Xu rongmao's anecdote.

In 2008, he wanted to buy the Premier League team Newcastle United.

As the British media broke the news that "China consortium acquired Newcastle", Xu Rongmao's name immediately attracted the attention of fans. In fact, today's Xu Rongmao is like Yang Jiacheng who bought Birmingham last year-both of them have the ambition to earn a bucket of gold in the Premier League, and both of them have entered the football market under the banner of China Capital. However, today, Xu Rongmao has to face a more sinister and complicated environment than Yang Jiacheng did at that time. On September 15, 2008, it was reported that China real estate tycoon Xu Rongmao was negotiating with Newcastle United in the Premier League. If the acquisition is successful, Xu Rongmao will become the first person in China to own a Premier League club.

Ashley, the current owner of Newcastle, bought the club in early 2007. However, Newcastle did not achieve the desired results, and internal and external troubles continued. This month, the team coach kevin keegan resigned and left, which made the fans extremely disappointed with the club. In this case, Ashley has no intention of spending any more. According to reports, his latest offer for the club is 240 million pounds (about 3 billion yuan). According to British media reports, in addition to China businessman Xu Rongmao, a consortium from the northeast of England also participated in the bidding. To put it another way, Xu Rongmao also faces five major rivals, including Microsoft boss Bill Gates, who has occupied the position of the richest man in the world for a long time.

According to media speculation, Xu Rongmao's bid for "Magpie" is based on the expansion of St James' Park Stadium (the home of Newcastle) and the surrounding real estate development planning. The expansion plan includes a series of new peripheral facilities around the stadium, such as hotels, subway stations, casinos and luxury houses. The whole plan is led by the city hall, with an initial budget of 300 million pounds.

If Xu Rongmao succeeds in acquiring Newcastle, it will definitely be good news for China football, and the opportunities for China players to study in top foreign leagues will be greatly increased, which will also promote the contact opportunities between China League and high-level leagues.

Double resistance restricts the acquisition. No one will doubt Xu Rongmao's financial resources, but in the football market, money is not the only factor to consider when buying a club. As a foreign capital, Xu Rongmao needs fans first, and then the local government. This double resistance shows that Xu Rongmao's acquisition will never be as smooth as Yang Jiacheng's acquisition of Birmingham.

The recognition of fans is different. The influence of Birmingham Club acquired by Yang Jiacheng has been mediocre in English football, which has a lot to do with their long-term involvement in low-level leagues. Therefore, Yang Jiacheng's participation has given local fans hope that Hong Kong businessmen can successfully acquire the club.

Judging from the influence of the club, Newcastle United has surpassed Birmingham by more than one grade. Due to the appearance of a series of celebrities such as alan shearer and kevin keegan, St James' Park has been in the forefront of Premier League attendance for many years. This advantage ensures the box office, but it also determines the strong localization of Newcastle.

According to the report of 21cn in September 2008, in fact, Ashley, who just bought Newcastle eight months ago and now wants to sell it, is the best example. As a Londoner, Ashley has never been recognized by local fans. This weekend, the slogan "Ashley Fuck off" was hung in the stands, which proved the strong local complex of British fans. Imagine that Xu Rongmao, as a native of China, will inevitably face unimaginable resistance in the acquisition process.

Take Yang Jiacheng as an example. Although Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain after London, its football level is not high. This city produces 25% of British exports every year, which is hard to compare with Liverpool, Manchester and London. Yang Jiacheng's acquisition didn't have much impact in the local area.

"We only have Newcastle United!" This is what many Newcastle people are proud of, because compared with many Premier League teams in other cities, Newcastle has only one Premier League team. In fact, Newcastle is largely the spiritual sustenance of the local people, and the local government is also extremely concerned about the development of the team.

Because of this, Xu Rongmao's background as a real estate businessman is particularly interesting. The British media generally believe that Xu Rongmao bought Newcastle because he took a fancy to the club's stadium land in the city center, which contains rich real estate business opportunities. However, under the background that most British people regard clubs and club stadiums with a history of more than 100 years as cultural heritage, Xu Rongmao will have to face great pressure from the government and ordinary people.

Yan Qiang, vice president of sports media and a famous commentator, said: "So far, I personally don't know what Xu Rongmao is trying to buy Newcastle. As a businessman, Xu Rongmao's sole purpose should be to make profits through commercial development, but at this moment when the Premier League is becoming more and more dangerous, Xu Rongmao's behavior is very puzzling.

Undeniably, with fahim and the Abu Dhabi royal family behind him entering the Premier League, the investment environment of English professional football has gone from bad to worse. These UAE people have a purpose other than football itself, and they are breaking some of our previous basic understanding of professional football. At present, it has become an unknown where the Premier League, which was originally the most commercialized and promising, will develop in the future.

So first of all, I don't think the reason why Xu Rongmao entered the Premier League is financial resources. Even if Xu Rongmao ranks second in China Forbes, it is difficult to compete with Manchester City, which is the strength of the whole country. What's more, Xu Rongmao himself hopes to make money by acquiring Newcastle. He can't bet all his fortune on Newcastle Club, even if he bets all his assets, he can't compete with Manchester City's fahim or even Chelsea's Roman Abramovich. After all, as an outsider, he will be suspected by local fans at first, and the only way to gain the approval of fans is to increase investment and buy people, which will inevitably force him to participate in the arms race with oil tycoons.

Secondly, as a businessman, Xu Rongmao's first thought is profit. But the football economy itself is difficult to make a profit, or it is difficult to receive returns in the short term. Imagine that without the deterioration of the domestic sports investment environment in the United States, Glazer and other Americans may not be able to enter the Premier League. If there were no ulterior motives, Abu, Thaksin and even the royal family in Abu Dhabi would not buy the Premier League club.

Therefore, I'm afraid Xu Rongmao's only hope is to profit from the east wind of the London Olympic Games through the transformation around St James' Park Stadium. However, the resistance of the British government and local people can hardly make his real estate plan come true. "