Manchester City.
Li Mu knew about this club in the same city as Manchester United, but in his impression, Manchester City's overall strength and reputation were much worse than Manchester United's.
In fact, they were even worse than Chelsea before Roman Abramovich took over. The team's trend after 2010 was relatively bright, but that was only after the team had completed the capital replacement and the Middle Eastern tycoons took over.
Li Mu asked Davidson, "What place did Manchester City finish in the 02-03 season?"
Davidson was fully prepared before he came, so he blurted out, "Mr Lee, Manchester City finished ninth last season."
Li Mu nodded. "There were a total of 20 teams. Ninth place can only be regarded as a little above average."
After that, Li Mu asked again, "What about Manchester United?"
Davidson said helplessly, "Mr Lee, Manchester United was the champion last season."
Li Mu smacked his lips and asked again, "What place did Manchester City get in the 01-02 season?"
Davidson said a little awkwardly, "Well … Manchester City had just been promoted to the Premier League in the 01-02 season, but was immediately relegated back to the First Division. It was not until 2002 that they were re-promoted to the Premier League."
After that, Davidson saw that Li Mu's expression seemed to be a little dissatisfied, so he hurriedly said, "Mr Lee, if you are not very satisfied with Manchester City, I can continue to help you look around. Tomorrow I'll get someone to contact Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle United to see if they are interested in buying."
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "No need, Davidson. If Manchester City is really interested in buying, then talk to the capital behind Manchester City. If the price is right, I'll buy it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mu hurriedly added, "Oh, by the way, please help me tell them that I'm only considering a full acquisition."
Although the Manchester City team was not very strong, its overall strength was definitely much stronger than any other club in the country. As long as they bought it, they could make it the bridgehead for the overseas training and cultivation of Hua Xia's players. Moreover, the team's previous results were not too good, so this was a better start. If they really bought over a defending champion like Manchester United and if they were to play third place next year, the Manchester United fans and the British media would definitely be jealous of them and blame the team's decline on them, the boss of Hua Xia.
Li Mu would not give these arrogant Englishmen a chance to show off.
Buying a mediocre team like Manchester City, spending some money to get a better manager, and then bringing in a group of good players, the team's strength was bound to go up. Last year they played ninth and this year they could play eighth. The fans and the media would not blindly compare. If they could be in the top five, the atmosphere would be even more relaxed.
Seeing that Li Mu had decided to buy Manchester City, Davidson hurriedly nodded and said, "Mr. Lee, let me give you a brief introduction to the Manchester City club."
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Thank you, Davidson, but there's no need to go into too much detail. I'm not interested in its current financial situation and the capital structure behind the scenes. I'm not interested in its active players, and I'm not interested in its current manager. You just need to tell me a price that can be settled, and I'll arrange for someone to come over and meet with them."
For Li Mu, a Premier League club was at least tens of millions of pounds, and at most hundreds of millions of pounds. There was no need to spend so much money to understand so much. He just needed to understand a general price, and then get someone to come over and negotiate.
Davidson naturally knew what Li Mu meant. For him, a deal of tens of millions or one or two hundred million pounds was no longer worth investing too much energy to understand, analyze, and study. It was like a billionaire buying a car. As long as he liked it, he only needed the other party to tell him a number, and then he would write a check according to the number.
So, Davidson said, "Mr. Lee, Manchester City's current offer is about 100 million pounds, but the actual transaction price should be around 65 to 70 million pounds."
Li Mu nodded and said, "Then I'll get someone to negotiate at the price of 80 million pounds. By the way, Davidson, you should know the people over there. Please introduce me to someone to meet with."
Davidson's expression hesitated for a moment. About ten seconds later, he said to Li Mu, "Li Zong, among the Manchester City shareholders, there are a few very stubborn old Englishmen. They are declining but stubborn old-money. They like money and need money, but they always pretend that they are not short of money and do not care about money. If you directly send someone to talk to these people, there are often two possibilities. One is that the other party sees that you are Hua Xia's people and directly tells you that they are not selling. The other is that they know that Hua Xia's people want to buy, so they raise the price and take the opportunity to extort a sum of money."
Li Mu could not help but frown tightly and asked him puzzledly, "What's the reason for not selling to Hua Xia's people, or selling to Hua Xia's people at a higher price? Is it racial discrimination? "
Davidson hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "It's not racial discrimination. It's just that these old stubborn people are too self-righteous. They look down on anyone other than themselves. If you are richer than them, they will compete with you in culture. If you compete with them in culture, they will compete with you in family history. If you want to compete with them in family history, they may compete with you in football. If they still can't beat you in football, they will compete with you in alcohol tolerance …"
Li Mu smiled helplessly and asked, "What's your suggestion?"
