Chapter 904: Next Season You Will Be Part of Utrecht's First Team

Hong Kong media: Continuing excellent performance in the quarter-finals, the Asian Cup may become Dai Dai Weijun's greatest career opportunity.

Hong Kong media are closely following Dai Dai Weijun's national team performances, and Dai Dai Weijun has not disappointed the fans' expectations, successfully extending his form from the round of 16.

Having played exceptionally well in two consecutive knockout matches, if one idiom were used to describe the current Dai Dai Weijun, it would be... a promising future!

As Dai Dai Weijun's biggest supporters, the Hong Kong media have also offered a suggestion to their own player.

"Dai Dai Weijun needs to strengthen his coordination skills with Tang Ye and increase the frequency of their partnership."

"The national team captain possesses extensive international resources; if Dai Dai Weijun can seize the opportunities presented by Tang Ye, his career may accelerate."

These words were not spoken lightly; the Hong Kong media provided several arguments to support their viewpoint.

First, Tang Ye has a history of helping teammates, with Zhang Zhang Yuning serving as one example.

Furthermore, Tang Ye and Dai Dai Weijun are among the few "Cantonese-speaking" players within the national football team. From this perspective, Dai Dai Weijun's advantages should be uniquely favorable.

"At present, Dai Dai Weijun is not far from securing a starting position in the national team."

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Max Blue Samurai! Japan men's football team defeated Saudi Arabia men's football team 4:0 to advance to the semi-finals, with Minamino Takumi scoring.

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Iran drew 3:3 in regular time and defeated Qatar 4:3 in stoppage time to meet the national football team in the semi-finals.

That Iran actually eliminated Qatar was something many fans had not expected. After all, as the host of the previous World Cup, the strength of the Qatar national team could truly be described as making rapid progress.

Iran's sudden rise disrupted Escrivá's original plan.

"Shit..."

On the hotel balcony, Escrivá looked at the scenery outside the window and complained to Martí beside him about the match result between Qatar and Iran: "Why could Iran beat Qatar? There's a problem with Qatar's coach; they shouldn't have dragged it into extra time!"

"Sigh, Ferran, there's no need."

Martí was in a much better mindset than Escrivá: "Iran's overall strength should be slightly weaker, so playing Iran in the semi-finals is actually a good thing."

"I think our win rate against Iran is higher."

"But we initially planned to play Qatar; now my plan has been disrupted."

"... Did we have a single match during the World Cup that went according to plan?"

One sentence from Martí left Escrivá speechless.

That was indeed true.

"Hiss... But even during the World Cup, I had advance arrangements; tell me, if things hadn't followed my script, could we have beaten Spain and the Netherlands?"

"Your script didn't include anything beyond the round of 16 in the first place, Ferran; you're overthinking it."

Martí sat up straight, looking into Escrivá's eyes: "I understand now, Ferran."

"Understand what?"

"Plans are useless. Being powerful is being powerful; powerful people remain powerful."

"We are the World Cup third-place finishers, the only World Cup third-place finishers from Asia, so we are the Asian Cup champions."

"..."

Escrivá rubbed his chin and turned his head away: "So we can only adapt to changing circumstances?"

"The Chinese team that adapts to changing circumstances is the strongest," Martí added finally.

ppbond financial report: Pop Bond Company's net profit for the second quarter was 511 million pounds, a year-on-year increase of 850%, of which the doll industry's net profit was 525 million pounds.

"Affected by the World Cup and the Asian Cup, sales of the company's doll blind boxes are optimistic; the doll industry's net profit is expected to grow again in the third quarter, conservatively estimated at 570 million pounds. However, due to anticipated support for establishing the United Development Group (UDG) subsidiary in Hong Kong, China, the company's overall profit in the third quarter may decline by approximately 30%."

"Although some shareholders voted against it, the company will still strongly support the development of the subsidiary."

"The company's current investment in mainland China and the Hong Kong region is indeed substantial, but I believe investment and output are proportional; we will see all of this someday in the future." Excerpt from Bol's speech (CEO of PPBD Company).

Bol spoke only a few words when announcing the financial report, but every sentence contained many details.

