Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 786: Extraordinarily Large Spending_1

Chapter 786: Chapter 786: Extraordinarily Large Spending_1

The Times’ reporter, Helen arrived early at the press conference location.

Last time, she had staked out a hotel for two or three days until finally "catching" Mikhail for a simple interview.

She later published a feature piece, introducing the legendary experiences of Arsenal’s new boss which indeed drew the interest of many UK citizens. The response was quite high.

After all, it’s rare not to be curious about a young man in his early twenties who has achieved so much success.

Once having tasted the success, she closely followed Arsenal Club since she clearly remembered Mikhail telling her in the interview that he would be bringing in a few real superstars!

The report card of Chelsea so far looked impressive, but not shocking.

Though Chelsea had spent big money, they haven’t been able to bag a real heavyweight superstar...

Obviously, this couldn’t attract too much attention from the soccer fans; it was only insiders in the football circle who understood that Chelsea would be a tough opponent next year.

Common fans did not care about that, what they expected to see most were superstars, one after another!

Now the hope lies with Arsenal; based on the existing foundation of the Arsenal team, it was impossible for them to perform a major blood transfusion like Chelsea.

The transfer strategy then had to be small but refined, meaning that each player brought in could potentially be a superstar!

The press conference held today, as expected, would certainly announce the news of the transfer.

Just not sure which superstar would come to Arsenal...

...

David Dain personally hosted the press conference. He walked energetically onto the stage, beaming with happiness.

In recent times, David Dain was in high spirits as everything had moved along smoothly.

Even the transfers, which were assumed to be difficult, became less troubling once he started wielding a big check; the other club began to cooperate quite well...

Of course, David Dain was fully aware of why the changes occurred.

Without the strong backing of financial power from the new boss Mikhail, the present situation at Arsenal would not have been possible!

"Dear journalists, welcome to Arsenal’s press conference..."

After his short opening remarks, David Dain cut straight to the chase and dropped a bombshell on everyone.

"After friendly negotiations, we have come to an agreement with Juventus to bring goalkeeper Buffon to Arsenal for a transfer fee of 58 million Euros!"

The crowd below was instantly buzzing!

million Euros!

Buffon!

Whether it was the transfer amount or the player’s name, both were shocking enough for everyone.

Over the past few years, transfers exceeding 50 million Euros were rare, possibly happening once every two to three years.

The last time before this year that a transfer exceeded 50 million Euros was in 2001 when Zidane transferred to Real Madrid for a transfer fee of 65 million Euros!

In the 2002 transfer market, the highest was Ferdinand’s transfer to Manchester United for 30 million pounds, roughly equal to 46 million Euros.

And yet today, Arsenal put forward an amount of 58 million Euros, a "record-breaking" huge transfer, for Buffon, undisputedly the top goalkeeper, from the Italian grand Juventus...

All the reporters underneath started raising their hands, eager to ask questions.

"Mr. David Dain, is this news confirmed? Have both parties signed an official transfer contract yet?"

This journalist was a bit incredulous.

"Is Buffon really worth such a high transfer fee? He is just a goalkeeper..."

And some journalists, likely biased towards the goalkeeper position, didn’t think Buffon was worth that much money.

However, none of the journalists questioned the appropriateness of Arsenal signing Buffon because Buffon’s prowess was unquestionable with anyone familiar with football!

A young goalkeeper in his twenties with outstanding physical fitness and high competitive levels, a steady style of play.

Just how essential such a goalkeeper can be to a team is known to everyone who understands football.

Because such a goalkeeper, barring a sudden slump in performance, would certainly be relevant for at least a decade or so.

It is a more ’value for money’ position than any other!

This was exactly why Wang Ye’s first transfer choice was Buffon.

...

Amidst the sea of raised hands, David Dain smiled subtly but didn’t hurry to answer the reporters’ questions.

Because he hadn’t finished sharing all the news yet.

He cleared his throat and continued, "I know everyone is eager to ask questions but, don’t rush, I have more transfer news to announce."

"Again, after friendly negotiations, we have reached an agreement with Milan club for centre-back Nesta, who will transfer to our club for a transfer fee of 56 million Euros!"

Yet another shocking news!

Initially, after the announcement of the first huge signing, everyone predicted Arsenal to have spent enough this year and any other transfers would be of a small amount.

But to everyone’s surprise, not only was there another, but the player was just as impressive as the first transfer!

Nesta!

Super centre-back!

This player, hailed as "the strongest centre-back," had been voted into UEFA’s best lineup for multiple years.

Whether it was coach evaluations, journalist reviews, or fan sentiments, at this time Nesta held a top spot among the centre-backs!

He was surely no less in value than Ferdinand who transferred to Manchester United last year for 46 million Euros.

These two massive signings numbed the reporters below.

Each transaction exceeded 50 million Euros, any of which would have been record-breaking in previous years, occurring once every few years.

It so happened that Arsenal had two...

First, Chelsea massively imported a "new team," followed by Arsenal successively signing superstars with big investments. All this left most journalists present feeling stunned.

Everyone felt vaguely that the professional football world in the future seemed to be changing...

The historical heritage, grand heritage, fan base, all that people valued the most in the past, may not be as valuable as a wealthy, capricious club owner!

Anyone rich enough and willing to spend could bring any superstar they pleased!

With superstars on the team, how could results be a worry?

In the end, the professional football world is just business. As long as one has enough money, they can manipulate and get anything they desire...

...

Now, everybody dared not utter a word.

Becasue no one knew if David Dain had more big news yet to be announced.

The journalists beneath the stage were all looking up at David Dain with eager eyes, hoping to hear another shocking news from his mouth.

And indeed, David Dain did not disappoint them...