Davidson said, "My suggestion is that the Goldberg family talk to them about the acquisition. We will come forward to negotiate and determine the price. If Mr. Lee has no objection, we will sign the contract with them, do the audit and complete the acquisition. Then we will transfer the club to you at the original price, Mr. Lee."
Li Mu thought for a moment, then nodded and agreed. He did not want to talk business with such old stubborn people. It was too tiring and a waste of energy and emotion. It would be great if Davidson could do it for him.
So, Li Mu said to Davidson, "Makino Technology will pay the Goldberg family a commission of 10% of the acquisition price as a thank you."
Davidson laughed and said, "Mr. Lee, there is no need for the commission. We are friends, and you are a distinguished guest of the Goldberg family. If we charge a commission for such a small matter, it would be too distant."
Li Mu laughed and said, "We are friends, yes, but I also believe in a principle. That is, never let others volunteer to help you."
Davidson nodded gently. He probably understood what Li Mu meant. Li Mu could not accept his volunteer help for nothing, and Davidson could not get the leading bank qualification of Makino Technology's future IPO from Li Mu. If Li Mu did not do him a favor, then it would be really difficult to push forward the next thing.
So, Davidson said no more and said to Li Mu, "Mr. Lee, it's almost time. Let's go downstairs for breakfast."
"Okay."
…
The Goldberg family had arranged breakfast in two different restaurants. The banquet hall yesterday was used for most of the guests, and a small restaurant was used for important guests.
Davidson took Li Mu to the small restaurant that was specially arranged. There were not many people eating here, about a dozen people. Among them, only four members of the Goldberg family were there. Most of the Goldberg family members were entertaining other guests in the banquet hall.
Wendy was entertaining guests at the moment. As the eldest granddaughter of the Goldberg family, she did everything herself in the restaurant. Not only did she greet every guest warmly, but she even took the initiative to deliver the latest newspapers of this morning.
When she saw Davidson and Li Mu coming in together, she hurried forward to greet them and said with a smile, "Grandpa, Mr. Lee, good morning. What would you like to eat?"
Davidson pointed to Wendy and said to Li Mu, "Look, my favorite eldest granddaughter is more professional than a professional when she is working as a waitress."
Wendy laughed and said, "Grandpa, did you forget that I used to work at Starbucks during the summer?"
"Oh … I almost forgot." Davidson patted his head and said with a smile, "I'm still the same. I'll tell Mary directly later. You'd better use the professional skills you learned at Starbucks to serve Mr. Lee, a guest from afar."
Wendy stuck out her tongue and then said to Li Mu, "Mr. Lee, the headlines of today's British newspapers are all about you!"
Li Mu asked with a smile, "Is that so?"
Wendy picked up a new folded newspaper and showed the first page to Li Mu. She said, "Look, this is today's' The Times' headline."
Li Mu looked at it carefully. The headline on the front page of The Times was written in huge and eye-catching words: "Twitter, another Internet miracle created by Li Mu!"
The picture attached to the article turned out to be the photo that Li Mu had posted on Twitter yesterday. It was a photo of him and Prince William.
Li Mu smiled and teased, "It seems that I'm more photogenic than Prince William."
Wendy smiled and then leaned close to Li Mu and whispered in his ear, "When Prince William just came, his face was red and he looked very happy. He just received an important call and went out to talk. Before he left, he asked me to invite you to have breakfast with him when you come. Do you think it's okay?"
Li Mu said indifferently, "I'm fine with anything."
Wendy laughed and said, "Then please come with me. I'll get you a cup of coffee first. Prince William should be back soon."
…
At this time, William was on the lawn outside the castle, talking excitedly with his father on the phone.
As of half an hour ago, William had already gained five million followers on Twitter. This number shocked the entire British royal family.
These five million followers came from all over the world. Almost all of them knew about and followed William through Li Mu's Twitter. In the past few decades, the British royal family had not received such a high level of attention around the world. William, on the other hand, had not only stepped onto a brand-new world stage, but he had also become one of the protagonists of this stage. This was of great significance to the entire royal family.
What made the royal family even more excited was that this morning, the photo of William and Li Mu began to be used by a large number of media outlets. Not only the British media, but the media from other European countries were also using this photo to report on the grand occasion of Twitter sweeping the world. As the first photo Li Mu had posted on Twitter, this photo was naturally of great significance.
As a result, William succeeded in making headlines about Twitter and Li Mu. Many media outlets even wrote articles about William. These media outlets were very optimistic about William's future. The reason was that he had become a friend of Li Mu at a young age. Not only did he become Li Mu's first photo on Weibo, but he also got Li Mu's first girlfriend. If he could continue to maintain a good relationship with Li Mu, it would definitely be a great thing for the future British royal family.
So, William's father personally called him early in the morning and gave him three tasks:
First, continue to enhance friendship with Li Mu at the Goldberg Manor and get closer to him;
Second, continue to update his Twitter and show his fans all over the world the upbringing and temperament of the British royal family;
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