The Chinese Football Association didn't call again, maybe they were just trying their luck at first. Maybe Chang Sheng's brain was convulsive, and he didn't turn around for a while, so he agreed, and then they earned it.

But it's a pity that Chang Sheng's mind is very clear.

Or maybe it was Chang Sheng's last words that scared them.

A manager who does not allow the Football Association to interfere in the management and has full responsibility...... In the history of the Chinese Football Association, such a head coach, is it not a toss-up?

If a manager like Chang Sheng does not tighten the reins, I am afraid that in the end, the Football Association will be unlucky and become very passive. When the time comes, the political achievements will turn into shackles that can kill them......

Whatever the reason, Abnormal Sheng and Avril did not receive another call from the Chinese Football Association until the end of the vacation.

At the end of the holiday, Chang Sheng returned to Rome.

In the summer of 2008, there were two major events in world sports, one was the Olympics and the other was the European Championships.

Chang Sheng didn't go to the Euros like other coaches did.

Instead, he returned to the club to deal with player transfers.

During the time he and Avril were on holiday, there were often various rumours in the media about the transfer of Lazio players.

If you just look at the media reports, one will think that there are not many people left in Lazio......

※※※

On his first day back at the club, he gathered all the staff in charge of the football competition department.

They had a very brief meeting.

It's really very brief.

It's just five minutes in total.

In these five minutes, Chang Sheng told them that their work and mission goal this summer is very simple, that is, to solve all the remaining 100 million euros of debt this summer!

A bunch of people listened stupidly......

What is the rhythm of this?

Can you sell players for that much money?

Is Chang Sheng really going to break up and sell out all the championship teams?

Lazio ignored their surprised gaze and adjourned the meeting. The club's transfer department is officially in operation.

Under Chang Sheng's leadership, they are the first department to end their holidays every year.

The revival of Lazio could not have been achieved without their hard work.

In fact, Chang Sheng's eagerness to pay off his debts in a year was also a last resort. Because if the debt is not paid off. There is no way to significantly increase the standard of the salary cap, which is not conducive to attracting more capable and famous stars to join the team and enhance the strength of the team.

In the time and space he knew, Lazio had indeed raised his salary without paying off his debts. But the salary increase is really small and pitiful.

The maximum salary of two million euros became two million euros...... What's the difference between that and not mentioning it?

The reason is that Lazio is still in debt, and Lotito does not dare to let go.

You know, a pay raise is a serious thing for all Italian clubs.

Because Italy has a high tax rate.

Here is a focus on the tax system in Italy and the necessary expenses for the players' wages.

The first is insurance. There is an institution in Italy, which stands for "National Centre for Protection and Relief of Professional Sports and Recreation Workers". According to the constitution, all the above-mentioned workers (including actors, directors, singers, and various athletes) must have a part of their monthly income paid to this institution, which is essentially similar to China's social security. It is stipulated that 33% of the monthly income of the individual shall be paid to the company, of which the player himself pays 9.19%, and the unit and the player pay 23.81%. But there is a cap on this payment, which is 86,669 euros. Many Serie A players, especially big-name stars, must have earned more than 80,000 euros a month. They will have to pay 9.19 percent of the 86,669 euros, or more than 8,000. The club pays 23.81 per cent of the 86,669 euros, or 20,635 euros.

Let's say a team has 25 first-team players, and just first-team players, the club will spend around 510,000 euros a month on this. That's 6.19 million euros a year. That's not a small amount.

The Lazio club has to pay off only 5.5 million euros a year.

In addition, this insurance also has a "post-employment treatment", which means that the retirement pension of the player after retirement, which is also calculated according to the maximum standard mentioned above, the proportion is 7.5%. It's about seven thousand euros. But this part is the players themselves, so I won't talk about it.

The end of insurance is a tax. There are currently three specifications of taxation in Italy. They are 8 percent, 20 percent, and 40 percent.

It is divided according to the level of income and the nature of the goods. For example, when buying daily necessities such as water and basic food, you have to pay an 8% tax, which is included in the price of the goods. Twenty percent for the upscale stuff and forty percent for the more upscale stuff. The income of the laborer is also according to this level. For those with low incomes, 20 percent for a few thousand euros a month, and 40 percent for high incomes.

Italy has one of the highest tax rates among several soccer powerhouses in Europe. Second only to France, but less limited...... Much higher than Spain, England, Germany. The high tax rate has a lot to do with the decline of Serie A in recent years. In the era of the mini-World Cup, Italy would not have taxed players so highly.

