Professional football is always particularly brutal.

It does not have the so-called emphasis on participation at all, and its evaluation criteria are success or defeat.

is as strong as Barcelona and Pep Guardiola, and in the face of this evaluation standard, they also have to bow their arrogant heads.

This past season has been a mix of smiles of success and tears of defeat for Chinatown.

After a low start to the season, the team quickly ran in place, fought all the way in the league, regained the fourth place in the league, and retained the Champions League qualification, which allowed Chinatown to basically ensure that next season can reap at least tens of millions of euros from the Champions League, which is also a big positive for the club's finances.

The Champions League reached the semi-finals and broke a big upset, Chinatown not only made a name for itself in European football, but also gave the team full opportunities to exercise, from the head coach to the players, the overall strength has improved very significantly.

But this also brings a hidden danger, that is, from the head coach to the players, they are coveted by many teams.

The Copa del Rey results also improved a lot, reaching the final, but were defeated by Barcelona by a huge margin, this game hit China City the hardest, and also let the team see the huge gap between themselves and the top giants.

Gao Han is very confident in his team, with the current lineup, as long as he is trained for another two or three years, he definitely has the strength to compete with the top giants, and he hopes to compete for the La Liga championship, and even if the state is better, it is entirely possible to impact the Champions League, but the current Chinatown is far from good.

This season's performance is already at a high level.

But more importantly, the giants simply won't give Chinatown such a chance.

As soon as the season ended, the poaching hand poked into the door of Chinatown.

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"I've just asked the finance department to figure out that the total prize money we allocated from UEFA last season in the Champions League amounted to 40 million euros, which is the prize money from the match plus the TV broadcast. ”

The team was disbanded immediately after the game, and many players had to rush to the national team, especially several Spanish internationals in the team, who had to return to the national team to prepare for the upcoming European Championships.

But the club's core management can't, they have to do a good job of calculating the income and expenditure of the past season, and also take stock of some of the problems and lessons learned from the previous season.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino also took a break and technical director Cantarero attended the meeting as the head of the technical department.

At the beginning of the meeting, general manager Armando Marcos took the lead in disclosing the club's financial income and expenditure, among which the Champions League income was highlighted, which surprised everyone who attended the meeting, including Gao Han.

"So much?"

Gao Han's surprise made Armando Marcos happy, and nodded with a smile: "Yes, we reached the semi-finals, and we are the last of the four teams in La Liga, so we have the most prize money for winning the championship." ”

40 million euros, if this was put in the past, it would definitely be something that Chinatown would not even dare to think of.

"Unfortunately, although we earn more than Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in terms of prize money, we have the lowest income of the four teams when you include matchday income from Champions League games, mainly because we earn so little at home. ”

The Champions League brings more than just a share of match bonuses and TV broadcast fees, the other two revenues are commercial sponsorship income and matchday income.

Chinatown received 40 million euros from UEFA, which is really good, ranking third in European football, even more than Manchester City, because Manchester United has the most share of the prize pool in England.

In terms of commercial income, Chinatown has always been operating very well, but in terms of matchday income, it is not at the same level as other La Liga powerhouses, let alone compared with the three giants, even Sevilla, Valencia and other teams are better than Chinatown.

Matchday revenues for Champions League matches are also quite lucrative, and ticket prices are higher than in the league, but Chinatown has lost a lot in this area, and this loss will continue until the new stadium is opened.

It can be said that if it were not for the commercial sponsorship system that Armando Marcos has worked hard to build in the past two or three years, as well as the annual sale of the team's stars to fill the financial deficit, Chinatown would not have been able to support the current squad.

"Thanks to our excellent results in the Champions League this season, I am pleased to say that in the past season we have really broken even for the first time in the past season. ”

Armando Marcos' words immediately drew applause from the heads of departments in the room.

What an easy thing to do!

How many teams in European football dream of breaking even, but they can't do it anyway, Chinatown has done it, albeit temporarily, but it's also quite exciting.

"We will be officially launching it on our official website, Twitter and Weibo in China tomorrow, which I believe will be a great motivation for our supporters and will also give the players in the team more confidence in our management. ”

Armando Marcos's remarks were once again greeted with a round of applause.

"Of course, it's only temporary, breaking even in one season doesn't mean anything, it's hard to keep going in the long run, and our overall salary structure is still low even in La Liga, so our test is just beginning. Armando Marcos said earnestly.