For instance, in "we will see all of this someday in the future," Bol used "the future" rather than a specific date.

To put it plainly, it means money can be made, but no one knows how many years it will take to become profitable, nor exactly how much money will be earned.

Barring unexpected events, Pop Bond's stock price is bound to fall immediately after its listing in Hong Kong.

But it doesn't matter; Tang Ye's company has always been this way; one can hardly ever see a day when ppbd's stock price remains stable.

Time has arrived at July; starting from July 1st, transfer news has continuously emerged from the top five leagues, with Real Madrid, Al-Hilal, and Barcelona having endless rumors linked to Tang Ye.

Although Tang Ye is currently in Qingdao, some newspapers still made erroneous claims such as "TY holding talks with Al-Hilal executives in Saudi Arabia."

Regardless, with no news of contract renewal or changes by July, Manchester United's management actions have indeed made fans anxious.

【Glazers out!】

【Don't the Glazers really intend to use TY to repay loans, trading his future for revenue?】

【Erik won't agree; trust Erik.】

【I feel Tom indeed intends to leave. If the management and TY's personal wishes align, what use is Erik? He basically has no say anymore, okay?】

【Who told you TY is leaving? Did he say it himself? Don't spread rumors; if you have no top-five league matches to watch, why not watch the Asian Cup broadcasts? You find your own matches; do you really expect Sky Sports to broadcast the Asian Cup for a monthly fee of just 25 yuan?】

【Are there any English compatriots in Hong Kong? Apply for a position at ppbd and send us firsthand news from China.】

Sports Weekly front-page headline: Pop Bond (Hong Kong) obtained loans totaling approximately 5.4 billion RMB from China Merchants Bank Guangdong Branch and HSBC Hong Kong, with a term of 5-8 years and an unknown annual interest rate.

Insider source: Pop Bond may purchase the land and all fixed assets of Evergrande Football School for over 1.5 billion RMB; negotiations are currently ongoing.

This so-called "insider source" is not from the football circle but from the real estate-related industry.

According to this insider, the matter of Pop Bond purchasing Evergrande Football School is basically settled and should not encounter any problems.

The biggest issue lies in the controversy surrounding Guangzhou FC.

Evergrande Group hopes to sell Guangzhou FC and Evergrande Football School as a package, but Pop Bond does not want this; this is where the problem lies.

The price of all fixed assets of Evergrande Football School is around 1.5 billion RMB, while the price of the entire Guangzhou FC team is just 1 yuan.

Of course, this one yuan is not one yuan in the true sense of the word, because after purchasing the entire Guangzhou team for a price of one yuan, you must assume all of the Chinese Super League passing team's debts and prepare at least three years of team operating funds. All of this combined already exceeds 2.5 billion RMB.

Originally a 1.5 billion deal was forcibly negotiated into 4 billion; let alone Bol, even if you asked Tang Ye to think about this matter, he would hesitate.

There was no choice but to wait and see first; it would not be too late to make a decision after observing the Guangzhou team's results and changes in arrears over the recent few seasons.

Besides the bad news, there was also good news: UDG had already established partnerships with seven Chinese Super League clubs, five European second-division clubs, and five professional esports clubs from China and South Korea. Additionally, there was the most exaggerated part—two clubs from the English Premier League, namely Manchester United and Nottingham Forest!

……

"Guangzhou Youth"—Hoping to strengthen the atmosphere of Chinese football, the United Development Group (UDG) will sponsor 6 million RMB to host the Guangdong Provincial Amateur Super League (Yue Chao).

"The United Development Group attaches importance to the development of the mass football foundation; the company will use Guangdong as a pilot location for amateur league sponsorship. If the initial pilot is successful, UDG will launch a second-phase pilot: a total investment of approximately 20 million RMB in Hunan, Jiangsu, and Liaoning. The third-phase pilot will cover the entire nation (excluding Macau)."

United Development Group China: If all three phases of the pilot are successful, the company plans to launch the United Super League (Zhong Lian Chao) in 2027.

Relying on its wealth, UDG gave the Football Association the impression that it intended to play its own game.