Let's take the salary of a player who works as a substitute in a big club as an example.

His monthly salary after tax is 300,000 euros, and his annual income is 3.6 million yuan, and his monthly pre-tax income is as low as about 550,000 euros. After tax, more than 200,000 euros, and the remaining 10,000 or so types of insurance, more than 240,000 are almost 45 percent of the income.

In fact, the tax on Italian players is about 43 percent, in addition to the special tax of 5 percent that clubs have to pay, which is a total of 48 percent, which is almost equivalent to 50 percent.

This money is paid by the club, because the players negotiate with the club about the annual salary after tax. The players don't care what the tax is, they just look at how much money they get in the end.

For example, Ibrahimovic and Inter Milan renewed their contracts and asked for an annual salary of 12 million euros, which is after tax.

In addition to the money given to Ibrahimovic, Inter Milan will have to pay more than 10 million euros in taxes.

It means that one Ibrahimovic will cost Inter Milan more than 23 million euros a year.

That's why Lazio has a salary cap system. They also know that if they do so, they will make it less attractive to those stars.

But if it doesn't, Lazio might go out of business tomorrow.

No matter how many stars there are, it's useless.

That's it, Lazio's annual budget is a big part of the salary, which puts a lot of pressure on the club.

Therefore, Lazio did not dare to raise the wage standard easily.

※※※

Lazio's main source of income now comes from league television fees, transfer fee income from the sale of players, bonuses from participation in the Champions League and a share of the Champions League television broadcast fee.

The prize money for the winner of Serie A is a small head. It can be ignored.

Because the prize money for the winner of Serie A is ...... One million euros!

Yes, I wrote it right, and you read it right, Serie A, one of the four major European leagues, has a meagre 1 million euros in prize money!

This is in stark contrast to €40 million for Premier League winners, €15 million for La Liga titles, and €16 million for Ligue 1 winners. Even in the Bundesliga, which has always emphasized financial health and thrift, the championship prize money is between three million and seven million euros.

Compared to other leagues, the Italian league is like a dwarf, poor and ugly ** silk.

So the million euros are negligible.

Another small head is ticket revenue.

As for why ticket revenue is small. Let me tell you......

The home stadium used by Lazio is the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The stadium can accommodate 100,000 people, but most of the time the stadium is not full.

Attendance has improved over the past two seasons as Lazio's results have improved, with an average of 45,000 people.

In his first season in charge, Chang Sheng averaged just 35,000 attendance.

Tickets for each of Lazio's home games range from 20 to a few hundred euros, but a few hundred euros are a very good place and such tickets are rare. So the average ticket price is 30 euros.

In the first season, Lazio earned an average of one hundred and fifty thousand euros per home game. Nineteen home games in a season is 19.95 million euros in ticket revenue.

The average attendance for the last two seasons was 45,000. Thirty-eight home games, with a total ticket revenue of 51.3 million.

The three seasons add up to 71.25 million euros.

Sounds like a lot, right? Ticket revenue alone can pay off the Lazio club's debts, right?

Too young, too simple.

Because, all the home stadiums of Serie A clubs, including Lazio, are not their own!

And belong to the local city government!

Ticket revenues do not go to the club, but to the municipality, which is then divided proportionally according to the contract signed between the two parties.

But the big head is definitely from the city government.

There is a comparison of the data. Premier League clubs account for 38 per cent of their total ticket revenue, compared to 11 per cent for Italian clubs, which is unreasonable when you exclude that Serie A attendance is lower than that of the Premier League.

In addition to the ticket revenue, the club also has to pay the stadium rent. In addition, the maintenance and security costs of the stadium are also paid by the club.

In addition, the management of the billboards in the stadium is decided by the city government, so the Italian team can get very little income in this regard.

In terms of ticket revenue, don't look at Lazio's income of more than 71 million euros in three years, but in fact, in the end, I am afraid that less than half of them can be obtained, which is about 35 million euros.

That's the sum of three seasons, and the average season is just over 11 million.

It's pitiful.

But it is not surprising that Inter Milan, Italy's highest ticket earner, only earned 39 million euros in the season when they won the treble in 20092010, which is already the highest in Italy.

But compared to other giants in Europe, this number is really pitiful. The best references are Manchester United and Arsenal, both of which earned €126 million and €108 million respectively in matchday revenue, both of which have smaller stadium sizes than Inter Milan.

It is precisely because the majority of ticket revenue goes to the government that many Italian clubs have plans to build new stadiums, because only when the stadium is completely their own, ticket revenue can really become the main source of income for clubs. (To be continued.) )