"It was a chance to meet Roman, about a year ago, I had two friends in the United States who were trapped in Russia, I looked for a way to rescue them, I learned that there was a figure like Roman in the Kremlin, to my surprise, he reached out without asking for anything in return, and later learned about his wealth, I learned that people like him should not care about material returns, through that incident, we became friends, although there was no contact in the career, but we really became partners in private, We spent Christmas together, in Dubai. ”

On the roof of the castle, the brothers smoked and chatted with their backs to the edge of the fence, and Barnett broke off the idea of letting Aldridge quit football.

Aldrich listened to his words and thought carefully.

More than a year ago, Russia was at the beginning of a period of change.

As soon as Putin came to power, there will definitely be chaos, but then there will be a revival of Russia, that is, the beginning of a decade of "Putin's renaissance".

It is expected that Barnett's two friends should be Americans, and they are businessmen, and with Putin's thunderous economic methods after coming to power, maybe the two Americans have some shady dealings in Russia.

Although the United States and Russia were the leaders of the Cold War camp in the past, the exchanges between the two sides, especially the United States, towards Russia, are by no means dead.

You must know that Russia's privatization failed before Putin came to power, and the bad situation in which the oligarchs controlled the country's economic lifeline, and the original policy blueprint for public ownership to privatization was made by two American economic experts, and the Russians hoped to turn the state-owned industry into an international enterprise like the United States, but the oligarchs took advantage of the loopholes, and then became full of grievances, and the chaos needed to be managed, and the ascension of strongman Putin to power was the prelude to a new era in Russia.

Those two American businessmen should have been unlucky, and they met the rectification stage when Putin wanted to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys, but they didn't expect to meet by chance. Barnett and Abu formed a "friendship".

"Do you know the political shì on the Russian side?"

Barnett asked leisurely.

Aldrich nodded, then shook his head.

The general shape shì, he should understand, but the specific content, not interested in paying attention, even if a lot of information can be known by watching TV. Because the media in the West is highly liberal and open, though not without secrets.

At this stage, Putin is focusing on suppressing the oligarchs and catering to the people's psychology of killing the rich and helping the poor, and the hatred of the rich among the Russian people is very strict, even if Putin has been described as a tyrant by the international media, the Russian people will still feel that Putin is soft on the oligarchs.

"Berezovsky is a noble man of Roman's life. Without him, there would be no Roman today, but Berezovsky's asylum in England last year made Roman feel a deep sense of crisis. ”

Barnett's words made Aldrich pout: "Retribution! ”

What is an oligarch?

To put it bluntly, it is to embezzle the property of the people of the country and put the wealth belonging to the people into their own pockets.

So it was with Berezovsky, and so it was with Abu.

If in the last life he was a Chelsea fan. He has to like Abu and there is no reason to hate him, because without Abu, Chelsea is finished, and as for the negative impact of Abu meddling in the team, as a fan, you must understand and accept it, because compared to the bankruptcy and liquidation of the club. Falling into the abyss like Leeds United, Chelsea's fortunes couldn't have been better.

But as an ordinary person, Aldrich can't like Abu, because you don't want to have such an oligarch around you who has plundered the public interest and become rich.

Berezovsky took refuge in England last year, and the news reported for a while, and Aldrich knew about it. This kind of refuge is miserable, to put it bluntly, it is to spend his old age in a comfortable cell, Berezovsky lives in England in a simple place, what are you afraid of? Of course, he was afraid that Putin would send agents abroad to arrest wanted criminals around the world. Is it like a movie plot? No, that's what reality is all about.

Abu is now a celebrity in the Kremlin, it doesn't mean that he will always be in the future, he has a sense of crisis, it's normal, oligarchs with a similar background to him have fallen one after another, he is by Putin's side, he is really a companion like a tiger.

"One day, Roman asked me, what is the best way to create influence and attention in the UK? And rightly so, I said: football. This intrigued him, in fact, I know that he is not a fan himself, and the key point is influence and attention. ”

Aldrich nodded in agreement.

Stories such as why Abu fell in love with football after watching a game, and flew over the River Thames to Stamford Bridge, such a good story, listen to it, don't take it seriously.

Not to mention how big his investment is, just because of his sensitive identity and love football, he came to the UK to spend a lot of money?

"He has started to buy Russian football clubs, but he is now investing in football clubs in Eastern Europe, and he has no influence at all, so he wants to come to England to see, it just so happens that my brother has a team, called Millwall, which is the most high-profile team in the world, although it is a little expensive, but as long as you are willing to sell, he will definitely buy it, and the sensationality of this deal alone may bring him unparalleled attention and influence."

