Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 768: Recreating Past Glory_1

Chapter 768: Chapter 768: Recreating Past Glory_1

Deputy Speaker of the Russian National Duma, Chairman of the Economic Committee, Chairman of the Yukos Group, Chairman of the United Aviation Group, Chairman of the Russian Auto Group...

Mr. Mikhail truly has many titles, each carrying a significant weight!

A person of his stature doesn’t need to use a football club to increase his influence.

Perhaps acquiring Arsenal was just a whim, like an ordinary person buying a toy.

However, the more this is the case, the more interested Helen becomes in Mikhail!

As a journalist, she knows that digging up big news is easier when dealing with people of Mikhail’s caliber.

Especially when other media reporters can’t access him, if she could secure an exclusive interview, wouldn’t her standing and reputation in the news circle skyrocket?!

So, for the past couple of days, she’d taken to camping out in the hotel lobby, her gaze trained on the elevators, from dawn

She’d planned to ambush Wang Ye for an exclusive interview!

Today was already the third day, and her patience had finally paid off...

As to why she could recognize Wang Ye at first sight, that’s not difficult to understand.

After all, Mikhail’s face has been featured on numerous Russian media outlets, and he is quite distinctive.

"Black hair" "In his early twenties" "Handsome" "Often accompanied by bodyguards"...

With these combined characteristics, it was all the easier to identify him.

...

They exited from the back door of the lobby, arriving at the hotel’s backyard. It’s not big, after all, this is one of London’s busiest areas, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold.

Fortunately, there aren’t many people in the garden, making it peaceful and a perfect place for a leisurely walk while chatting.

Walking on the quiet garden path, Helen kept half a step behind Wang Ye, almost walking side by side.

Xie Liaosha and his men spread out and did not approach them.

Grasping the time, Helen asked, "Mr. Mikhail, can I start the recording device? Then we can start the interview."

Wang Ye nodded in response.

Helen then turned on the miniature recorder she had and asked, "Mr. Mikhail, what prompted you to acquire Arsenal club?"

In front of a British journalist, Wang Ye couldn’t claim he acquired the club as part of a joke with Mr. A Bu...

He formally said:

"It’s because I love football.

Since I was a child, I’ve been a fan, but my family’s condition was so ordinary, so I had no opportunity to watch a game live. After all, the football ticket was too expensive for me.

Yet, on a small black and white TV, I was able to appreciate the thrilling matches of many major leagues, the superstars, and the exciting games that left a deep impression on me.

Arsenal, that’s my favorite team!

Now I have the condition and opportunity, naturally, I hope to buy Arsenal and restore its former glory..."

Arsenal is a regular strong team of the Premier League, especially during the seventies and eighties, really more glorious than around 2000.

Coach Wenger had only been there for a few years, and the team hadn’t fully matured. If Wang Ye hadn’t been involved, Arsenal would only take off by the ’03/04 season.

Of course, their success wasn’t that great, after all, they didn’t achieve much in the Champions League.

They were only dominant in the Premier League.

When Wang Ye said he wanted to restore Arsenal’s former glory, of course, he wasn’t referring to their achievements in the Premier League, his goal had always been aimed at the European tournaments!

Since entering the 21st century, the success of a club is measured as a base by league achievements, but the Champions League results are even more important!

If you can’t win the championship in the Champions League, how can you claim to be a luxury club?

...

Helen nodded in agreement while listening to Wang Ye’s words, but what she really thought was unknown.

After asking this question, she immediately followed up: "Did you and Mr. A Bu arrange to buy football clubs at the same time? Also, why did you both choose the Premier League instead of the more renowned Italian League?"

At that time, the "seven sisters" of the Italian League certainly had a larger reputation than the Premier League, with any team being a strong one.

In the Premier League, only Manchester United was competitive in Europe, while the others, Arsenal, Liverpool, were out of the running.

Of course, after the ’04/05 season, with Liverpool’s "Miracle Night in Istanbul", Premier League officially surpassed the Italian League and became the world’s number one professional league.

Wang Ye smiled, answering: "Mr. A Bu and I are indeed good friends in reality. The reason why we value the Premier League more is because it has the most fair and competitive football market, as well as the most fanatical and loyal fans. Furthermore, the professionalization of the Premier League is more thorough. With sufficient funding, I believe that Premier League surpassing the Italian and Spanish Leagues is inevitable."

He subtly complimented the UK football circle.

Everyone likes to hear compliments after all. To stand firm in the UK football circle, having enormous financial inputs is not enough, a favorable public opinion atmosphere is also required.

This is also why Wang Ye agreed to Helen’s interview.

He wanted to release some of his thoughts through Helen, letting the fans know.

Otherwise, who knew how the obscure tabloids might fabricate things about him...

Helen wore a sweet smile on her face, "Mr. Mikhail, you may not know this, but my family and I are loyal fans of Arsenal.

As long as I can remember, my father often took me to the Highbury Stadium to watch the games.

This time you were able to take over Arsenal, from a personal perspective, I am very happy.

So, I wonder if you can fulfill a humble wish of mine as a fan, and that is to tell me in advance which superstars the team will be introducing?

Don’t worry, even if you tell me, I won’t publish this."

Wang Ye didn’t know if Helen’s words were true or false, but a direct refusal seemed inappropriate, considering this girl claimed her entire family were fans of Arsenal!

So he joked: "In that case, I suggest you check out last year’s UEFA’s best lineup, the players Arsenal are interested in are basically all on it."

UEFA selects the best lineup every year, from the goalkeeper to the forward, a total of eleven positions.

The players who can be selected, naturally, are the best performing players in their positions during the year.

The players on this best lineup can be considered superstars already, having both skills and fame.

And the stars Arsenal wants to introduce are mostly on this list...