Chapter 420: Chapter 419: Celebrity Effect (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
"When they see these superstars, the fans of Manchester City think, ’If only our team could have these superstars.’"
"So here, I promise. If I can successfully acquire Manchester City Football Club, I will do my utmost to invest and operate the team, to bring one, two, three, or even more superstars to the team!"
"It could be superstars from a Champions League winning team!"
Mansour pointed to Lizarazu, Effenberge, and others.
"It could be that group of superstars in red jerseys from our neighboring team!"
Mansour pointed in the direction of Old Trafford.
"It could be the ageless heroes of Serie A or the up-and-coming legends of Real Madrid!"
"Of course! It could also be superstars from the only team that has won five major titles in thirty years!"
Having said that, Mansour patted Deng Kai on the shoulder.
The next moment, a small fraction of the Manchester City fans in the stadium cheered.
"Deng Kai! Deng Kai! Deng Kai!"
They chanted the name of the player they most wanted to have.
Looking at this reaction, Mansour’s hands trembled slightly.
Because he knew that he had succeeded!
Deng Kai had truly hit the nail on the head!
Mansour had put so much effort into the acquisition, but he had encountered a huge problem at the fans’ hurdle. Some hardcore fan organizations were stubborn and influential.
Unexpectedly, by doing a bit of what Deng Kai suggested during the European Super Cup, the problem was solved in an extremely roundabout way.
It was illogical.
Yet, the feeling was exhilarating!
Conquering English football fans was much more interesting than driving a luxury off-road vehicle to conquer the sands.
Of course, while Mansour was happy, Beckenbauer shook his head imperceptibly.
This Middle Eastern tycoon was still too young.
Even if you really acquire Manchester City, can Manchester City achieve promotion this season?
Even if they achieve promotion, can you really attract superstars next season?
It’s difficult.
Aging superstars usually prefer to return to their roots; they seldom venture into unfamiliar places.
Matthaus, Deschamps, Guardiola—they all came to Sporting Lisbon mostly by accident.
Matthaus had long wanted to retire.
Deschamps was supposed to go to Valencia.
Guardiola wanted to find Baggio.
Would you tell me, has Manchester City ever produced any top-tier superstars?
And would they be willing to return to play out their twilight years after their peak?
What?
You’re talking about the likes of Deng Kai, Ronaldo?
Ha!
That’s even more laughable.
This summer, Manchester United had already approached Ronaldo.
This season’s Ronaldo doesn’t need to maintain last season’s form; even half of the form from last season would have top clubs from the five major leagues reaching out to him with offers.
He would essentially be considered the next Henry or Trezeguet, groomed by a major club with the chance to compete for a starting spot—and this wouldn’t be for a short time, at least for the first half of the season.
This greatly beats those clubs that only give you a few games’ chances as a forward or those where you’re outright considered a substitute.
As for Deng Kai.
If he hadn’t announced early this year that he was staying with the team, there would have been even more competition for him than for Ronaldo.
Every year there are forward prodigies, but how many midfield marvels do you see?
The precious asset Xavi at Barcelona, Ajax’s prime sale Vandervaart and Sneijder, Schweinsteiger from Bayern who has already begun training with the first team, Gerard who has emerged at Liverpool, Lampard who transferred from West Ham United to Chelsea at a high price...
These young midfield stars were, for the most part, between two to six years older than Deng Kai.
Regarded as treasures by fans of their respective clubs.
But in terms of honors and achievements, it would be difficult for them to catch up with Deng Kai even if they played for another three to five years.
This was just Deng Kai’s first year in professional football.
No matter how he played this season, next season there would certainly be many top clubs throwing contracts at him.
Even if he were to break his leg right now, a year later, there would still be top-tier teams looking to snatch him up.
After all, he was the core player of the only team to win the quintuple in the past thirty years.
He was also the only person in football history to win the Best Player award in five competitions in the same year!
That’s a record that will last forever!
This was Deng Kai at fifteen!
A player like this going to Manchester City?
In their dreams!
...
That year, do you remember Bayern winning the Champions League?
Which year was that?
That year, Real Madrid crowned champions of La Liga!
What year are you talking about?
That year, Manchester United dominated the Premier League!
Which year exactly?
That year, the quintuple champions emerged and swept across Europe.
Yes, I’m speaking of 2001, when Sporting Lisbon became the quintuple champions, the summer that a football miracle was made!
This was the chemical reaction after Sporting Lisbon defeated Bayern Munich.
In most fields, the difference between first place and second place is very small.
But people will only remember the first place.
Because the fields you dedicate your life to are just minor categories in the conversations and perceptions of others.
People only need to remember one name.
And this person can bring more development to the industry than the next dozens combined.
This is the celebrity effect.
In football, where dozens, if not hundreds, of various championships big and small are won every year, it’s really hard for non-fans to remember who’s the standout player.
Unless you add a prefix.
Real Madrid president Florentino understood this and sought only superstars to build the most luxurious Galácticos in football.
Real Madrid’s influence outside of football expanded rapidly because of this.
This external influence quickly returned benefits, bringing Real Madrid tremendous revenue.
Sporting Lisbon, by a stroke of luck, also got a prefix—the only quintuple champions in thirty years of football! The team with the most trophies swept in one year!
So much so that when reporters on the street asked viewers who weren’t football fans which was the strongest team the previous season, most actually said Sporting Lisbon.
When the reporters probed further, the vast majority of them didn’t even know whether Sporting Lisbon was in Serie A, the Premier League, or La Liga.
Some even answered the Chinese Super League, but no one mentioned the Portuguese league.
When asked to name a player from this team, they could only recall one name—Deng Kai!
The renown of Sporting Lisbon and Deng Kai spread in an exaggerated fashion under this effect.
In the mouths of non-fans, they would say, "The reason Brazil won the World Cup in ’98 was that France didn’t field Deng Kai but played Zidane instead," even though France was the World Cup champion that year.
They would also say, "The only reason AC Milan missed out on the Champions League this year was that Ronaldo had too many injuries and couldn’t team up with Deng Kai to form the perfect combo of best striker plus best midfielder," which left Inter Milan president Moratti crying in the restroom when he heard this.
Even Bayern and Manchester United couldn’t escape the "casual fans’ meddlings" with claims like, "Bayern lost Beckham, and that was why they were defeated by Deng Kai-led Manchester United. This was another victory for Deng Kai over Ferguson."
[PS: Writing and updating simultaneously today, aiming for five updates, hope I can achieve it]
