York City's transfer market this summer can be said to be frequent, and the addition of more than a dozen new players has also made the entire English football scene look sideways.

Of course, although Pan Yi bought a large number of players, the total expenditure was not particularly high.

That is, the Ajax duo has a little extra money, like other players from various reserve teams and youth teams, the price is very cheap.

So everyone is only concerned about the number of people buying in Yorktown, not the price.

After all, buying 10 million people is actually not a particularly outrageous thing in the Championship.

Also in the summer, Middlesbrough, which is also a Championship team, spent 17.1 million euros to buy Congolese striker Assunbalonga from Nottingham Forest.

At this time, the Wolves team, which has been acquired by Chinese capital and is bent on surpassing, also bought 20-year-old Portuguese international defender Ruben Neves from Porto, and this deal also cost Wolves 18 million euros.

In addition, Wolves have also loaned Diogo Jota, who is also a Portugal international, from Atletico Madrid, and his strength has really reached the Premier League level.

So it's no joke that the Championship is often able to squeeze into the top five of the summer transfer spending list.

As a result, the impact of the Championship is definitely not comparable to that of other countries' second-tier leagues, as evidenced by the willingness of the Portuguese international to play.

Correspondingly, the fierce competition in the Championship has also risen to a new level, but it is not a small fight like League Two and League One.

This has also caused some media to have a little doubt about York City's recruitment strategy.

Quite simply, it's contrast.

As direct competitors of Wolves, Middlesbrough and other teams, the players bought by others are all powerful and internationals from various countries, while York City has bought many players, but none of them are famous.

If you insist on saying it, Onana, who played as the main player at Ajax in the second half of last season, is a bit well-known, and then Dutchman De Jong is barely one.

And then what about the others?

Let's not talk about the Italian ones, what Leao is, Portugal's sports reserves;

Araujo, from Lentistas in the Uruguayan second division;

Militão, on the other hand, comes from Sao Paulo, a traditional powerhouse in the Brazilian league, but has only made one appearance for the first team.

Fikayo Tomori, who is from Chelsea's youth team, has not been able to play in the first team, and Pan Yi reached out directly to ask for it......

Although Pan Yi's "achievements" in the transfer market in the past made the media dare not spray indiscriminately, for fear of being slapped in the face instantly, the voice of doubt is still widespread.

Mainly because although Pan Yi also made the team "homesick" last season, after all, there were still a few veterans who brought it to him.

The three Swedish players who have just won the European Championship, plus the old German international Westermann, and "Dragon Brother" Alonso, can bring the team up.

But now, Alonso has retired to the coaching staff, and these veterans are a year older, and the other veterans who were in the team during their time in League Two have retired or left the team one by one.

This makes York City a really super young team.

A player like Baker, who is actually only 23 years old, can be called a "veteran" in the team, because there are many young people who are seventeen or eighteen years old.

Yes, it is possible that Pan Yi is still sharp-eyed, and these young people have unlimited potential, but after all, everyone knows that the most urgent need for York City now is results, not the future.

Can these kids from all over the world really compete for promotion in the Championship with strong opponents such as Wolves, Cardiff City, Fulham, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough?

Some people also criticized Pan Yi's transfer strategy, saying that in order to build a new stadium, he may have invested all his funds into it, so now he is a little tight, which is a bit of putting the cart before the horse.

If you can't make it to the Premier League, what's the point of building such a big stadium?

Look at Sunderland, their Stadium of Light has a capacity of 50,000 people, but when they are relegated to the Championship, ticket prices can't go up and it's hard to fill them anymore.

Some people even wonder if Pan Yi has taken any kickbacks in it, after all, York City has so many corporate sponsorships or something, why is he so reluctant to invest more in the transfer market?

If you are promoted to the Premier League, you will have at least a guaranteed income of more than 100 million pounds! Obviously, Pan Yi will not calculate this account.

Of course, more people think that playing in the Europa League with York City's current squad is probably a disgrace to England, and some even suggest that the FA should consider replacing York City and giving the place to the top team in the Premier League......

——

"I don't even bother to read these reports, and I don't bother to pay attention to them."

In the conference hall of the York City Club, Pan Yi threw a stack of newspapers in his hand on the table and said with a smile: "What the reporter said is reliable, and the sows will go up the tree!" ”

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Today is the first club meeting of the new season, and in addition to the senior management of York City FC, there are also key figures from the fan club, and Pan Yi invited two or three of their more prestigious fans to attend this season meeting.

"They're guessing. Scaloni, tell me, am I giving you enough players? Pan Yi pointed at Scaloni and asked with a smile.

"Enough bosses, they're all great players, they train hard and they're all talented!" Scaloni said sincerely, "Now these 24 first-team players are enough for the new season!" ”

As York City manager, he has had more time in the transfer window than anyone else.

