Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 787: Spending Money Like Water_1

Chapter 787: Chapter 787: Spending Money Like Water_1

"Haha, I know you all are waiting for me to announce the transfer news. So..."

Upon saying this, David Dain paused a bit to create some suspense.

But his irrepressible grin "gave him away," suggesting there was more significant news to come.

Not one to ever keep people waiting, David Dain quickly declared: "Fifty million Euros for Beckham!"

When he announced this news, he couldn’t be bothered to explain further, simply uttering an amount and a name.

But that was enough!

Perhaps for professionals, Buffon and Nesta might weigh more heavily than Beckham.

But in the UK, Beckham is undoubtedly the darling of soccer fans and journalists!

Don’t forget, he’s a local star. Natural preference is always given to locals over "foreigners".

In the Premier League, same level local players are generally priced higher than foreign players. This has long been a general consensus because, after all, UK’s "hukou" is valuable.

Naturally, local fans will have a bit more preference for local players.

Arguably, based on Beckham’s skills and reputation at the time, he was certainly not worth a staggering fifty million Euros.

But it wasn’t up for debate, he was the most "popular" player of those years in the UK, bar none.

Plus, transferring from Manchester United to Arsenal, these two clubs are old foes, how could Ferguson not bite when letting him go?

Initially, when David Dain inquired about the cost, Ferguson refused outright, declaring he would sooner relegate Beckham to the reserves than sell him to Arsenal!

But faced with David Dain’s check for a shocking amount, Ferguson’s opinion suddenly became less important, after all, he’s not the club owner...

So, eventually, Beckham was sold to Arsenal for fifty million Euros, a price that can only be described as "slaughter".

...

So far, David Dain had announced three transfers.

Buffon, 58 million Euros.

Nesta, 56 million Euros.

Beckham, 50 million Euros.

That sums up to a whopping 164 million Euros.

The three men were worth as much as the entire Chelsea acquisition this season...

This is the price tag of star power!

Under the massive shockwave, the journalists attending the event were left staggered.

The Premier League hasn’t seen such a "generous" club in years!

In previous years, only Manchester United occasionally made big moves, other clubs were not so bold, hence always being overshadowed by Serie A.

Even La Liga, because of the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona, has always been a step ahead of the Premier League!

In recent years, only Manchester United has been a notable contender in the Premier League.

But from now on, it seems like the Premier League is going to turn over a new leaf!

Chelsea, Arsenal, these two clubs are undoubtedly on the rise.

Arsenal, in particular, judging by the amount they are spending on transfers, their sights are clearly set not just domestically, but on the UEFA Champions League!

...

Everyone looked stupidly at David Dain, as if waiting for him to make another shocking transfer announcement.

David Dain grinned, spread his hands in a helpless gesture, and said, "Hey, I’ve done announcing today’s news. You don’t think we’re going to buy more stars, do you? Arsenal’s team framework is already well rounded, so what we need to do is strengthen, not carry out a major blood change."

The journalists below laughed loudly.

Indeed, the situations of Arsenal and Chelsea are completely different.

In the just concluded season, Arsenal was about to win the championship. However, due to a lack of bench depth later in the season, they were overtaken by Manchester United.

But no one could deny, the original Arsenal was already a strong team.

So, as David Dain said, Arsenal doesn’t need to bring in too many players this summer. Just a few star acquisitions to strengthen the weaker positions in the team will take Arsenal to the next level!

Maybe Arsenal will have some more transfers later, but they won’t be superstars anymore, just some substitute players to ensure they have enough manpower for multi-line operations.

With the intense Premier League schedule, if the team is also participating in domestic cups and European competition, it’s almost like fighting on three fronts.

Therefore, a deep bench is required to allow for player rotation and rest during key periods.

Otherwise, even the most robust players can’t stand the two to three high-level games per week. These matches consume a lot of physical stamina.

This is why there are so few teams that can win the double or even triple championship.

You not only need a team of super-strong main players but also excellent substitutes. At the same time, the coaching team needs to plan ahead, rotating players on and off the field to keep their competitive state but without over-exerting.

The difficulty level is really out of this world...

...

After the press conference, the news was quickly spread worldwide.

The stir Arsenal’s transfers caused, overshadowed even Chelsea, because all three of these superstars have significant reputations!

Of course, the exorbitantly high transfer fees were the main cause of this sensation...

Many football insiders exclaimed "the wolf has come"!

Watching Chelsea and Arsenal sprinkling money like water, the mixed feelings in the hearts of other club’s coaches, owners, and even fans, consisted of envy, jealousy, and bitterness.

Meanwhile, some so-called big-shots in the football circle came forward criticizing Chelsea and Arsenal for setting a bad trend and tainting the football scene with the "smell of copper".

If this continues, it’d merely be a competition between which club has more money and is willing to splurge more in the transfer market.

The stars groomed with great difficulty by smaller clubs are snatched away by luxury clubs waving cheques. Wouldn’t this contribute to the further growth of the strong and the weakening of the weak...

Most people wouldn’t take this criticism seriously.

It wasn’t Chelsea or Arsenal that first started this trend, so who did? During the era of the Seven Sisters of Serie A, wasn’t it the same?

How about Real Madrid’s superstar strategy?

Now, Chelsea and Arsenal are just being more affluent and willing to spend than those luxury clubs!

By now, many people fully understood the meaning of the title "Oligarchs" associated with Chelsea and Arsenal’s new owners...

As soon as the transfer window swung open, both clubs hosted press conferences, announcing a series of new players.

While other clubs were still dragging their feet negotiating, these two have already confirmed various transfers, each spending over one hundred million pounds!

Watching these multimillion-Euro transfers, many clubs felt uncertain.

It seemed as if when everyone else was selling their star players in the past, the prices were set too low...