The recent Cobham training ground has started to get busy.
In two days' time, Chelsea Club will start training for the new season, and the players are also preparing to gather.
Pan Yi drove his silver Aston Martin directly into the internal parking lot...
Wait, Aston Martin?
Yes, that Aston Martin, the one owned by Abramovich.
This kind of car, which is only worth 1.2 million pounds, was given to Pan Yi as soon as Abu was happy. What is there to say?
By the time Pan Yi arrived in the administrative office, Chelsea executives who had known his schedule for a long time, as well as various core managers, were already sitting in the conference room waiting for him.
As soon as they entered the door, everyone greeted each other politely and exchanged polite greetings.
Last season's double championship gave everyone confidence in the team's journey in the new season.
Now everyone hopes that the team can continue to achieve satisfactory results under the leadership of Pan Yi!
Especially if he can give the entire seven-time champion like Pan Yi's bold words at the championship celebration...
After all, this can truly establish Chelsea's status as a giant in world football!
Just one Champions League championship, to be honest, cannot make a team stand up and say that it is a giant.
Well, even more times doesn’t necessarily count.
Teams like Benfica, Nottingham Forest, Porto, including Steaua Bucharest, Aston Villa, Red Star Belgrade, if they stand up now and say they are a world-class giant team, will anyone recognize it?
Or can it attract enough stars?
If a club wants to become a giant, the key is to consistently produce results and then produce big results.
Occasional upsets or weak follow-up are difficult to gain recognition among players or fans.
In the FM Football Manager game, "prestige" is used as the criterion, which is actually very reasonable.
Just because you occasionally win the Champions League does not mean that you can buy big-name stars as you like next season, because your reputation is not enough for others to bother to come.
So, why is it that Chelsea has not won the Champions League before, but everyone still calls it a "rich club" and can attract many stars to invest?
The same is true for Manchester City and Arsenal.
That's because they first have good results in the Premier League and can win the championship, which will also increase their prestige.
Then there is the fact that although they failed to win the Champions League, their results are also very stable.
Chelsea, for example, has been able to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for several consecutive years and has also reached the final. Such achievements are not something that just any team can achieve.
Of course, Chelsea finally won the championship last season, which was a great improvement to the club's prestige and will naturally greatly enhance the Chelsea team's status in everyone's minds.
And if it really achieves the so-called achievement of seven crowns, it will be even more explosive!
Because this is an achievement that will go down in history!
Even for coach Pan Yi, who has achieved great success, it is also another peak of his career.
After all, in the history of world football, no one has been able to lead the team to win seven heavyweight championships in one season!
"Okay, everyone is here, let's have a meeting."
With a greeting from Chairman Bruce Buck, everyone began the first high-level meeting of the new season.
CEO Ron Gourray spoke first, summarizing the team's results and operating conditions last season.
Not to mention achievements, two heavy championships, this is a glory that has never been achieved in Chelsea's history.
Fan satisfaction was overwhelming, and media reporters also praised Chelsea.
In his speech, Ron Gurray expressed his gratitude to head coach Pan Yi on behalf of the club and hoped that he could lead the team to make persistent efforts.
In the second half of his speech, Ron Gurray also mentioned the team's current financial situation.
That's one word - very healthy!
First of all, the transfer operations in the winter window are all about making money, and in today's summer window, although the club has just spent a huge sum of 85 million euros to buy Harry Kane and the German player Goretzka;
However, due to the large amount of revenue from the sale of Ramirez, Mikel, and Cech, plus the revenue from renting out players such as Bamford and William, the team has basically maintained a stable flow of players. achieved balance of payments.
In terms of salary structure, it has become more reasonable after Pan Yi took over, and the overall salary structure has also declined, and a large amount of expenditure has been saved here.
Coupled with the excellent results last season, the team has experienced explosive growth in various aspects such as bonuses, sponsorships, TV broadcast fees, ticket sales, and merchandise revenue.
Ron Gourlay also mentioned that although it cost a lot of money to buy Harry Kane, because this player has been very popular in England recently, it has also driven a lot of jersey sales, so here can also supplement some of it. income.
In addition, this transaction dealt a severe blow to the city rival Tottenham, causing them to lose their future star. This also makes Chelsea club very satisfied.
In other words, apart from the competitive factors, everyone also thinks that the operation of buying Harry Kane is a stroke of genius!
After introducing Chelsea's financial situation, Ron Gurray also mentioned the transfer situation of the Premier League in the new season.
"There are three teams we have to keep an eye on, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool."
