Chapter 566: Can You Still Catch Up?
Bring in another striker?
It is true that the Liverpool board has put a plan on the table for discussion but there is a problem.
Money!
Aston Villa's Belgian striker Benteke is at the top of the list of players recommended by Liverpool's scouting team, who is fifth in the English scorer list this season, behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luis Suarez, Robin van Persie and Gareth Bale.
What's more, although Benteke has a long contract with Aston Villa, his weekly salary is very low, only 20,000 pounds, which is not worthy of the current excellent performance of the Belgian center forward, so the transfer market has been crazy about the news that Benteke is going to transfer.
But if you want to persuade Aston Villa to release him, it will cost at least 20 million pounds or more!
In addition, Liverpool's scouts have also recommended Bayern Munich's Swiss international Shaqiri, who believes that the latter can effectively enhance the Reds' attacking attack and ball advancement ability, but the player is worth at least 15 million pounds.
Ian Eyre knew in his heart that it was impossible for his boss to shell out £35 million for reinforcements!
So, if Liverpool wants to bring in Benteke and Shaqiri, there is only one way, sell Suarez and cash out!
It's just that this is somewhat unwilling!
After all, Suarez is the only star in the Liverpool team with a top-level level.
To put it bluntly, Suarez's type of player, when it comes to any team, belongs to the strategic level.
Sell Suarez, Liverpool want to compete for the league title in the short term, don't expect it at all!
Yang Huan was always paying attention to Ian Al, watching the latter's face change back and forth, and he knew it.
It's hard for anyone to make such a bold decision.
But sometimes, only in this way, the team has a future!
"Ian!" Yang Huan looked at the general manager of Liverpool with a smile.
"If you Red Army are willing to sell Suarez, remember to inform me, I am very interested!"
At the end of this season, Drogba may go to Monaco to retire, and by that time, the forward line will be supported by Ibrahimovic and Sturridge.
So, if Suarez can be brought in again, it will be perfect!
What's more, Suarez is not just strong, he is also very well-rounded.
With his arrival, Southampton could even try to learn from Liverpool in their previous life, combining Suarez and Sturridge into a two-striker combination, bringing more tactical changes to Southampton.
And with Suarez, Neymar, Gareth Bale, Ibrahimovic, Hazard, Southampton in the whole midfield, the individual ability is too strong.
At that time, let alone the whole of Britain, even in the European arena, who can stop it?
Thinking of this, Yang Huan really had an impulse to keep Neymar.
But soon he gave up on the tempting idea.
Because he knows that forcing Neymar to stay will do more harm than good to Southampton!
Ian Eyre is obviously reluctant to talk too much about Suarez, because he knows very well that the Uruguayan is the core player of Liverpool right now, and has received the attention of many European giants, and if he is not careful, things will be in trouble.
"Young Master Huan, I heard that the team that will expand the International Champions Cup next year will be selected from the teams in the Asian Challenge, right?"
Yang Huan nodded, very honest, "Yes, if there is no accident, it should be so."
From the current indications, the expansion of the International Champions Cup next year has become imperative.
The reason is simple, the market response has been too enthusiastic.
First of all, many countries and regions in Asia have thrown olive branches to Miracle Media, and then Australia in Oceania is also very interested, among which Melbourne even offered a high government subsidy of 10 million pounds in order to attract the international championship cup.
If the semi-finals and finals can be arranged in Melbourne, the government subsidy can be even higher.
In addition to Australia, Qatar in the Middle East is also very welcoming.
If the International Champions Cup is willing to be held in Qatar, not only will all the costs be comprehensive, but the Qatari government is willing to pay for the team's appearance while also giving a high government subsidy.
All of this has made Miracle Media clearly aware that the International Champions Cup is promising, and it is imperative to expand the army!
It was because of these rumors that Ian Al was very moved.
Liverpool's owner is from the United States, and the sponsor is Brave Sports, which is owned by New Balance in the United States, and in this case, it would be of great benefit to the Reds if Liverpool could participate in the International Champions Cup, especially in the United States.
Besides, whoever doesn't know in European football now will make a lot of money if they participate in the International Champions Cup!
"Young Master Huan, I don't know, do we have a chance to become an official member of Liverpool?"
Yang Huan looked at Ian Eyre and smiled slightly, "Regarding the issue of army expansion, we are still studying, the specific quota has not been determined, and Liverpool is also our key consideration, but the specific situation still depends on the company's research results."
After hearing this, Ian Al was a little disappointed, he knew very well that this was Yang Huan's Tai Chi pusher.
What are the results of the company's research?
To put it bluntly, isn't it just who Miracle Media wants to choose, who will be able to participate? . [,! ]
The popularity of the International Champions Cup, the attention of the media, the enthusiasm of the fans, and the excellent competition schedule, as long as the reputation of the participating teams is not too bad and the strength is not too weak, who will participate in it?
In terms of quality, can Arsenal be better than Chelsea?
