Volume 4: The World of Great Conflict Chapter 0408: Twists and turns
After returning to Downton Abbey, Nan Yi asked Ueto Masami to investigate the situation in Liverpool. Ueto Masami then handed Nan Yi a stack of reports that needed his review.
Nan Yi sat down opposite Ueto Masami and read the report.
The first one is a report from Fan Shengzhi Research Institute, which mentioned that Isaac has made certain breakthroughs in the research on white-feathered chicken seedlings, and there is great hope that it will be possible to add gene locks to the seedlings within three to five years.
The gene lock is added to the seedlings in order to protect Shennong Nanliang's white-feathered chicken seedling business. Once the gene lock is added, the chicks hatched by the farmers themselves will not have the various advantages of the Shennong Nanliang white-feathered chicken breed. After further research and improvement, it can even be achieved that the seeds kept by the farmers are deformed or have various defects.
In short, unless farmers stop raising Shennong Nanliang’s white-feathered chickens, they can only continue to purchase seedlings from Shennong Nanliang.
Not only white-feather chickens, but also grains, vegetables, poultry and livestock, all varieties that Shennong Nanliang has researched and improved on its own will be added with gene locks as long as they can be added.
The path of gene lock must be taken, but Nan Yi still has doubts about the report's claim that it can be achieved in three to five years. He does not think that this technology is so easy to implement.
In order to get Nan Yi to agree to the funding, these researchers would make the data look good. Galen was the same. His report was also full of flowers. Just looking at the report, it seemed that investing money would pay off.
The second report was from Scarlett Grain Group, a purchase list for agricultural machinery. Looking at the total amount of more than 14 million US dollars, Nan Yi recalled the amount spent on purchasing agricultural machinery in the past two years. He was shocked when he calculated it.
The numbers are a bit shocking. Scarlett's side has close to 350 million US dollars, and Shennong Nanliang's side has a little less, but it is also close to 130 million, which adds up to almost 500 million US dollars.
Nan Yi thought that he would have to face upgrades again in a few years, so he couldn't help but think of investing in an agricultural machinery company.
The third report...
After Nan Yi finished reading the report, Ueto Masami handed him the other half of the report and said, "President , I suggest that we give up the plan to acquire Manchester United. 72% of Manchester United's shares are in the hands of Martin Edwards.
The Edwards family has been shareholders of Manchester United for three generations and their influence in Manchester United is deeply rooted.
Martin's father, Louis Edwards, is a key figure in Manchester United's glorious history. Louis Edwards purchased more Manchester United shares the day after the Munich air crash, used the money to help Manchester United through the crisis, and held important positions in the club, participating in many decision-making.
There is another key point..."
Ueto Masami said this, deliberately keeping the audience in suspense.
"Just say it."
"Martin Edwards is not short of money. In the past decade or so, he has made hundreds of millions of pounds by speculating in stocks. He loves football very much and will not sell his shares in Manchester United easily. He may sell some of his shares, but he will never sell them to capital."
"How much do you love it?" Nan Yi frowned.
Masami Ueto spread his hands and said: "Football is a part of his life."
“Then there’s no chance.”
If he has money and loves football, the price he would pay to buy Manchester United would be high.
"That's not right. Isn't the owner of Manchester United the Grayson or Glazer family?" Nan Yi forgot where he saw or heard it. He remembered that there was a period of time when the "Gray×" family was very noisy.
"Yami, are there any shareholders of Manchester United named Grayson or Glazer?"
Masami Ueto flipped through the information and said, "There is no shareholder with this surname. Manchester United's shareholders are relatively simple. Except for Martin Edwards, more than 90% of the other shareholders are also die-hard fans of Manchester United, and almost all of them are from Manchester."
"I see. Since Manchester United has no chance, let's change our goal and study Liverpool's information to see if there is any chance."
"OK."
Masami Ueto collected information very quickly and delivered Liverpool's information to Nan Yi in just two days.
Nan Yi’s brows have been furrowed since he finished reading the information.
Liverpool's financial situation is not very good, and its shareholders do not have much strength. The Heding family of John Heding, the founder of the team, holds most of the shares, but the Heding family's financial situation is not very good either. If the offer is reasonable, they should sell their shares.