In the past few years, with the continuous influx of external capital and the advent of the information age, European football has ushered in explosive growth, and the financial income of various clubs has also increased by leaps and bounds, but the consequences are also obvious, that is, as a scarce resource, the value of stars is getting higher and higher, and salaries are also rising rapidly.

The Premier League is at the top of the pack in this regard, and when the Premier League's relegated teams are able to whip up tens of millions of pounds in transfer budgets, it is conceivable how far the value of Premier League players will soar.

In addition, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Malaga and other local tycoons have increased their investment, and when Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and other old giants have to start an arms race, the transfer fees of players in European football continue to hit new highs, and the salaries of players continue to set records.

Gao Han had already predicted this situation a long time ago, so he agreed with Armando Marcos early on that he would rather sell the players and maintain the club's salary structure, which could be increased, but not skyrocketed.

The reason is very simple, slow growth leaves a way back, once the explosive salary rise, when the team's income fluctuates, the club's finances will face a huge crisis, and once the salary structure is raised, it will be difficult to reduce again, so it has to be cautious.

In this regard, everyone, including Armando Marcos, admired Gao Han so much.

Don't look at Gao Han's spending money in Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, hundreds of millions of dollars burned, without blinking, but in fact, he is more shrewd than anyone else and sees more clearly than anyone else, so he can create a balance in Chinatown this season.

"According to the reliable information we have received, Barcelona are planning to renew Messi's contract, which could reach fifteen million euros a year, while Manchester City will soon renew the contract of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Portuguese salary could also reach this staggering figure. ”

Armando Marcos' face became solemn when he said this.

"Based on our analysis, we have every reason to believe that the salaries of players in European football will once again skyrocket in the coming years, so we have to prepare for it in advance. ”

It's not hard to understand at all.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two superstars of world football today, if they are compared to the locomotive of the stars' salary increases, then when the locomotive continues to rush forward, the star phalanx behind will also rush forward, although the increase is not as good as theirs, but the salary increase is inevitable.

Just ask, the two superstars have risen, so can Manchester City's Kaka, David Silva, Modric, Sanchez, Benzema, Xavi Alonso and Cech rise?

If these two teams rise, will the annual salaries of the ace stars of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and other teams rise?

In a loud environment, it is difficult for Chinatown to stand alone.

"Last season, the team re-signed a number of players in the team, some of whom have just joined the team, but the salary increase must also be put on the agenda again, such as Pelle, whose annual salary and termination fee are low, and players such as Rakitic, Eden Hazard, and Isco, who must renegotiate contract renewals. ”

The team is doing well and the players are shining, and the consequence is that there are more poachings.

Pelle, for example, was worth only a million euros when he joined Chinatown a year ago, but now?

After this season's tempering, the Italian center's performance and tactical role have been recognized, and his value has skyrocketed fifteen times, with an authoritative German agency appraising the price of 15 million euros, while Pelle's liquidated damages are only 20 million euros, which was very high a year ago, but now it seems that it is dangerous.

A number of Italian teams, including Juventus, AC Milan and Roma, are interested in Pelle, and if they do poach, are they not willing to pay 20 million euros in liquidated damages?

Of course, none of these three teams have made any contact with Chinatown so far, but there are rumors in the transfer market, and it is clear that they are still not comfortable with Pelle, fearing that the centre-forward who has failed to prove himself in Italy has only occasionally exploded one season.

But the situation in the transfer market has changed abruptly, who dares to say that they will not poach Pelle?

What if I make a move on the last day of the transfer window?

Even if they don't make a move, with Pelle's performance last season, is it reasonable not to give a salary increase?

Without a salary increase, will he be able to continue to perform at the same level this season next season?

To put it bluntly, players are working for the club, and they should be paid as much as they do, otherwise it will inevitably discourage them from motivating them, and at the same time, it may also stimulate them to change jobs.

There are many players in the same situation as Pelle, such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Eden Hazard, Rakitic, Isco, Carvajal and other players, all facing a situation where they have to raise their salaries.

This is one of the consequences of the team's excellent performance last season.

And once it reaches the point where there is no way to rise, then you can only sell people.

Of course, there is also a situation where the conditions given by the other party are too generous, and Chinatown can't give it at all, so it can only be sold painfully.

For example, Alba that Barcelona wants to get.

(End of chapter)