From coaching Real Madrid

Gao Shen once saw this question in his previous life: What do you want to do when you have one billion?

The answers were varied, and they were all joking anyway.

Most people's idea is to save money in the bank, earn interest, and then play games to earn money and experience the pleasure of a RMB player. Some people say they should use their iPhone to smash walnuts every day, and others say they should save up the interest to buy a house and marry a wife...

Obviously, these people don't have a billion at all, so they are talking nonsense.

The problem Gao Shen encounters now is that he really has one billion!

Adam Lallana was sold for 25 million pounds, Schneiderlin was sold for 20 million pounds, Paulinho was sold for 20 million pounds, Benteke was also sold for 20 million pounds, Klein was sold for 15 million pounds, and Kuhl

Tuva's price was 20 million pounds, and Bolasie also sold for 10 million pounds.

At last count, Leeds United earned £130 million from this summer's transfer market.

Compared with the two to three billion euros that Atletico Madrid, Ajax, Monaco, etc. will earn in the next few years, Leeds United's money is actually nothing, and the key is whether it can guarantee continuous output.

Teams like Monaco, Ajax, Porto and other teams can sell one to two hundred million euros every year, which is really amazing.

In contrast, Leeds United are just getting started.

However, Gao Shen is also facing a problem now.

How will this money be spent?

You can’t really withdraw it and just throw it into the bank to earn interest, and then use a new mobile phone to crack walnuts every day, right?

…

"Honestly, it's the first time I've handled so much money."

In the conference room at Elland Road Stadium, Gao Shen faced the club's core executives and said with a wry smile.

Everyone else also smiled and nodded.

In fact, they have been waiting for Gao Shen to make a decision.

Who would have thought that this player would be sold for so much money.

A year ago, Gao Shen bought Leeds United for a total of less than 50 million pounds, and now he sold it for 130 million pounds in one summer. If this were told, who would believe it?

Of course, the money has not yet fully arrived.

Real Madrid gives cash, which Gao Shen did not expect.

And according to Lucas, Real Madrid didn't even bargain at all.

Leeds United's original intention was to raise the price first and let Real Madrid negotiate, but unexpectedly, Real Madrid agreed directly.

It is said that Florentino made the decision.

It's quite a premium to buy Courtois at this price, but overall, it's pretty good.

The players Leeds United sold this summer all have one thing in common: they are young.

Youth is their biggest asset, and their annual salary is relatively low.

In other words, after the club buys it, there will be little pressure on salary expenses, and it will even be very small compared to the players in the team, so these big teams are also willing to pay a relatively high price.

Another factor is staging.

Most are paid in several installments within one to two years.

For example, Adam Lallana, Benteke and Klein all paid in five installments and were paid in two years.

In other words, Liverpool claimed to have spent 60 million pounds to sell these three players. In fact, they only paid 12 million pounds as a down payment.

So, when these big teams can spend money, why not be extravagant?

This is a little secret in the transfer market, but for Leeds United, it's not a big problem.

If the team really needs money, they can take these contracts from Liverpool and go directly to the bank for a loan, and the interest will be very low.

This is why it is said that the current club management is more about capital operation.

Leeds United, in contrast, can only try to live within their means.

…

Gao Shen is not the kind of boss who has never seen money.

In fact, apart from spending his own money to acquire Leeds United, he basically did not invest much money in Leeds United.

On the one hand, it's because of salary control, and on the other hand, it's because of selling people last season.

This is also what Su Qing and Lucas requested.

Public money and private money still need to be clearly distinguished.

How is it different from wealthy people like Abramovich if he is devoted blindly?

To put it bluntly, professional football is a bottomless pit, and it is thankless to keep casting like this.

Leeds United has been promoted to the Premier League this season. Contract renewal and salary increase are definitely on the agenda. In addition, Leeds United promised to return the tickets last year. Su Qing, Lucas and the finance department calculated it, and it was about three hundred.

Millions of pounds.

This is mainly because the refund ratio for the most numerous low-price tickets is only 30%.

For Leeds United now, this more than three million pounds is within the acceptable range, and the club actually does not have to pay this money at all, but only gives discounts on game tickets.

This is equivalent to erasing more than three million pounds from the revenue from season ticket sales.

The biggest investment this summer is in youth training.

A complete youth training system was established in one fell swoop. Leeds United was poaching people and recruiting talents from the surrounding areas, investing a lot of money. In addition, supporting coaches, staff, venue facilities, etc., all of which were needed.

money.

No matter how much money is spent, ten million pounds cannot cover it.

This does not include the second phase of the big data center project, the continued investment in the methodology department, and the further upgrade of the Thorpe Arch training base, which are another huge expense.

