MTL - Football Feast, Starting From the Acquisition of European Clubs-Chapter 387 Another giant crocodile

   On the Crystal Palace side, when Chen Ran saw that the opponent behind the team was Real Madrid, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. It seems that he and Mourinho are really close friends.

   "Boss, this Mourinho seems to be getting weaker and weaker now. He was able to compete with you for the Premier League title, but now even Josep can't do it."

   Southgate sighed, while a little envious of Guardiola's ability to be on his own.

   "I don't think Mourinho has become weaker, but Josep's ability has become stronger."

   Simeone is also envious of Guardiola's ability to lead the giant team of Barcelona to play well and beat Real Madrid in La Liga.

   "Haha, don't envy Josep either of you. In the future, you will also have the opportunity to be the head coach and be on your own."

  Chen Ran looked at the two sour guys with a funny look and threw them a carrot.

   "Really? Boss!"

   Southgate first looked at Chen Ran with a look of surprise, but his face collapsed immediately.

   "Boss, don't you plan to let us take over Crystal Palace again? Even Josep dare not take over, how dare we."

   Hearing Southgate's words, Simone also nodded with concern.

   They and Guardiola have worked together for several years, and they have a good relationship with each other, so they also know that Chen Ran once wanted Guardiola to take over as the head coach of Crystal Palace.

   "What? Don't you dare?"

  Chen Ran looked at these two guys with a playful expression.

"Boss, Josep has a point. You have brought Crystal Palace to such a high level, no matter who takes over, the pressure is too great. If you are coaching the best team in the world, if the results are not satisfactory, then we will Do you still have the face to be a coach in the future?"

   Southgate looked at Chen Ran with a wry smile and explained.

   It's not that he is too cowardly, but that he is really stressed.

   After the game against Newcastle United, Crystal Palace got a three-day break.

   Immediately afterwards, they ushered in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

   This time, Crystal Palace are going to Old Trafford to play away to Manchester United.

   It is said that they have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, and Crystal Palace should go all out to compete for the championship trophy.

   But after careful consideration, Chen Ran decided to send a bench lineup according to the previous habit.

  There is no way, the Premier League has entered the final sprint stage, and many of the main players of Crystal Palace have been injured. Chen Ran does not want to add extra burden to the players who are already physically and mentally exhausted.

  The FA Cup and the next face are basically strong teams, which is a huge drain on the physical fitness of Crystal Palace players. If it affects the Premier League and the Champions League, it will not be worth the candle.

   So, even in the face of Manchester United, Chen Ran also handed over the command of the game to Southgate.

   "Boss, I think it's more appropriate for Diego to direct this game than me."

   What Chen Ran did not expect was that Southgate actually rejected the precious opportunity to play against Manchester United, and voluntarily gave it to Simeone.

   "Oh? Why is that?"

   Actually, Chen Ran also thought that it would be more appropriate for this match to be directed by Simeone.

   It's just because he used to give Southgate and Simone the opportunity to arrange actual combat training in the order of taking turns commanding.

   If the order is suddenly disrupted at this time, he is worried that Southgate has an idea in his mind.

   Now that Southgate has taken the initiative to let Xian, Chen Ran is actually very happy.

   This shows that this guy Southgate is really thinking about the Crystal Palace group.

"Boss, Diego is better at counter-attack tactics than I am. We are going to Old Trafford this time, and we are on the bench. Defending is the most important thing. From this point of view, Diego is obviously better than me. Suitable."

   Looking at Southgate's sincere expression, Chen Ran nodded slightly and reached out to pat the guy on the shoulder.

   "Gareth, you're fine!"

  Chen Ran suddenly understood why many high-ranking people in ancient and modern China and abroad prefer to use loyal people instead of more capable people.

   With Gareth Southgate's voluntary concession, Chen Ran also handed over the command of the match against Manchester United to Simeone.

   After all, although Chen Ran is mentally prepared to be knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United, he definitely does not want to lose a big score at Old Trafford.