Because the boss will know all your needs and will send you the players who best suit your tactics......

Although it is true that Scaloni could barely recognise any of these new players until they reported to the club, the connoisseurs knew if there were any of them as soon as they made a move.

These young players arrive at the training ground and have a training match and you can quickly see the level.

Then Scaloni understood that this group of players was really the same as the players Pan Yi brought from all over the world before, they all had two hits!

So his confidence as a manager has increased a lot.

In fact, the total number of first-team players should be 25 with the 11 left over from last season's main framework, plus the 3 promoted from the youth team this season, and the 11 newly acquired;

It's just that, since Araujo is from Uruguay and Militão is from Brazil, both of them need labor certifications, and the club's talent clause for a season can only give one of them;

So Pan Yi chose to let Militão stay in the team, and loaned Araujo to Ajax for a year, so that he could apply for a labor certificate next year relatively smoothly.

This is also a benefit of a good relationship with Ajax, and young players who are away on loan can also get a high level of training.

"Okay, let's ignore their tongue-chewing media, let's take a look at the other expenses this season besides the stadium and the players."

At Pan Yi's suggestion, the assistants gave everyone present at the meeting a report on hand, which detailed the budget and income of York City.

"Guys, that's our budget report for this year. One of the most important expenses is that we will improve the training facilities at the training base in an all-round way, which will cost us a lot of money. But when completed, our Yorktown training base will be the most luxurious and modern training base in England and even in Europe. ”

Everyone present applauded.

Now the club's abundant cash flow allows Pan Yi to take a multi-pronged approach to improve the club's infrastructure.

That's what the team is all about!

In addition to some of Pan Yi's own pockets and some corporate sponsorship, many of the team's income are regular stadium operation income, league and FA Cup broadcast fees, and development income from the Ministry of Commerce, etc.

"We will also be upgrading the facilities of the medical room and laboratory, and I believe this upgrade will be of great help to our team in the future."

"Then we're going to build some public facilities around the stadium area, which will cost us a lot of money. In addition, we plan to partner with Chelsea to open three football schools in Africa and two in South America, including their existing football schools in Dragon Country, which will also be co-branded with us. ”

"In addition to this, our club, the Yorktown Foundation and some of our sponsors will also be working together on a series of charitable activities, such as the establishment of a medical aid foundation to help those who cannot afford the high cost of medical care and give back to the community!"

The applause at the scene was even more enthusiastic.

Especially the fan representatives who came to the meeting, they couldn't be more excited.

Because they were pleasantly surprised to find that the club now has money, and it is not going into the pockets of the owners or the higher-ups, but more on the club itself, as well as on the fans and the community.

For this small club, which was on the verge of financial collapse two or three years ago, this is simply a macho man from heaven!

"Also, we have the Championship and Europa League going to be the next game, so we will definitely have a certain increase in ticket prices. However, we will fully consider the affordability of the fans, so we have launched a series of preferential policies to make the fans feel that the money is not unjustly spent. And we will do our best to give this part of the money back to the fans and spend it on the fans, I can guarantee that! ”

For the increase in ticket prices, York City fans have given understanding and support.

After all, playing in the Championship, especially in the Europa League, how can the tickets for these games be the same as playing in League Two?

The price increase of York City is actually not very high, the season ticket price for the new season is only 400 pounds, and the average price per game is only a dozen pounds based on 23 home games.

In contrast, Fulham, who are also in the Championship, have a jaw-dropping £1,500 for their season tickets!

Of course, this also has a lot to do with Fulham being the wealthy area of London, in fact, if they were in the Premier League, the season ticket price would have reached £3,000......

After all, Premier League giants like Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in north London have season tickets priced at around £2,000.

In short, at a price like York City, after discounts, fans only need to spend more than 300 pounds to get it.

Pan Yi also specially revealed some of York City's preferential policies for fans in the new season and the content of serving fans, such as fans who buy season tickets can get more exquisite gifts, or York City will hold some fan activities on a regular basis, and fans with season tickets can come to the stadium for free and so on.

In addition to that, there are a whole host of activities that York City gives back to the fans, as well as some charity events, as well as community service activities, which are all ways for York City to give back to the fans.

After listening to this, several fan representatives present were very satisfied.

York City's ticket prices have gone up, but not much, and even in the Championship, they are still in the middle and lower reaches, but York City gives back much more to their fans and the charity they do than other Championship teams.

The fan representatives also assured Pan Yi that they would definitely inform the majority of York City fans of the information collected in this meeting.

Knowing where your money is going will make it less likely for the fans to react as much, especially as York City has a better image and they all trust the club they love.

After the meeting, Pan Yi saw off the fan representatives, and then went to his office non-stop, because there was still a guest waiting for him.

