The Godfather of Football

Ye Qiu doesn't usually come to the White Hart Lane office very often, but whenever he comes, something must have happened.

So, when the employees of the White Hart Lane stadium saw Ye Qiu hurried into the office, and saw that he obviously had an unhappy expression on his face, they all wondered in their hearts, did something happen to the team again?

As the saying goes, when a person becomes famous, there will be more gossip. Tottenham Hotspur has achieved soaring results in the past two years, and has received a lot of attention. There are so many things going on. Not to mention the whole world, and not to mention Europe, just in the UK, there are newspapers that publish news about Tottenham Hotspur being poached almost every day. Just poaching news, there are news every day, either in major newspapers or tabloids.

So many fans are wondering why Tottenham Hotspur doesn't clarify?

The reason is very simple. You don't have that much energy to clarify one by one. The newspapers rely on pens to make a living. Can you argue with them? And once you clarify, they will immediately turn around and say that you are trying to cover up the truth. You didn't clarify before, but you clarified now, which means they were right.

As the saying goes, if you want to accuse someone of something, you can always find a pretext, so Tottenham Hotspur often keeps silent.

Moreover, in the words of Peter Kenyon, such hype and publicity are also good for Tottenham Hotspur. At least many players in the team have become stars, and the attention has soared.

Ye Qiu knows a lot about many situations, such as the competition within the team.

With Van Persie, Messi, Ribery and others holding the main positions in the team for a long time, there must be many players who have knots in their hearts, just like Carroll, as a local star, coupled with his youthful vigor, he said in an interview with the media that he would leave if he was not given the main position, but later changed his words after being pressured by the club.

Competition within the team will definitely lead to some people being happy and some being sad, and the team is being targeted by those rich and powerful giants, and the management has no way to deal with it. The reason is very simple, you can't compete with them at all.

After the team won the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur has once again raised the upper limit of the team's salary structure. According to the current team's contract renewal, after signing Messi, Fabregas, Ribery, Van Persie and Thiago Silva, Tottenham Hotspur's salary has quickly risen to the fourth place in the Premier League, second only to Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.

The reason why Manchester City has a high salary is mainly because they are under great pressure in terms of taxes, and Tottenham Hotspur has formed an effective way to avoid taxes, which is why Wenger said before that Arsenal's salary will not be lower than Tottenham Hotspur's.

In this case, if the team raises salaries again in order to retain players, the salary pressure of the team will inevitably increase further, because you can meet the reasonable requirements of the players, but you can never satisfy their appetite.

This is a crazy era. At present, the highest salary in Tottenham Hotspur is Messi and Ribery. The salary of both players is 100,000 pounds. This is a new contract signed by the team with Ribery and Messi in the season for a period of five years.

In addition, the salaries of players like Van Persie, David Silva, Thiago Silva, Alves, and Cech are all within 100,000 pounds, but they are all around 80,000 pounds. So overall, Tottenham Hotspur's salary structure is relatively well controlled in the Premier League, because the team has performed well and the players have made great progress, and their salaries are almost raised once a year.

At this point, some of the main core players are very satisfied. Even if they seem to have less salary than other teams' star players, the team's current upward momentum is obvious, and they will not have any resistance.

But the main problem lies with other players.

Fabregas' contract is being negotiated. The team wants to offer him a weekly salary of 80,000 pounds, which is the same level as Van Persie, Thiago Silva and others, and slightly higher than the newly joined David Silva, but Fabregas is still considering it because he obviously hopes to go to Barcelona.

If the team is mentally prepared for Fabregas's hesitation, then Carroll's request for a weekly salary of up to 100,000 pounds and Ashley Young's request for a weekly salary for core players will make Tottenham Hotspur management feel a little unacceptable.

Currently, the highest salary in the Premier League is Manchester City's Robinho, who is as high as 160,000 pounds, John Terry's weekly salary is also as high as 150,000 pounds, while Frank Lampard's weekly salary is 140,000 pounds, and Gerrard's is 130,000 pounds, all of which exceed the previous English salary bottom line of 100,000 pounds.