Aldrich carefully recalled, if memory serves, Abu should also be the owner of the 6th Army in the center of Moscow, after the acquisition of Chelsea, from the open to the dark, otherwise UEFA would not not have intervened, but later turned into a sponsor rather than an overt owner.

Abu needs attention, needs influence, investing in football can bring these, but investing in football in Moscow is basically ineffective, the first is the football market environment, the second is news dissemination, and the third is the attractiveness of the team itself, even if he smashes 1o billion in Moscow, it is useless, the league competitiveness of Russian football itself is there, the overall is not improved, and the exhibition of a level of giants also has limitations, even if it is a mainstream league like the Bundesliga, when Bayern Munich is dominant, The media only joked: it was just a rooster that ate the bugs one by one.

Britain is not as confrontational as the United States and Russia in the political environment, secondly, the United Kingdom is the center of European journalism, and finally, the influence of British football is far ahead of the football of other countries on the basis of dissemination, which is not equated with football power.

As for Aldrich's reserve price of 800 million pounds and asking for 1o billion pounds, will Abu buy it?

Aldridge thinks there's a 7o% chance that the other party will buy it.

Think about how much he spent on Chelsea? 150 million acquisitions, plus 8ooo debt repayment, this is 230 million pounds, and at that time, Chelsea's commercial value was negligible, and the strength of the team's squad was also very limited, plus the value of the stadium, the commercial chain, the team's hardware construction, including youth training, all aspects of the training base, Millwall are all ready-made, and it is the best level, and more importantly, Millwall has a basket of championships, Chelsea? It has been almost half a century since he won the league championship, and the invisible influence, one is the sky, the other is the earth, and Aldridge feels that it is cheap to sell for 1o billion pounds.

But Millwall is estimated to be less than £600 million.

This valuation is not enough to rely on, unless the owner of the club is actively peddling, because the reality is simple: if you are given £600 million, can you build a Millwall comparable to the current one? Not to mention the team's honors over the years, just the new stadium and the lineup team, the 600 million pounds is estimated to be impossible!

"Hehe, he wants to be a plaything and a free rich man. Indeed, here, anything that has anything to do with football can be in the news, and it will last for a long time. ”

Aldridge flicked the cigarette ash and said casually, like the old pervert of Manchester United owner Edwards, who disguised himself to go to the women's bathroom to peep and was caught, this can be news for a long time, right or wrong does not matter, people in the football circle can create extraordinary topics and influence.

Barnett smiled and said no more.

Putin's sanctions on the oligarchs, in addition to establishing authority and pacifying the people, there is also a fatal factor, the oligarchs try to unite to influence the political situation in Russia, which can be regarded as self-defeating.

Abu broke with the oligarchy and stood on Putin's side, but he also had to be prepared for danger in times of peace and came to the UK to make himself a celebrity, and at the same time it also sent a signal to the Russian side: Lao Tzu is not interested in politics, Lao Tzu is more interested in football, and I am not a threat to anyone!

Whatever Abu had in mind, Aldrich had no idea of selling the club anyway.

He even thought about the day when he would be old and idle, just like Arthur, who would be in the stands of Millwall every week as a regular part of his daily routine.

Although he could do the same by selling the club, he always felt that there would be a lack of important feelings, and it should be an emotional connection deep in his heart.

"Aldridge, Roman just needs influence and attention, he has no intention of being hostile to anyone, if, one day, he still comes to England, for example, he buys Manchester United, then, please don't see him as an enemy, help him as much as you can, he helped me after all."

Before leaving, Barnett spoke to Aldrich in a serious voice.

Aldridge said: "He just needs influence? Well, I can help him, in front of the media, if he is a person in football, I list him as an enemy, I will give him influence, I scold him twice, and he will be in the news headlines for a week. ”

Barnett was stunned when he heard this, and then smiled bitterly: "Whatever you want, you have more experience than me in this area, you deal with the media every day, anyway, I don't think the football circle can form much hatred, verbal exchanges, not worth mentioning." ”

In his eyes, only financial interests can form mortal enemies, the circle of football, the sun rises in the east and rains in the west, how can there be any undying hatred?

Even if it's a feud like West Ham United and Millwall?

Can West Ham United get in the way of Millwall? Can Millwall, in turn, let West Ham United die?

No, there is only competition in the football circle, there is no real battle of life and death.

Aldrich drove home and quickly forgot about his meeting with Abu.

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