympic Gas, what else was out of reach? It all ca down to profit distribution. For example, how much would you gain from broadcasting rights for making it to the World Cup? How much for getting into the round of 16?
Rest assured, it would just be a bidding process -- nothing too daunting. As long as you could co up with convincing terms, there wouldn't be a problem.
The only hassle was that if the World Cup were in the U.S., the weather could get pretty hot. To make a profit, you couldn't exactly move the main venue to Montana -- now that would be a headache.
Of course, none of this was relevant for now. There was still four years to go. If they worked hard, things should still be manageable by then.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
Reviews
All reviews (0)