  Simeone is worthy of being a defensive madman. Under his leadership, Crystal Palace's substitutes adopted the tactics of laying the bus from the first minute of the game.

With the cheering of more than 60,000 fans in the audience, Manchester United was always difficult to break the goal guarded by Van der Sar.

   It wasn't until the end of the game that they won a penalty, and finally Berbatov scored the ball in the final 1-0 difficult victory over Crystal Palace.

   Chen Ran expressed great regret in an interview with reporters after the game when the team was eliminated from the FA Cup.

   After several years of competition, media reporters in England have long known Chen Ran's virtues. Before they could reveal Chen Ran's true purpose, Chen Ran had already taken him one step ahead.

After a two-day break, on March 22, Crystal Palace ushered in the thirtieth round of the Premier League. This time, they are going away to Wigan Athletic.

  Chen Ran sent all the main players in the midweek FA Cup match, and finally, with the goals of Ronaldo, Messi, Dzeko and Chiellini, Crystal Palace defeated Wigan Athletic 4-0 away.

  At the same time that he got three points, Chen Ran also got a "Eagle Eye Guardian Card" from the system.

   In other matches in the Premier League this round, Liverpool beat Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield, while Chelsea lost to Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 away.

   Manchester United may have struggled in the midweek game against Crystal Palace, but they lost 2-0 to Fulham.

   Arsenal beat Newcastle United 3-1 away, while Manchester City continued their rhythm of losing one game and winning one game, beating Sunderland 1:0 at home.

   With eight games remaining in the Premier League, the entire title race is already very clear.

   In addition to Liverpool trailing behind Crystal Palace by five points, there is still hope of winning the title. The other teams have all fallen significantly behind, losing the qualification to compete for the Premier League title this season.

   At this time, the power of the financial tsunami raging around the world has been shown to the extreme.

  The U.S. stock market has also reached the lowest point of this round of stock market disasters, with the Dow Jones index falling from more than 14,000 points to more than 6,400 points.

   The decline of the broader market has exceeded 50%, not to mention the decline of that stock. It is not too much to describe it with words such as "horrible" and "sorrowful".

   Of course, this so-called lowest point is only known to the reborn Chen Ran.

  For others, the stock market has fallen from last year to this year, which has wiped out the confidence of most people, and no one knows whether it will continue to make new lows.

   These people, of course, also include the two American owners of Liverpool, Tom Hicks and George Gillette.

   Just when they were devastated by the financial tsunami, Liverpool's outstanding performance this season immediately became their life-saving straw.

   As long as they can cash out Liverpool at a high price, they have the capital to deal with the guys who are chasing their **** and asking for debt.

  So, these two guys left the mess in the United States, flew to England together, and started to sell the shares of Liverpool Club.

  The news that Tom Hicks and George Gillette wanted to sell the Liverpool Club was reported to Chen Ran immediately by little fat Louis.

  Chen Ran didn't pay much attention to this matter at first, because the two Americans had limited financial resources, and basically completed the plan to acquire the Liverpool Club by borrowing from Wall Street.

   Now encountering the financial tsunami, those Wall Street funders cannot protect themselves. And Tom Hicks and George Gillette are in debt again, and they definitely want to cash out.

   However, when the little fat man Luiz once again reported to him that the two Americans wanted to sell the Liverpool club, Chen Ran had to immediately raise his vigilance.

   "Chen, there are recent rumors in the circle that the two Americans are in close contact with the Qatari royal family."

   "The Qatar Royal Family? Are you sure?"

   Hearing this name, Chen Ran's brows suddenly wrinkled.

   "Not sure yet. But you know, it's hard to keep things secret in this circle, and it's definitely not out of nothing to get this news out."

   Chen Ran's heart sank after listening to the judgment of the fat boy Louis.

   This guy has grown up in this circle since he was a child, backed by his father's network resources, he has always been well informed.