"Hello, Mr. Pan Yi!" The middle-aged man immediately stood up and introduced himself, "My name is Eric Grayning, and I'm the president of Scarborough Athletic. ”

"Hello, please be seated!" Pan Yi immediately beckoned him to sit down.

Scarborough, a small town in Yorkshire, facing the North Sea and backed by the British Island, is the largest resort in Yorkshire and one of the main resorts in the east of England.

The layout of the whole town resembles that of a theater, with a wide sea area as a stage and houses as seats, arranged in rows on the north and south bays.

This layout is very romantic, you can watch the rising sun, watch the sunset at night, the sea breeze in your spare time, and then do some exercise......

And in this town, there is also a football team, named Scarborough Athletic.

Its predecessor was actually a 100-year-old team, probably hovering in the fifth and sixth divisions, but it suffered an economic crisis around 2007 and was forced to be relegated to the tenth division, and now it has only slowly climbed to the first division of the English football northern league in the past two years, that is, the eighth division.

Because of the same Yorkshire, Scarborough Athletic actually regarded York City Club as a sworn enemy, and the relationship was also on the same footing.

But today is no longer the case.

In the past, York City was in the fifth and sixth leagues, and Scarborough Athletic was also in the fifth and sixth leagues, and it was reasonable for the two to be mortal enemies of each other;

But now that York City have been promoted to the Championship and Scarborough Athletic is still in the eighth tier, how can this be a mortal enemy?

Now York City's target is Leeds United!

It is precisely because of this that today's visit by the chairman of Scarborough Athletic is not so abrupt.

"May I ask Mr. Grayning, what is the matter with coming to me today?"

"Mr. Pan Yi, I'm sorry to bother you, but we do have some things we need your help with!" Graining was a little embarrassed, but still plucked up the courage to say, "Our team has some operational difficulties again, and if there is no one to help, it is likely to ...... again"

When Pan Yi heard this, he immediately understood.

It's this poor guy who is going bankrupt again!

He had read about it in the local Yorkshire newspaper before, but he had been so busy lately that he didn't take it seriously.

Unexpectedly, the chairman of this team was desperate and actually found himself.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Grayning, I've heard about Scarborough Athletic and I'm sad!" Pan Yi immediately stood up, and reached out to hold Grenin in a very sincere tone.

Grenin was a little flattered, and quickly shook Pan Yi's hand.

In fact, for Pan Yi, he doesn't have much affection for this team, but he now needs to unite all the forces that can be united, especially the people of Yorkshire!

Saving such a team is just a gesture for Pan Yi, but it can make such a former rival team die for himself and capture the hearts of more fans.

If York City wants to become a real giant team in the future, the support of local fans is indispensable!

Pan Yi is going to win over the swing fans over Leeds United, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, as well as fans elsewhere!

"I'm sorry, Mr. Grayning, if there's anything I can do to help you?" Pan Yi said with concern.

Grenin squeezed out a smile: "We decided to set up a fan foundation to take over the team, but there is a lack of funds, and the work of the new season is still difficult. ”

"It's easy to do." Pan Yi smiled, "How about our two teams play a warm-up game?" At that time, all the income will be taken by you Scarborough Athletic, which is a little bit of our club's heart. What do you think? ”

Grenin was stunned, a little surprised.

There is no way he can refuse such a good thing, after all, York City's influence in England is not lost to the Premier League team at all, and they are willing to play a free warm-up game against Scarborough Athletic, and the income will be considerable.

"Plus, I'm personally donating £500,000 to the Fan Foundation so we're family!" Pan Yi laughed.

Grayning was a little surprised, and looked at Pan Yi in disbelief, he donated 500,000 pounds like this?

Don't look at this money in the Premier League and Championship, it doesn't seem like a lot of money, but for an amateur team in the eighth tier, it's tantamount to a huge amount of money!

Suffice it to say, with that £500,000, the whole club will come alive!

Not to mention the income from a warm-up match, this so-called "Yorkshire derby" game will surely attract a lot of people to watch.

Seeing that Grenin's face was still a little puzzled, and it seemed that he still didn't believe everything in front of him, Pan Yi explained with a smile: "You know, I just finished the club meeting, and at the meeting, I said that I will give back to the community as much as possible, and the brother club is of course also a part of the community." ”

"Scarborough is very close to us, and people on our side love to go on holiday to yours too. That Scarborough Castle, and the Scarborough Castle Hotel, are beautiful! ”

"And it would be a pity if in such a beautiful place, people don't have a ball game to watch after vacation."

'I went through the difficulties of the team when I first took over York City two years ago and now we have come through it, so we also need to do something that we think we should do and helping Scarborough Athletic is one of them!

Pan Yi's tone was very sincere, which made Graining feel very grateful.

He truly felt that his trip was really worth it this time, and the team was saved!