In the past, Premier League teams were reluctant to exceed 100,000 pounds in weekly salary. One important reason was taxation, but now basically 100,000 weekly salary is nothing in the Premier League. If you go to the 20 Premier League teams, almost every team has players with a weekly salary of more than 100,000 pounds, and Tottenham Hotspur has only two. The teams in the top four of the league are well controlled.

At present, the British labor department has released the news that starting from April 2010, all high-income groups with an annual salary of more than 150,000 pounds will be subject to a personal income tax of up to 50%. In other words, in April 2010, the players' salaries will usher in a new round of increases.

Some people may think, hey, an increase from 40% to 50%, what's the big deal, and the players' salaries are all pre-tax, so the deductions will only be the players' salaries, what does it have to do with the club?

Actually, this is a big mistake, because the players will definitely not be happy at that time. In order to ensure that their income is at least not reduced, the club will definitely fill the tax gap for them, and this is not only 10%, but 20%!

For example, suppose a player's annual salary is one million now. According to the current 40% tax rate, he can get 600,000. By April 2010, in order to ensure that he can get 600,000 income, his annual salary must be increased to 1.2 million, that is, 20%, because it is simple, and the increase is also subject to tax.

According to the current salary structure of all Premier League teams, except for those young players in the youth training camp, almost all players have to pay taxes, and their annual income exceeds 150,000 pounds, so this is equivalent to the government forcing the club to pay 20% more salary for no reason, because they know very well that with the signing of large live broadcast rights, Premier League teams are not poor, but the government is poor.

Of course, you can choose not to give players a salary increase, but put yourself in their shoes. If you were a player, would you be willing? Wouldn't you want to leave this damn country?

Therefore, Ye Qiu and Peter Kenyon knew very well that the salary structure must be suppressed. If it cannot be suppressed, it will definitely be a disaster for Tottenham Hotspur, because once the salary structure breaks the dam, it will become a heavy burden on the club for a long time.

Regarding Carroll and others' request for salary increase, Ye Qiu and the management have a very consistent attitude and it is impossible to accept it!

Before, Carroll said to the public that he would leave if he was not given a starting position. Ye Qiu has conveyed this to Carroll's agent through Peter Kenyon, telling him that he can find a place for his players. As long as the price is right, Tottenham Hotspur will release them at any time.

Not to mention, the efficiency is still very fast. Not long after, several teams really came to the door, but each of them wanted to fish in troubled waters, and the price offered was basically around 10 million euros, which was not taken seriously by Tottenham Hotspur.

Until today, the famous Premier League agent Joorabchian came to White Hart Lane in person and had some contact with Peter Kenyon. He asked about the transfer prices of two English players Andy Carroll and Ashley Young in the team, and also asked about Messi with concern. The two sides had some initial contact.

"20 million euros, this is the price they offered for Andy Carroll, and Mark Hughes also wants to bring in Ashley Young!" Peter Kenyon smiled and introduced the situation after seeing Ye Qiu in the office, "And Joorabchian also learned about Messi's transfer from us."

"They want to get Messi?" Ye Qiu raised his eyebrows.

"Any price, as long as we are willing to sell!" Peter Kenyon was a little excited.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Ribery, Kaka, and Rooney of Chelsea are the few superstars in today's football world who can cause a sensation. Two of them are actually in Tottenham Hotspur, and they can almost be said to be the face of Tottenham Hotspur.

Many people say that Tottenham Hotspur is a wealthy club because the team has two stars, Messi and Ribery.

"How high can you offer?" Ye Qiu asked with a smile.

Peter Kenyon said seriously, "We can offer as much as nine figures!"

Ye Qiu was really surprised by this. In his previous life, Manchester City wanted to introduce Kaka with a nine-figure transfer fee. Ye Qiu was a little skeptical about this because he was always skeptical about the comments and reports of some media in his previous life. But now, when it really happened to him, he was really surprised.

