Chen Ran was reborn, returning to the year 2003.
Looking at the unfamiliar room, and combining it with the memories in his mind, he was absolutely certain.
In his previous life, he was a hardcore football fan who had drank too much after the national team suffered yet another defeat in the World Cup qualifiers.
Then, he became his current self: a Chinese international student who had just graduated from the University of Liverpool with an MBA in Football Industries.
“Ding!
Congratulations to the host for activating the Football Manager System.”
“Huh, is this the legendary cheat code?”
“Ding!
The system has already acquired the English Championship team Crystal Palace Football Club as a novice gift package.
Please accept it as soon as possible.” (Note: The Championship was renamed in 2004, but for convenience, it’s moved up a year early here).
“Holy sh*t, even if it’s not Manchester United, Arsenal, or Liverpool, at least give me a Premier League team!”
“Because the host’s MBA internship was at Crystal Palace, the system acquired this club for you.”
“Can I change it?”
“No.”
In an instant, Chen Ran felt like dying.
The University of Liverpool has a partnership with the FA, and internships for the Football Management MBA are assigned to the FA and various clubs.
Anyone who has lived abroad knows that invisible glass ceilings are everywhere.
The internship opportunities at the FA and the major clubs definitely weren’t going to fall into Chen Ran’s lap, so they just brushed him off with a Championship team, Crystal Palace.
“So what if it’s the Championship?
At worst, I’ll just spend an extra year fighting my way up to the Premier League.”
As a hardcore fan, Chen Ran had played his fair share of football games; he hadn’t missed a single generation of Football Manager.
Therefore, in his eyes, with the Football Manager System, getting promoted to the Premier League shouldn’t be a problem.
Moreover, his goals were far more ambitious.
He absolutely didn’t just want to run a single club well—that vision was far too small.
He was already beginning to envision a future where he would select talented children from China and bring them to the world’s highest-level league to be nurtured, trained, and to compete.
Striving for the rise of Chinese football!
However, given Crystal Palace’s current situation, if he went back to China to select talent now, he’d probably be treated like a scammer.
So, he had to make Crystal Palace bigger and stronger first; at the very least, he needed to win a Premier League title.
Opening the system panel, Chen Ran checked Crystal Palace’s various stats.
“This is too much!”
After deducting various expenses, the funds Crystal Palace currently had available for transfers were only a measly 350,000 euros.
Just last month, Roman Abramovich had bought Chelsea for 150 million pounds, and then went around waving cash to buy players, causing player values to skyrocket.
What the hell could 350,000 euros do?
“System, isn’t this money a bit too little?”
“Crystal Palace only has this much money on its books.
However, the system can issue additional winning bonuses to the host.”
“How are the bonuses calculated?”
“1 million euros for winning a league match, 500,000 euros for an FA Cup or League Cup match, 1.5 million euros for a UEFA Cup match, and 2 million euros for a Champions League match.
All funds will be securely transferred by the system into your private account.” (For convenience, euros are uniformly used as the currency).
“That’s more like it.
But the UK has a work permit system; it’ll probably be very difficult for me to bring players in from China, right?”
“The system will assist the host in applying under the special talent clause.
Guaranteed approval.”
“That’s good.”
Chen Ran pondered for a moment.
As long as he got off to a good start and won a few games, everything would be set in motion.
Looking again at Crystal Palace’s current roster, he didn’t recognize a single player.
It seemed he absolutely had to buy some players with immediate combat power.
But with only 350,000 euros, he couldn’t buy squat.
He had to figure out a way to get some money.
Chen Ran couldn’t care less that it was already late at night.
He picked up the phone and called his MBA classmates and close friends.
“Brothers, I bought Crystal Palace Football Club.
Are you guys interested in coming over and helping me manage the team?”
“F***k!” “OMG!”
Early the next morning, Chen Ran was awakened by two uninvited guests.
“Hey, Chen, you’re too mean.
Throwing a bombshell at us in the middle of the night and then ignoring us.
Do you know I had insomnia last night?”
A short, chubby guy yelled as soon as he entered the door.
Right behind him, a tall, thin guy also stared at Chen Ran with an unkind expression.
The chubby guy, who naturally had a comical look like a Maitreya Buddha, was named Luis Figer, a Uruguayan.
The tall, thin one with an unsmiling face was Stephen Thynn, an Englishman.
“It’s just a Championship club, not Man United, Arsenal, or Liverpool,” Chen Ran shrugged, looking completely unbothered.
“That still takes a lot of money!
I didn’t expect you to be a millionaire.”
Despite having a whole night to digest the news, Luis still couldn’t contain his excitement.
Even the usually reserved Stephen couldn’t help but nod along.
“Cut the crap, are you guys willing to work with me?”
“Of course I am!
My old man is too biased; he handed the sports agency over to my eldest brother.
I have to prove that I’m no worse than him.” Luis waved his fist and spoke decisively.
His father was the famous South American football agent Juan Figer.
“Count me in too.” Stephen agreed just as readily.
His father was the famous Marquess of Bath in the UK, the one with 74 mistresses.
Unfortunately, Stephen was just one of his many illegitimate children, and the title was destined to have nothing to do with him.
“Good, true brothers.”
“Stephen, do you know anyone at the banks?” Chen Ran looked at Stephen.
Although his father was a playboy, his family was old British nobility with unfathomable connections.
Stephen paused for a moment, then reacted.
“What’s wrong?
Are you short on money?”
“It’s not that I’m short on money, but our Crystal Palace club is.
Right now, the club’s transfer budget is only 350,000 euros.”
“That little?”
“Exactly.
I want to buy players to strengthen the team, but this little money can’t do anything.”
“So what’s your plan?
Get a bank loan?
Looking at Crystal Palace’s situation, we should be able to get a loan of 2 to 3 million euros from the bank.”
Stephen was a genuine top student.
After receiving Chen Ran’s call last night, he had figured out Crystal Palace’s situation overnight.
“3 million euros?
Too little.” Chen Ran frowned; this was too far off his expectations.
“Here’s the deal, Stephen.
Contact a few more banks.
As long as they can loan enough euros, I can pledge all my Crystal Palace shares as collateral and sign a VAM (Valuation Adjustment Mechanism) agreement.
If I can’t repay the money on time, the club belongs to them.”
Backed by the extra winning bonuses from the system, Chen Ran felt very confident.
As long as he kept winning, this bit of money wasn’t a problem.
“What?
Chen, are you crazy?”
Chen Ran’s aggressive words left the two dumbfounded.
This was way too radical.
“Chen, shouldn’t you reconsider?” The chubby Luis swallowed hard, his eyes wide.
“No need to reconsider.
Either we don’t do it, or we go big.”
“I didn’t buy the team just to play around.
I want to build Crystal Palace into the strongest team in the world.
How about it, do you two dare to take a gamble with me?” Chen Ran stared at them with piercing eyes.
“F**k, it’s your money, and you’re not afraid.
What do I have to be afraid of?”
Chubby Luis was stimulated enough to howl.
Stephen also nodded repeatedly, raising no further objections.
(END CHAPTER)