Ron Gurley said with a serious face.
"As early as last summer, Manchester City invested a lot of money in the transfer market. Although the team's performance in the Champions League was not satisfactory, it was ultimately second only to us in the Premier League and finished third in the league. two."
"This summer, Manchester City continued to increase investment, including 80 million euros to buy De Bruyne from Bayern, 65 million euros to buy Sterling from Liverpool, and 44 million euros to buy Otamendi from Valencia... According to my speculation, this team will probably continue to be our number one rival in the new season.”
Pan Yi thought about it in his mind. Manchester City has invested so much for two consecutive seasons, but there is no financial problem?
Listening to Ron Guerray's introduction again, although Manchester City has also transferred out this season, Dzeko went to Roma and Milner went to Liverpool on free transfers, Jovetic went to Inter Milan on loan, and Sinclair went to Arsenal. Stone Villa also sold for only 3 million euros, which was simply unable to make ends meet.
You know, although the top transfer bid so far this season is Chelsea, the problem is that Chelsea also makes a lot of money.
Whether it is player transfers or income from the Premier League and Champions League, Chelsea far exceeds Manchester City.
Why can you, Manchester City, be so devoted all the time?
Forget it, besides, UEFA is going to investigate the Milan duo.
"The other teams we should be wary of are the two traditional powerhouses, Manchester United and Liverpool."
“Let’s talk about Manchester United first. Although they sold Di Maria to Paris Saint-Germain, they have introduced more powerful players. Monaco’s Martial, 40 million euros; Southampton’s Schneiderlin, 30 million euros; Depay of Inhoven, 30 million euros; Bastian Schweinsteiger of Bayern, 20 million euros; Darmian of Turin, 20 million euros..."
"Manchester United's strength should be said to have improved a lot compared to last season. Although Liverpool sold their own prince Sterling, they also bought Benteke, Firmino and other stars at high prices, and even got them for free from Manchester City. Milner has been eliminated, and overall the trend is on the rise. It is said that they feel that their back line needs to be strengthened, so they are discussing with Hamburg about Van Dijk joining."
"The other one is Southampton, who performed well last season. They are also looking for Van Dijk. By the way, they also want to buy our midfielder Romeu for 5 million euros. Do you want to sell it to them?"
When everyone heard this, they all turned their heads and looked at Pan Yi.
Now in the Chelsea team, although the chairman and CEO are nominally Pan Yi's boss, when it comes to actual operations, they all have to listen to Pan Yi.
In front of Pan Yi, they seemed to be more purely engaged in writing ppts and making reports...
Pan Yi sat upright in his seat, nodded slightly, and agreed:
"No problem, just sell it to them."
This Romeu is a 23-year-old Spaniard who came from the La Masia youth training camp. He joined Chelsea in 2011 and is also a member of the Spanish youth national team.
But this guy was injured as soon as he arrived, and his condition after recovery was average, so he became a regular member of Chelsea's taxi business and was loaned to Valencia, Stuttgart and other teams. To be honest, he couldn't play well. .
So just sell it. After all, there are so many people in Chelsea's talent pool, and it's impossible to give everyone a chance.
Pan Yi's opportunities will only be given first to those players who have proven they can play in his previous life, or those players he is more familiar with and more optimistic about...
Everyone didn't have much objection to this transfer.
It is a normal operation for players who are no longer needed by the first team to resell them to make some money and save some wages.
And Pan Yi obviously paid attention not to Romeu, but to the name of another player.
After finishing this sentence, he added: "Since Liverpool and Southampton are both our competitors, and they are both interested in Van Dijk, why don't we also take action."
】
Everyone in the conference room couldn't help but start talking when they heard this.
Van Dijk is Pan Yi's favorite general, everyone knows this.
When he was at AC Milan, Pan Yi took Van Dijk from the Netherlands to Italy, and then took him to Hamburg, where he became the backbone of the Champions League champion's defense.
Judging from this resume, it can be said that in Pan Yi's mind, he is second only to Kanter!
But the problem is that Hamburg's results last season were mediocre. They were eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League. They barely qualified for the Europa League in the league. Van Dijk's performance can only be said to be acceptable.
Chelsea's current central defender lineup can be said to be very prosperous.
The main players Terry, David Luiz, and Gary Cahill are all in good condition, and the young players Ake, Zouma, and Christensen have grown rapidly after a year of training, and have sometimes performed well in games;
Then players like Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, and Marcos Alonso can all play as central defenders.