But it was just a little surprising. For Ye Qiu now, nine figures is really not a lot of money.

"You know, the top players are in short supply, so there is no need to talk about Messi!" Ye Qiu said bluntly.

Peter Kenyon also smiled, but it was a bitter smile, "But I'm afraid they're offering the players too good a deal!"

Tottenham Hotspur's new contract with Messi is a weekly salary of 100,000 pounds, but don't think that Messi only gets 60,000 pounds a week. That's not the case, because the Premier League salary is calculated based on the working week, that is, there is no salary during the summer vacation, so generally speaking, there are about 46 weeks a year.

However, the players' personal income tax is calculated on a monthly basis, and the entire calculation process is very cumbersome and complicated. Tottenham Hotspur has specially hired several very famous accountants in the UK to be responsible for the players' tax payment and tax avoidance work, and most of Tottenham Hotspur's players pay taxes on behalf of the club.

Another point is that Tottenham Hotspur has established a complete set of tax avoidance procedures. For example, according to the current Premier League tax standards, personal income tax is 40%, but if it is represented by a public relations company, only 28% corporate tax needs to be paid, not to mention those tax avoidance companies that have their public relations companies headquartered overseas.

Beckham set up his own public relations company specifically to avoid taxes, and he handles his personal income tax himself, which is already mature, so there is no need to go through Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham Hotspur also has its own complete set of tax avoidance methods.

For example, it used to be the player's image rights, but starting from 2006, this part of the income was included in the player's salary and was also subject to tax. Therefore, Tottenham Hotspur controls the player's image rights income to less than 15% of the player's salary. , because this part is not subject to tax, while the rest is paid through various other names and channels.

For example, placement expenses, Champions League bonuses, subsidies for players’ families, etc.

According to the regulations of the Premier League, the club must provide each player's salary, but does not need to submit image rights income and various bonus income, so this gives the team room to operate.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, Messi’s weekly salary is 100,000 pounds, but 15% of it is tax-free image rights income, and the remaining part has to be operated through a public relations company and paid 28% corporate tax. So fundamentally speaking, Messi's actual after-tax income is definitely more than 80,000 pounds.

The actual salary received is at least not much worse than those of Gerrard, Lampard and other top earners, so Messi is also very satisfied with this contract, and Tottenham Hotspur did not pay much more. The whole process is just a bit cumbersome.

The Premier League also turns a blind eye to this kind of thing. As long as your team has the ability to avoid those tax items, no one will care how much tax you have stolen, because this is called reasonable tax avoidance, and everyone will care. Not.

However, it should be noted that the gap between this salary and the outside world is actually very large, because according to the information Ye Qiu received privately, according to the agreement reached between Jorge Mendes and Real Madrid, Cristiano ?The contract signed by Ronaldo with Real Madrid has a weekly salary of up to 220,000 pounds after tax.

After Robinho moved to Manchester City, his weekly salary reached 160,000 pounds before tax. If Manchester City really wants to persuade Messi to directly offer two or three times the current weekly salary, can Messi refuse?

Ye Qiu thought about this and knew what the situation was now. As long as Tottenham Hotspur continued to adhere to the healthy management path, the number one star would be poached. It would definitely happen sooner or later. , Manchester United is the best example. From Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo, top stars will inevitably be poached.

"We'll talk about it when the time comes when we have an iron-clad camp and flowing soldiers!" Ye Qiu sighed softly.

"However, you have to give me a high price for the transfers of Peter, Andy Carroll and Ashley Young. I will take care of the players. At least I won't let them come out to talk about it again, and sell it for a high price." , their salary will also be high, the unlucky one is Manchester City, so it’s not a big problem, you have to try to raise your voice as much as possible!”

Peter Kenyon smiled after hearing this, "Now Manchester City is in urgent need of bringing in a few local players, and there have not been many youth training embryos in England in the past few years. From Rooney to now, almost no one has taken over. Now it is finally out." A Carol, I know how to do it!"