In the final calculation, if the transfer income of 130 million pounds is not included, Leeds United can only be considered as equal in terms of the Premier League. After all, they have invested too much in software and hardware facilities.

In other words, in the end, all Leeds United could use was the 130 million pounds, but the actual amount they received was only more than 40 million pounds.

The rest will have to wait a year or two.

However, Su Qing and Lucas both believe that after being promoted to the Premier League, Leeds United will further expand its channels for investment. They believe that the attraction of the Premier League can significantly increase Leeds United's commercial income, especially in terms of jersey sponsorship.

The jersey sponsorship for the new season was changed to Adidas, and the contract was signed for five years, worth 6 million pounds per year.

This is actually pretty good. The main reason is because Leeds United has an old brand and a good fan base. If you add in the share of jersey sales, it is still pretty good.

Of course, it is definitely incomparable to those wealthy teams that cost tens of millions of pounds.

There is no way, Leeds United are just a newly promoted team.

However, in terms of the share of jersey sales, Leeds United negotiated a very good share of 40%.

This ratio is the highest in the Premier League. Even many wealthy teams cannot get it. It is basically 20%, and some even only 10%.

In fact, the logic behind this is similar. The sponsorship fees of wealthy teams are high, so the sales share ratio is low. Leeds United's sponsorship fees are not bad, but the sales of jerseys are booming, so they require a high share ratio. This is also normal.

Just like now, after Leeds United changed its jersey sponsor to Adidas, it began to launch new jerseys. Due to reasons such as materials and branding, Adidas jerseys are more expensive than before. The fan version is 55 pounds. Players

The version is 100 pounds, which is the price of the short-sleeved jersey, and the long-sleeved jersey will be more expensive.

According to the club's preliminary estimates, Leeds United can sell at least 150,000 jerseys, which means that Leeds United can get at least more than 3 million pounds in revenue from jersey sales alone.

This will be better than last season.

Speaking of which, Leeds United's jersey sales have always been very hot.

Many people may not know that in the history of professional football, Leeds United was the first club to sell jerseys. That was in 1973. At that time, a jersey sold for only 5 pounds. Now it is 10 times more expensive.

Among many Premier League teams, Leeds United's jerseys are not expensive. For example, Manchester United's jerseys cost 65 pounds.

On the one hand, it has a long history and fans have a tradition of buying jerseys. On the other hand, the jersey prices are moderate, so Leeds United's jersey sales have always been very hot. Even in low-level leagues, jersey sales can rank among the top ten in England.

I believe that by being promoted to the Premier League this season, it is possible to set a new record.

However, compared with Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea and other teams, which can easily sell one to two million pieces, Leeds United's sales are still not on the table.

All I can say is that there is still a long way to go in this regard. Stay in the Premier League and slowly tap into your potential.

…

With more than 40 million pounds of funds on hand and nearly 100 million pounds of income in the next two years, Leeds United had to start studying the use of funds.

Isn’t it really possible to just leave it in the bank and earn interest?

Besides, now the team is completely destitute and needs money for everything.

Planning to build a new training base is the consensus of everyone at the club.

Although Thorpe Arch is barely usable after renovation, it is far behind the times.

As early as when Gao Shen first acquired Leeds United, it was already clear that the stadium did not need to be built, but the training base must be built.

And when Gao Shen mentioned this, everyone in the room immediately stared at him with bright eyes.

Their eyes projected expectations and worries.

More than 100 million pounds is really not a small amount of money.

Is Gao Shen willing to take it out?

But if Leeds United wants to stand firm and lay a solid foundation, this training base must be built.

Gao Shen understood what they were thinking, turned his head, looked at his wife, and nodded slightly.

Su Qing smiled sweetly, "We have already discussed it before. All the surplus from this summer and the new season will be invested in the construction of a new training base. Not only the training base, but also a competition stadium used by the youth team."

At present, Leeds United only has two youth teams, and the games are all played at Thorpe Arch. In the future, there will be youth teams for every age group. Not to mention the serious shortage of playing venues, even the training venues are seriously insufficient, and there can only be two or three age groups.

The sections are crowded together.

After hearing this, Lucas and others were all excited, and when they looked at Gao Shen, their eyes were full of admiration.

More than 100 million pounds, you really can pay it as you say.

Of course, according to Su Qing's wishes, the built training base will still be owned by Gao Shen and his wife's private company and then leased to Leeds United. She will use some financial means to let Leeds United bear the construction costs.

This is actually a disguised form of withdrawing funds from the club.

But no one will care.

Whether it's the fans or the management, what they want to see is a brand new modern training base exclusively for Leeds United. As for who owns it, they don't care.

What's more, the entire Leeds United team is sophisticated.

"This time, we plan to invite Norman Foster to design." Gao Shen announced with a smile.