Under such circumstances, does Chelsea really need a centre-back?
"Needed." Pan Yi seemed to know everyone's doubts and said to himself:
"Have you forgotten how old our captain Terry is this year? 34 and a half years old. Although his fighting spirit on the court is still the same, his body is inevitably declining, which is why he announced three years ago Reasons for quitting the England national team."
"We must find a successor for Terry. In addition, although Gary Cahill has a tough defensive style and is very strong in aerial and ground defense, he is still slightly lacking in timing and accuracy of the ball. . In fact, there is a certain instability in Cahill's handling of golf balls... Moreover, he is already 30 years old this year."
"Van Dijk combines the characteristics of both of them, and is faster, better at controlling the ball, and younger. To be honest, if he didn't meet my requirements for a central defender, I wouldn't have suggested buying him at the beginning. Go to Milan and get a burger.”
This is actually Pan Yi's plan for Chelsea's lineup.
After all, just because a player performs well in one season does not mean that he will continue to perform well in the next season, especially older players.
As far as Pan Yi's "experience" in his previous life is concerned, Terry was almost full attendance in the 2014-2015 season, performed very well, and was selected for the Premier League Team of the Year;
But by the 2015-2016 season, his performance declined, and the number of appearances also dropped a bit;
In one more season, that is, the 2016-2017 season, he will be completely reduced to a substitute, which means that his ability cannot match the level of a powerful team like Chelsea.
Looking at Gary Cahill, it's actually similar.
He also had less playing time in the 2015-2016 season. At that time, the young player Zouma in the team gradually grew up and began to replace his main position.
It is precisely because of this that these two veterans also left Chelsea and went to weaker teams like Villa and Crystal Palace to continue their football careers.
Therefore, although Terry and Gary Cahill performed very well last season, perhaps under Pan Yi's training they can better extend their football lives;
But in order to prevent such a sudden decline, Pan Yi decided to purchase another central defender as a supplement.
After all, although Zuma, Ake and others are also very good, they are still far from the "top".
And who is the world's top central defender now?
Of course, it is Van Dijk who has the strength to compete for the position of "the first guard in the world" - whether in his previous life or this life, Van Dijk has the strength to be proud of the Premier League.
More importantly, he has just turned 24 and is at the peak of his career, and this peak period is expected to last for many years...
In addition, Van Dijk has played under Pan Yi for several years, and there is no situation where he is not suitable for Pan Yi's tactical system. He can definitely plug and play.
On the other hand, isn't it said that both Liverpool and Southampton want to buy Van Dijk?
Then if Chelsea takes action to snatch him, won't it also weaken their strength invisibly?
It's definitely a good deal at one fell swoop.
Everyone nodded after hearing what Pan Yi said.
In fact, all I could do was nod.
Who dares to have any objections to the players Pan Yi wants to buy?
Even if he goes to some obscure place to get an unknown player, everyone will surely trust his judgment;
What's more, this is Van Dijk, a main player who has won two Champions League championships in the past few years, and a direct player of Pan Yi!
But CEO Ron Gurray hesitated slightly and said: "According to what I know, Hamburg's asking price for Van Dijk is very high. This is why Liverpool and Southampton have not been able to get the Dutch star. .”
"Does Van Dijk want to leave?" Pan Yi asked.
"Want to leave. He said that playing in the Premier League has always been his dream, so..."
"Then how much is he worth?" Pan Yi asked again.
"Probably between 50 million and 60 million euros."
"How much more do we have in our transfer budget?"
"...The boss said there is no upper limit. If I have to give a number...100 million...or 200 million euros?"
"Then it's over." Pan Yi laughed, "Mr. Abu warned me a long time ago that I should spend the money well. Even to complete this task, I have to buy Van Dijk!"
As Pan Yi spoke, he was already thinking about calling Nagelsmann.
To be honest, this kid did a good job in Hamburg. After all, in just one or two years, Hamburg, the former Champions League champion team, has been almost dismembered.
The only people who are still in the team now are Wu Lei, Salah, Mitrovic and so on.
But Nagelsmann still brought them to the Europa League. In the Champions League, they also won the first place in the group and entered the knockout rounds. It really made sense.
And now, Van Dijk also wants to leave the team, which cannot make other teams cheaper.
Pan Yi is preparing to buy Van Dijk at a high price, which can be regarded as a help to Nagelsmann.
Alternatively, Chelsea can sell or rent someone at a cheaper price to help their old club.