But since 1959, when Bill Shankly became the head coach of Liverpool, this alternative who held the "Little Red Book" and transformed Liverpool into the "Red Army" led Liverpool, which had long struggled in the Second Division, to become the top league champion and began the road to dominating Europe.
His uniqueness also helped Liverpool gain more than 400,000 Soviet revisionist fans, and Liverpool's games became the only Western camp games that the Soviet revisionists would broadcast.
After winning the FA Cup for the second time in 1974, Shankly retired and his assistant Bob Paisley inherited his career at Liverpool.
In Paisley's nine seasons in charge, Liverpool won a total of 20 trophies, including three European Champions League club cups, one UEFA Cup, six First Division titles and three consecutive League Cups.
Liverpool's scenery remains the same.
In 1983, in accordance with Liverpool's tradition, Bob Paisley passed the head coach position to his assistant Joe Fagan.
In his first season in office [1983-84], Liverpool became the first team in England to win the First Division [the fifteenth title and three consecutive titles], the League Cup for the fourth time in a row and the Champions League for the fourth time in a single season.
After seeing this, Nan Yi didn't want to read on. Liverpool's record was so brilliant that it was not an exaggeration to say that this team was now one of the top clubs in Europe. The cost of buying this club would definitely be higher than that of Manchester United.
Moreover, Nan Yi took a look at the evaluation of Liverpool fans in the information and found that they were not the kind of people who would keep quiet. The fans of the Eagle Country were originally called football hooligans, and the fans of Liverpool were the worst of the hooligans.
Even if they succeed in buying the club, if the fans are dissatisfied and cause trouble, resulting in heavy casualties, Liverpool's reputation and value will plummet, which would be a big blow to Liverpool.
Nan Yi's eyes suddenly became dark with the sight of Liverpool's frenzied fans waving a red book in one hand and throwing beer bottles at Catherine with the other.
If Liverpool's glory can continue, then this team is worth buying.
But when thinking of the Premier League, what pops into Nan Yi's mind are Manchester United and Arsenal. The first impression of Liverpool on him is the name of the city, not the team.
In his previous life, Nan Yi began to understand football when he read the article "Melancholy Baggio" in the Football News or some other newspaper. It seemed that during that period of time, TV stations often broadcast Premier League games. The terms Manchester United, Red Devils, Arsenal, Beckham, and Owen broke into his mind one by one and settled down.
Later he learned about Maradona and Beck, and after making a fool of himself in front of others, he realized that the person he thought was the king of football was not Beck, but Pele.
20 years ago, when I was drinking with a classmate and reminiscing about the past, we accidentally talked about the Premier League and only then did I realize that Owen was not from Manchester United.
A top team like Liverpool did not leave a clear memory in Nan Yi's mind. It is very likely that it has reached its peak and then declined, and its record in the 1990s was not very good.
But how did such a wealthy family decline?
Nan Yi looked through the information and found the players' information. Each of them is in their prime and most of them can play for another ten years. Plus, since it's a wealthy club, it shouldn't be difficult to bring in new good players.
Taking a pen, he drew a circle around the fans. Nan Yi judged that Liverpool's possible decline might be caused by them.
Nan Yi smiled bitterly and said to Ueto Masami: "Let someone pay attention to Liverpool. If it falls into decline within five years, remember to remind me."
"President, I have asked someone to collect information about Arsenal."
Before handing the information to Nan Yi, Ueto Masami knew that Nan Yi would definitely not set Liverpool as his target.
"If Arsenal doesn't work out, don't tell me, just look at other teams." Nan Yi sighed and said, "If none of them work out, just pay attention to equestrianism and snooker, or sponsor cyclists."
"President, we don't have to buy a top-tier team. We can buy a second-tier team and turn it into a top-tier team. This will be more helpful to Catherine's reputation."
Ueto Masami's words gave Nan Yi a feeling of instigation and eagerness to try.
"Why, are you interested in managing a team?"
"Yes, President."
"Okay, then you take charge of the team's affairs. I'll see what you and Catherine can do." Nan Yi thought to himself that he didn't understand football at all, and it would be better to let Ueto Masami, who had a great passion for football, give it a try.
Ueto Masami smiled happily, "President, you can rest assured that I will never let Nan's investment go to waste."
“It’s not just Nan’s money, you have to invest as well, in case you don’t pay attention.”
“Just follow the investment.”
