In the ninth round of the league, Manchester City would face Arsenal at home.
Just as Gao Shen had said before, he had plenty of experience when it came to beating Arsenal. This weekend, he was planning to show it once again. After all, Arsenal played in the Premier League, which meant they couldn't avoid running into him.
While preparing to deal with Arsenal and Wenger, Gao Shen couldn't help but start thinking about something else.
Angelo Moratti had brought up an idea to Gao Shen.
And the more he thought about it, the more tempting it became. The longer he considered it, the harder it was to control the desire.
Buy a football club!
Everyone knew that acquiring a football club was no easy task. It required a significant amount of money.
The purchase itself was just the beginning. Continued capital investment would be needed for operations.
At the very least, transfer fees, player salaries, and various operating costs all required funding.
It wasn't unusual for players or head coaches to transition into club management, like the Bayern Munich "Big Three."
But even they didn't own Bayern.
Cases like Bayern were rare in European football.
However, Gao Shen was now wealthy.
Just from the two summer transfer windows during his time at Napoli, Gao Shen had earned over 50 million euros from his share of the profits, not to mention the stocks and real estate he had invested in previously.
No one knew, not even Su Qing, that back in May of this year, Gao Shen had bought 10,000 bitcoins from an American programmer for thirty dollars.
In the following years, Gao Shen planned to continue purchasing Bitcoin, waiting for its appreciation.
Those 10,000 bitcoins alone would be worth hundreds of millions in the future.
Along with his current coaching career, Gao Shen had already stepped out of the financial class that needed to worry about money.
So, what should he consider next?
Buy houses? Invest in company stocks?
Neither of these options excited him.
All they did was make the numbers in his bank account bigger.
What he needed was assets and status!
True wealth was never reflected in money, but in assets.
And money alone could not buy status or influence.
After meeting with Angelo Moratti, Gao Shen began seriously considering acquiring a football club.
First, because European football was his career stage. Second, he was very familiar with the industry. From the presidents of FIFA and UEFA down to the average player, he knew the landscape well. Most importantly, this would be the best way for him to make use of his advantage as a time traveler.
If he could successfully transition from being the top head coach to a successful club owner, his status and influence in world football would reach an entirely new level.
In the past, he could use the excuse that he had no money, so there was no need to think about it. But now, he had money.
If he wanted to acquire a football club, the first thing to consider was how much money he had and what level of club he could realistically afford.
The next question was which league's club should he target?
The Bundesliga was the first option Gao Shen ruled out. He simply couldn't enter that league.
Serie A was also quickly rejected. With his current financial resources, he couldn't compete there. On top of that, most Serie A clubs didn't even own their stadiums, making it impossible to play the financial game properly.
That left only La Liga and the Premier League.
It was clear that La Liga was dominated by the two Spanish giants. Apart from them, the other clubs were basically struggling to survive.
In Gao Shen's previous life, Ronaldo had purchased 51% of newly promoted La Liga side Valladolid, and later increased his stake by another 22%. But three years later, when Gao Shen traveled back in time, the club had already been relegated to the Segunda División.
To some extent, Spanish teams all had it tough.
So the answer was obvious.
If Gao Shen wanted to acquire a football club, the best choice was the Premier League.
But the Premier League was too expensive. He couldn't afford a top-flight team, so the only option was to look at the lower leagues.
For example, the Championship or League One.
…
"Buy an English football club?"
During a video call, when Su Qing heard Gao Shen's idea, she was genuinely shocked.
"Do we even have that kind of money?"
In everyone's mind, acquiring a football club was extremely costly.
Manchester City had spent hundreds of millions. Chelsea had invested billions by now.
"The approach is different. We're not aiming for the championship right away. My initial plan is to keep it under 50 million euros. We would have to choose a club in the lower leagues like the Championship or League One. It shouldn't be a big problem." Gao Shen explained.
Over the past few years, because of Gao Shen, Su Qing had also started learning about professional football. Watching games with Gao Shen every day, her understanding of the football world was now better than that of many veteran fans and even some football journalists.
She had always been a top student.
"But the pressure to survive in the lower leagues is huge."
"Then we aim for promotion to the Premier League," Gao Shen replied matter-of-factly.
If he were buying a club with the goal of winning the Champions League, that would obviously be an exaggeration and unrealistic.
His goal was to earn promotion to the Premier League.
"How confident are you?" Su Qing asked, frowning.
In her view, promotion to the Premier League was extremely difficult.
Otherwise, why would so many Championship and League One clubs fight so hard year after year but fail to make it?
"I'm certain. It's just a question of time," Gao Shen answered confidently.
Su Qing was stunned. "Are you planning to coach the team yourself?"