Of course, the people around the conference table didn't know what Pan Yi was thinking. All they heard were Pan Yi's decisive words, which also made them understand Pan Yi's determination to introduce Van Dijk.
There is no doubt that Pan Yi's rejuvenation policy for Chelsea continues to advance.
After last season, no one will doubt Pan Yi's coaching ability and strategies.
Now, they are looking forward to Chelsea's journey in the new season and whether these young new players can bring satisfactory performances.
At this time, Chairman Bruce Buck looked at the crowd and said: "Let's move on to the last topic. Let's discuss Paris Saint-Germain's offer of 110 million euros to bring in Lukaku. .”
Everyone was shocked when they heard the news.
110 million euros! The amount of this transfer is really amazing!
How should I put it, at this point in time, not every player is worth hundreds of millions.
The current transfer record holder in world football is Bale. The transfer fee when he moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid was 101 million euros to be precise.
The second-ranked player is Cristiano Ronaldo, whose price of 94 million euros was also the world's most valuable at the time.
The third is Neymar. His transfer from Santos to Barcelona cost Barcelona 88 million euros.
Then there is the 85 million spent by Chelsea to buy Kane this season.
Next, it’s De Bruyne’s move to Manchester City and last year’s Oscar to Shanghai SIPG for 80 million——
This also shows how arrogant the Chinese Super League teams have been in recent years. Few of the big-name European teams can afford the sky-high price of 80 million euros.
In other words, Paris Saint-Germain wants to spend 120 million to buy Lukaku, which is setting a new world record for transfer fees!
"Maybe it's because we just bought Harry Kane, which makes Paris Saint-Germain think that we may sell Lukaku, who also plays the center position." Bruce Buck continued, "So, what do you think?"
He asked "everyone", but it was Pan Yi who was looking at him.
He understands whether Pan Yi bought Harry Kane to replace Lukaku, or whether the two centers coexist, it still depends on what the head coach thinks.
Although this money...
It's really tempting, even for a "big family" like Chelsea.
This also shows how well Lukaku performed under Pan Yi!
In just one year, he went from being a loan player at Chelsea to becoming the Premier League Golden Boot and "Mr. Billion Dollars"!
"Reject directly." Pan Yiyan replied concisely, and then said with a smile, "Or you can try asking them, is 222 million okay?"
222 million is actually the price paid by Paris when they poached Neymar from Barcelona in 2017 in Pan Yi's previous life.
This has also become the most expensive transfer transaction in the history of world football.
At the same time, many people say that it was precisely because of this transaction that it caused a series of butterfly effects and also led to changes in the world football landscape.
For example, after the trade, when Barcelona got rich, they went to poach Liverpool's Coutinho. Then, when Liverpool also got rich, they hired defensive giants like Van Dijk and Alisson. From then on, they were reborn and became the Premier League and Champions League champions again...etc. wait.
As for Barcelona's Coutinho's poor performance, which caused another chain reaction, this is another story.
The purchase of Neymar is also considered to be the beginning of the skyrocketing value of the player.
After that, player transfers often start at 100 million. What about Dembe, Coutinho, Griezmann, Felix, Grealish...
Anyway, the money behind feels like it’s not money at all.
Of course, what Pan Yi said now was also a bit of a joke.
When it comes to buying people, Paris has always been about buying the head but not the foot. They only try to bring in forwards at high prices, but they are reluctant to spend money in the midfield and backfield.
Let’s just say that right now, you have great strikers like Yin Bu and Cavani, as well as top strikers like Lavezzi and Lucas Jr., and you just bought Di Maria, and you actually want to make one. Lukaku?
We really need to let Lukaku and Cavani play pure wingers, right?
This problem has not changed for many years.
Paris Saint-Germain keeps buying and selling every year, but even if they don't renovate the midfield and backcourt, I really regret that after investing so many years and so much money, they haven't been able to win a Champions League championship.
Of course, Bruce Buck didn't know that Pan Yi was complaining. Hearing what he said, he was stunned: "Ah? Really? 222 million?..."
Pan Yi laughed: "Forget it, I was just joking."
Everyone in the conference room immediately understood what Pan Yi meant.
Just one word: not for sale!
Everyone involuntarily lifted their spirits.
After all, Lukaku is now Chelsea's star player. If he is really sold, it will have an impact on the morale of the entire team.
And it does feel quite refreshing to reject Paris Saint-Germain so simply.
The wealthy people in Qatar are nothing, they can buy whoever they want?
We at Chelsea are not paupers either.
Isn’t it just over 100 million euros?
Haha, not short of this little money!