The Premier League implements a 17+8 registration policy, which means that eight of the twenty-five players must be locally trained players. However, what is different from what many people understand is that these eight players do not have any There are nationality restrictions, but it is required that before the age of 21, there must be three years of receiving youth training in England.

England's youth training has been quite bad for so many years. It can be said that except for Manchester United, almost all teams are not up to standard, and Tottenham Hotspur often have to bring in some second-team players to make up the numbers. Complete registration.

However, as the Football Association and the Premier League announced the relaxation of regional restrictions on youth training selection, Tottenham Hotspur's scouts are looking for candidates from all over England to fill the vacancies in the youth training camp. In addition, the team is taking a younger approach, including some young people. Players can directly participate in the league without signing up, so Ye Qiu doesn't miss Carol at all.

In the Premier League, the transfer price of local English players has always been relatively high. The reason is very simple. The style of the Premier League is different from other leagues on the mainland. There is an adaptability problem in the introduction of mainland players, but the introduction of local English players is There is no problem in this regard.

Moreover, English fans have always preferred local players, so the flag stars of many teams are local players, such as Manchester United's Class 92, Chelsea's Terry and Lampard, and Liverpool's Gerrard. Even these Local players often cause trouble. For example, Gerrard was arrested by the police not long ago for fighting, but the fans still love him.

Various complex subjective and objective factors have led to the popularity of local players, but England's youth training is not strong, which has led to the inflated value of local players, especially when you want to introduce some well-known local players.

Tottenham Hotspur is located in London, which is considered an international city. It is not just for local fans in England, so they do not rely heavily on local players. Therefore, even Arsenal has few local players in the team. The players are the main players, but their attendance is still high. This is due to the objective environment of London, an international city.

"I hope to use the proceeds from the sale of Carroll and Ashley Young to invest in commercial building development projects in the financial district!" Ye Qiu expressed his true thoughts.

According to data obtained by the market research company commissioned by Huangtian Group, although the overall office rent in London's financial district has dropped by 30% and house prices have also been on a downward trend since the outbreak of the subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis, this is a very good opportunity as the Olympic Games approach and stimulate the market.

It is expected that in the next six years, the leases of 1.5 million square meters of offices in central London will expire. According to market rules, 30% will move to new locations. After the Olympic Games, the number of employees in London's financial district will increase from the current 300,000 to about 350,000, reaching the peak in 2007. With more employees, the office area will also be expanded, and the demand will be strong.

The skyscraper where Zhenhua Hotel is located has attracted a lot of attention, but this is only the first step for Huangtian Group. Next, they will continue to acquire land in the financial district to build high-end office buildings, or buy potential real estate projects at the bottom, focusing on the market potential in the next few years.

Tottenham Hotspur is responsible for the matchmaking, and naturally they also want to get a share of it. Ye Qiu hopes that the team can invest more and generate rich returns in the future.

At the beginning, the chairman of Real Madrid, Bernabeu, left the old sports city to Real Madrid, which turned the bankrupt Real Madrid around completely. Not only did they introduce superstars such as Figo and Zidane, but they also became the world's leading super giants. Many people said that it was supported by the Spanish government. Then they should go to Madrid to see the Four Towers Commercial District to see whether the government made money!

It can be seen that all real estate in the world is the same. The difference is that some people make a fortune and some people lose money!

Peter Kenyon is also very supportive of Ye Qiu's investment plan. Manchester United also invested in a lot of industries in the early years and developed the land of Old Trafford Park. However, with the acquisition of the Glazer family, the team was burdened with debts. In recent years, it has not only been constantly selling off its property, but also making losses every year.

And Arsenal, didn't they also invest in the Highbury real estate project? It's just that unfortunately, they encountered the subprime mortgage and European debt crises, which made the team's situation even worse. Otherwise, I don't know how much better they would be now.

Tottenham Hotspur is taking advantage of the current economic downturn to buy at the bottom, which is indeed a good idea!

"Go to Munich with confidence, leave these things to me!" After Peter Kenyon knew Ye Qiu's idea, he also had an idea in mind.