One pound. Huang Hao never expected that a club with a century of history would be worth only one pound at this moment.
Amidst his shock, a bold idea slowly began to take shape in Huang Hao's mind.
“OK, Mr. Chairman, I hope you can keep today’s promise.”
After getting the answer he wanted, Huang Hao nodded and spoke to Barry again.
“What? Wait! What promise?!”
Barry was completely bewildered, unable to understand why Huang Hao had suddenly blurted out such a sentence. Had this young man suddenly experienced too much stimulation, causing his brain to malfunction?!
“One pound, for the transfer of Cambridge United.”
Huang Hao stated his demand,
“You can arrange for your lawyers and financial personnel to formally handle this matter, Mr. Chairman.”
“I believe the fool you were expecting has appeared.”
From Huang Hao’s serious and earnest expression, it was clear he was not joking with Barry at this moment.
“Are you kidding me, Hao? You’re joking, right?” Barry’s head was filled with question marks, just as Huang Hao had initially found it hard to believe he had become the Head Coach.
Barry didn’t know what had gone wrong to make a young Asian man choose to bear tens of millions of pounds in debt at such a young age!
After all, the current Cambridge United was clearly beyond saving. It would not bring any returns to investors.
“No, Mr. Barry, this is not a joke.”
Huang Hao was even more resolute than before.
“I will contact my friends immediately to connect with your team regarding this matter.”
“Since Cambridge United’s bankruptcy and dissolution at the end of the League season are a foregone conclusion, why don’t I bear this blame completely?”
With that, Huang Hao left Barry’s office, leaving Barry standing there, mouth agape in astonishment.
After a long while, Barry, having recovered, took out his phone again and dialed that familiar number.
“Hello, Boss, uh, I don’t know how to tell you, but there have been some changes in the situation.”
“But for you, this is probably incredibly good news…”
“Oh my god! Huang Hao, are you sure you want to go this big?!”
Li Jianqin, upon hearing Huang Hao’s plan, practically leaped out of his chair at the Bird's Nest Bar.
“That’s right, Feifei, don’t worry, I won’t let you spend these ten million for nothing.”
“Damn, buddy, I need to have it first, okay? Ten million pounds, that’s one hundred million RMB! You’re really crazy!”
“Buddy, do you know what one hundred million means? It could literally crush you!” Li Jianqin said, shaking his head like a rattle-drum.
“Besides, this money is with my grandpa, and he definitely won’t agree to such a losing business.”
He completely failed to grasp Huang Hao’s plan; in his eyes, Huang Hao was a world apart from his school days, having become a madman.
“Feifei, we might never encounter an opportunity like this again, to own a football club with nearly a hundred years of history.”
“Trust me, I will definitely not let Cambridge United dissolve. Cambridge United will make it into League Two, League One, EFL Championship, and even the Premier League. This will undoubtedly become the most successful investment in the history of investment banking.”
Huang Hao still insisted on his idea.
“Madman, did you find the wrong person?”
“My dad isn’t Wang Jianlin; he won’t give me hundreds of millions to play with. If I were really Sicong, you could just do this easily, but the problem is I’m really not! My family is just a little famous in Hong Kong.”
Li Jianqin still couldn’t accept the matter.
The team could eventually undergo bankruptcy liquidation, but for them, they could forget about making a living in England afterward.
“Listen to me, I plan to first establish a Supporters’ Trust as the main entity to manage the team. Parma, Oxford, Napoli, Fiorentina, Glasgow Rangers have all been through this.”
“The Rangers went bankrupt?” Li Jianqin shook his head.
“Uh, slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue.” Almost revealing his identity as a transmigrator, Huang Hao quickly changed the subject.
“The team’s biggest expense right now is salaries. Before the League season, Barry already laid off dozens of people, so the total salaries are not that much. If we get rid of those 5 toxic players, the salary pressure won’t be very high. As long as this is guaranteed, everything else can be slowly resolved. One million, just one million, you help me cover player salaries and daily expenses, and I’ll figure out the rest.”
Regardless of whether Li Jianqin could take it in, Huang Hao continued to express his thoughts.
“So you plan to raise funds? On what basis? Why would others believe you? Do you think you’re Tottenham?”
Li Jianqin realized that Huang Hao wasn’t messing around, but he was still full of doubts about his method.
“Exactly, first I’ll contact Ron from Bird’s Nest Bar, and also Mikel, the head of that fan organization, to see what the local fans’ reaction is.”
“This isn’t something I just dreamed up. Spending this time on football, I’ve found that those English Isthmian League teams, essentially small local teams, they rely on fan crowdfunding to get by. So, I’m just upgrading the crowdfunding concept.”