   He said yes, then nine times out of ten it would not go wrong.

  But didn’t the Qatari royal family acquire Paris Saint-Germain two years later?

  Why are you hooking up with Tom Hicks and George Gillette now?

   Did they take a fancy to Liverpool Club?

   It is said that in the previous life, it was to bid for the World Cup, so the Qatar royal family acquired the Paris Saint-Germain club.

  Chen Ran is not sure whether it is because of him that the Qatari royal family got involved in the football circle in advance.

   Is it because he managed Crystal Palace prosperously, and also created the behemoth of the Galaxy Football Group. In addition, the sheikh of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates also bought the Manchester City club, so it has aroused the interest of the Qatar royal family?

  If the Qatari royal family really came to buy the Liverpool club, then there will be one more rich man in the Premier League.

  Abramovich behind Chelsea, the UAE Abu Dhabi consortium behind Manchester City, and the Qatar royal family behind Liverpool. Chen Ran had a headache just thinking about these big oil-related financiers.

   Unlike football clubs whose owners are British and American, these oil billionaires have easy money and no pain to spend.

   paid 220 million euros to directly pay the release clause to sign Neymar from Barcelona, ​​and spent 180 million euros to buy Mbappe from the league title rival. These shocking transfers are all done by those Qataris.

   Chen Ran calculated his assets a little, and found that compared with the other party, it was a drop in the bucket.

   In the face of this opponent who is even more fierce than the Abu Dhabi consortium, Chen Ran has already sounded the air defense alarm in his heart.

  No way, as the most powerful team recognized in the world at present. If the Qatari royal family really bought the Liverpool club, their next step would be to poach people directly from Crystal Palace.

  Thinking of this, Chen Ran called the little fat Louis in front of him and looked at him very solemnly.

   "Louis, from now on, you should pay close attention to any news that the two Americans are in contact with the Qatari royal family."

   "Er Chen, you seem to be paying special attention to this matter?"

  Little Fatty Louis also noticed Chen Ran's abnormality, but he didn't think it had much to do with Crystal Palace.

   "First Abramovich bought the Chelsea club, not long ago the Abu Dhabi consortium bought the Manchester City club, and now the Qatar royal family has also begun to contact the Americans in Liverpool."

"Luis, there are only 20 teams in the Premier League. If more and more teams are acquired by these powerful financial owners, it means that it will become more and more difficult for us to win the championship in the future. "

   "This is not a good thing for us at Crystal Palace, we have to pay close attention to any news in this regard. If possible, try to prevent the Qataris from acquiring the Liverpool club."

   At this moment, little fat Louis understood Chen Ran's thoughts.

   After thinking about it carefully, he had to admit that what Chen Ran said did make sense.

   "Okay, Chen. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on this."

  Little Fatty Louis readily agreed, but then he added another sentence.

   "However, you don't have to worry too much, Chen. Liverpool owes so much money now, and even the funds for the introduction of players last summer came from loans. Those Qataris may not like them."

   "Huh? Luis, are you sure that Liverpool's signing funds last summer were all loans?"

   "I'm sure. I know Dosena's agent. According to him, it was just to wait for the loan approval, so the transfer time was postponed, and it almost missed the transfer deadline."

   "That's it"

  Chen Ran pinched his eyebrows, intending to cause some confusion for the two Americans.

   "Luis, you spread out the fact that Liverpool is now heavily in debt, and even the day-to-day operations of imported players have to rely on loans. The more people who know about it, the better. Understand?"

   "Hey, Chen, are you trying to sabotage those two Americans' plans to sell Liverpool Club?"

   Little Fatty Louis' eyes lit up, and he immediately understood what Chen Ran meant.

   "Cough, what is sabotage? I just let more people know the truth and avoid being deceived."

  Chen Ran glared at the little fat man angrily, will he speak?

   "Hey, I understand, I understand, it's actually the same meaning. Don't worry, it's a trivial matter, and it's all on me."

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