"Of course not!" Gao Shen immediately denied. "I'm not that foolish."
He was now a world-renowned coach. His annual salary could easily exceed 10 million euros at any club. If he went to coach a team in the Championship or League One, wouldn't that be crazy?
From an investment standpoint alone, it wasn't cost-effective.
The best solution was for him to continue coaching at the top level while buying a club and hiring a separate head coach to manage it.
With his network and reputation in European football, did he really need to worry about finding the right coach?
"Let me tell you something. Starting from this season through 2013, the domestic broadcasting rights for the Premier League are worth 1.7 billion pounds for three seasons. And that's just the domestic rights. There are also overseas and digital media rights."
"You know how the Premier League shares its broadcasting revenue, right?"
"Well, you've mentioned it to me before," Su Qing replied.
Gao Shen paused for a moment. What a genius this woman was.
"According to the Premier League's revenue-sharing system, even the second-to-last team in the table this season would still earn close to 40 million pounds. In other words, if we buy a lower-league club for no more than 50 million pounds, once we're promoted, we could recover the investment within a single season."
This was why so many Championship teams were fighting desperately for promotion to the Premier League.
Even if you were relegated, the so-called parachute payments were there to cushion the fall.
"What you said makes sense. If we can make it to the Premier League, the profits would indeed be huge. But…"
"I haven't finished yet." Gao Shen interrupted her with a smile.
"You know I'm very familiar with David Bernstein from the English FA, right?" Gao Shen smiled.
Of course, he was thinking to himself that he had no choice but to use Bernstein's name to back up his information.
Otherwise, how would he explain the source of his data?
"He told me that the general expectation within the Premier League is that over the next three years, domestic rights could be sold for 3 billion pounds."
"Three billion?" Su Qing was shocked.
Jumping from 1.7 billion to 3 billion pounds—that was insane.
"Is that really possible?"
"I'm very optimistic. And that's just domestic rights in the UK. Overseas broadcasting rights will also increase significantly. By then, even the club finishing at the bottom of the table would receive at least 60 million pounds per season."
This was why the more Gao Shen thought about it, the more irresistible the idea became.
When he had no money, he could turn a blind eye. But now that he had money, the temptation of this opportunity was simply too great.
In fact, he didn't even dare mention that the broadcasting rights between 2016 and 2019 would end up being sold for 5.1 billion pounds.
The future of the Premier League would be a world where even teams fighting relegation could earn over 100 million pounds.
Many people ask why so many foreign investors are flocking to the Premier League.
It's because the Premier League is crazy like that!
Just imagine. If Gao Shen spent 50 million to buy a club now, and after careful management they earned promotion to the Premier League, he would instantly gain the value of a Premier League team.
What an outrageous opportunity that would be!
For most people, the hardest part about promotion is building a competitive squad. But for Gao Shen, was that really a problem?
As long as he was willing, he could easily find talented, affordable players.
This was the best way for him to maximize his advantage as a time traveler.
"Are you really confident about getting promoted to the Premier League?" Su Qing asked again, cautiously.
"My first consideration is a Championship team. If everything goes well, I believe we can reach the Premier League within two years. If not, I can still make money through player trading."
If Gao Shen were an unknown, no one would believe him.
But he was a world-famous coach, recognized for his skill in scouting and developing players. If he said so, Su Qing would believe him.
She also understood why Gao Shen seemed a bit anxious.
Looking at the history of Premier League broadcasting rights, an interesting trend emerged.
The first domestic broadcast deal from 1992 to 1997 sold for 190 million pounds. The next deal from 1997 to 2001 was 670 million. The third, from 2001 to 2004, reached 1.2 billion pounds.
However, between 2004 and 2007, the number dropped slightly to 1 billion.
Then, from 2007 to 2010, it climbed to 1.7 billion. From 2010 to 2013, it remained at around 1.77 billion.
Most people assumed that Premier League domestic rights would continue along these lines.
After all, these were already astronomical figures.
But if the next deal really reached 3 billion pounds, it would inevitably trigger another wave of investment in English clubs, driving up their valuations.
By that time, even if Gao Shen didn't want the club anymore, he could simply sell it for a nice profit.
If the club reached the Premier League, the returns would be astronomical.
Even Su Qing was moved by this.
With her background in economics, she was particularly sensitive to numbers and wealth. She clearly understood what this meant.
"We need to prepare carefully and do proper research. We absolutely cannot rush into this or take reckless risks," Su Qing reminded him seriously.
"Of course. This would be the biggest gamble of my life. I can't afford to lose!" Gao Shen nodded firmly.
"No matter what, I support you!"
On the video call, Su Qing turned the engagement ring on her finger, smiling affectionately.
(To be continued.)