How can there be only one Juventus in Serie A?
But Ian Al didn't dare to ask more about this kind of thing.
Yang Huan saw everything in his eyes, and he knew it in his heart.
In Yang Huan's view, with the retirement of Ferguson, Manchester United is bound to enter a period of adjustment; Manchester City's poor results this season are sure to be in for turmoil; Chelsea's squad is only halfway through the process, and even if Mourinho enters the palace for the second time next season, the prospect may not be a surprise.
In this way, Southampton will have a godsend.
Even if he really can't win the championship in the end of this season, next season, Yang Huan will take Southampton to gamble on a league championship, and at the same time make a difference in the Champions League!
But this is only a short-term strategy!
So, what is the long-term strategy of the Saints?
Quite simply, it's to run the English League into the backyard of the Saints!
La Liga has Real Madrid and Barcelona, Bundesliga has Bayern Munich, and in the future, the English league will belong to Southampton!
To do that, it's useless to just have money.
Therefore, in the past, Yang Huan supported the FA to promote the Glorious Revolution's youth training reform, actively played a role within the English League, and worked hard to maintain a good relationship with other English teams, etc.
Even, Southampton played in the League Cup and FA Cup, and if the team they met was from the lower leagues, all the ticket revenue of the Saints was not a penny, and all of it was given to the opponent.
Some teams with poor stadium conditions or poor attendance will offer to play at St Mary's because they can earn at least a few hundred thousand pounds per game.
Think about it, for those teams in the lower leagues, hundreds of thousands of pounds, astronomical.
For Southampton, hundreds of thousands of pounds is a lot of money, but on the other hand, the fans enjoy low ticket prices, the team has the advantage of being at home, and they have a better chance of qualifying, and they can win the praise and gratitude of their opponents.
So, now Southampton's reputation in the English League is so good!
In addition, Yang Huan also actively attracted some interest alliances.
For example, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, to put it bluntly, these two teams are Southampton's strongest league in the UK.
Manchester United and Arsenal's relationship with Southampton is also growing, after all, there are common interests.
Only Chelsea and Newcastle are the only teams, both of which have a deep feud with Southampton and have a very bad relationship.
But in the case of praise for Southampton from top to bottom in English and even English football, the bad reviews of a very small number of teams do not affect the overall situation at all.
In Yang Huan's own words, the nine-character true recipe for the saints to conquer Ying is: build high walls, accumulate grain, and slowly become kings!
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In the 30th round of the English season, Southampton finally beat Liverpool 3-1 at home at St Mary's Stadium thanks to three goals from Tony Kroos, Gareth Bale and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Suarez relied on his individual ability in the second half to dig a goal from Southampton's steel defence.
This also made Yang Huan, who was watching the game in the stands, feel amazed, and the determination to poach Liverpool is even greater.
But Ian Ayr's attitude is still clear, and he refuses to let up on Suarez's transfer issue.
And Yang Huan is also reciprocating, and he is also ambiguous on the issue of Liverpool's participation in the International Champions Cup.
Because Manchester United defeated Reading the day before, even if Southampton won everyone's praise and affirmation after beating Liverpool, it still failed to shorten the points gap with Manchester United.
The gap between the two teams is still eight points!
After beating Liverpool, Southampton followed suit with a 2-0 home win over Basel in Switzerland.
The scoresheet for Southampton was scored by Didier Drogba and Gareth Bale.
At the weekend, Southampton travelled north to Liverpool to play in the FA Cup quarter-finals and away to Everton.
In the end, thanks to goals from Raphael Varane, Vidal and Sturridge, Southampton beat Everton 3-0 away.
David Moyes's side played at home, but in the end they were unable to stop the wolf-like Southampton and eventually had to drink at home and were eliminated from the FA Cup.
In midweek, the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 knockout round saw Southampton beat Basel 1-0 away.
It was Neymar who scored the crucial goal for Southampton.
In the end, with an excellent record of 3-0 on aggregate and double kills in two legs, Shun Lì eliminated Basel and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
In the draw for the quarter-finals, Southampton drew Lazio from Serie A.
At the end of the week, the 31st round of the English League was ushered in.
Manchester United's trip to Sunderland, which preceded Southampton, saw Ferguson's side beat Martin O'Neill's Black Cat Sunderland away thanks to an own goal gifted by their opponents.
It also made the entire English media community rejoice for Manchester United.
If single. [,! From the perspective of the course of the game, a 0-0 draw is a reasonable score, because Manchester United did not create too good scoring opportunities in the whole game.
But who would have thought that an own goal would help Manchester United get three points again.
At the post-match press conference, Ferguson smiled like that, and kept saying that Manchester United had taken the precious three points and won a crucial victory.
Not to mention that Southampton's opponent in this round of the league is Chelsea.
Even if the Saints really beat Chelsea and get three points, can they still catch up with the eight-point gap in seven league games?
Anyway, there are fewer and fewer people who believe that Southampton will create a miracle!