“Do you know why Real Madrid and Barça are so rich? They operate on a membership system. With membership fees, they rake in billions every year. We can follow that path too.”
“Furthermore, I hope you can relay this to friends back home and see if any fans are interested in our plan.”
“Additionally, we can also implement a shareholding system. Let’s price each share at 100 pounds. For the relevant shareholder authorization letters and legal documents, you have many connections, so I hope you can help me sort that out. After all, I need to lead the team in matches and truly don’t have the energy.”
“You’re crazy, 100 pounds! Do you know how much one share of Manulife Financial costs? 425 Hong Kong dollars! You, a fifth-tier small team, want to sell for 100 pounds? Are you crazy or are the investors crazy?” Li Jianqin immediately retorted.
“And how much in assets does your Cambridge United have? Minus 12 million? How can that go on the stock market? Did you learn nothing in university? Forget about rights issues, it’s really unreliable. That membership system is okay, but how much are Real Madrid’s membership fees?”
The two opened their computers and searched. Real Madrid’s membership fee was 97 Euros, and Barça’s was 95 Euros.
“Let’s stick with membership then,” Li Jianqin suggested, “Cambridge has about a hundred thousand people, mostly young, and besides Cambridge United, Cambridge only has a Cambridge University team. As long as you, Haozi, get the results up, there will always be tens of thousands of fans. If 10% are willing to pay membership fees, that’s thousands of people.”
“And the domestic fan base is a very large number. If all terms are guaranteed, even if only a portion responds, it will definitely not be a small number. We can charge 10 pounds for membership, and that’s hundreds of thousands in income a year. Plus, if we get promoted to League Two or League One, the membership fees can increase, right? Your plan really moved me. How about I spend 10 pounds to become the first member?”
After thinking it over carefully, Li Jianqin was no longer so resistant, putting on a serious expression.
“Feifei, I get it now, the richer you are, the more stingy you are!”
“If you handle all the acquisition-related matters, and then invest another 300,000 for my startup capital, I’ll make you a Vice Chairman!”
Huang Hao painted a grand vision for Li Jianqin, which was the biggest temptation he could offer at the moment.
“Holy crap! Qiao Madman, you’re a straightforward person! Respect!”
“Alright! I’ll take care of this, buddy. Not to brag, but my connections are definitely sufficient!”
What Li Jianqin said was indeed true. With VIP statuses at various bars, his connections truly left Huang Hao far behind.
Soon, the professional liquidation team and lawyers were all in place.
What moved Huang Hao the most was that Li Jianqin voluntarily covered all the initial expenses. In his words, this was a pledge of allegiance from a major shareholder, and also the first capital injection for the brand new Cambridge United Football Club.
Barry indeed kept his promise. He and the board did not set any obstacles for the transfer of Cambridge United, and the acquisition progressed exceptionally smoothly.
After all, being able to legitimately get rid of Cambridge United, this hot potato, was something the Cambridge United board had wished for.
Moreover, Cambridge United’s behind-the-scenes boss had already reaped immense profits from Cambridge United!
Otherwise, for an England fifth-tier League team to be in one million pounds of debt was simply preposterous!
Only Barry and his associates knew the tricks involved. A few days later, when Huang Hao and Li Jianqin signed various transfer agreements, Barry offered them his most sincere blessings with a look of pity.
“£1! Cambridge United Changes Hands!!!”
“Century-Old Club Plunges into Massive Crisis, Cambridge United’s Fate Unknown!”
“Asian Man Becomes Cambridge United’s New Leader!”
“World Wonder! Cambridge United Club Chairman Also Serves as Head Coach!”
Indeed, Huang Hao and his Cambridge United once again made headlines!
The news even quickly spread within domestic media.
Of course, Li Jianqin’s efforts played a significant role here. After all, once Cambridge United’s domestic popularity was established, the membership drive would be much more effective while the buzz was high.
And in various domestic sports forums, after learning about Huang Hao and Li Jianqin’s audacious moves, fans were abuzz!
“Holy crap, is this a game?! A professional football club just got bought by us like that?!”
“This is too exciting! Who is this Huang Hao? Being a Head Coach is already amazing, now he’s the club owner too!”
“I heard Cambridge United is almost bankrupt, so he’s probably just trying to gain some buzz.”
“England’s fifth-tier League, what level is that equivalent to for us? China League Two?”
“I’ve never even heard of this team or League! What the heck is this.”
“Is this real-life Football Manager? This is the ultimate dream for us LLM players!”