Chapter 916: The Downward Slope of the Manchester United Dynasty, Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng

"Although I won the 2024 Ballon d'Or, I actually feel that Manchester United's results this season (24-25) have been far from ideal. I was truly happy when I first received the award, but afterward, it didn't feel so comfortable; this season we not only missed out on the Champions League, but we are also drifting further and further away from the Premier League title."

Rodri, the Manchester United captain and last year's Ballon d'Or winner, said in an interview.

Having just lost the Champions League semi-final, the atmosphere at Old Trafford was exceptionally terrible.

Actually, failing to reach the Champions League final is not a big deal, because one cannot expect a team to win the Champions League every single season; that is unrealistic.

However, Manchester United's dominant position in the Premier League is now facing increasingly severe threats, something all Manchester United fans are unwilling to accept.

"Glazers out!"

"Get lost!"

"The entire Glazer family must get out of Manchester United!"

As soon as Rodri finished speaking, the fans in the stands went directly insane. Unsurprisingly, there would be another anti-Glazer family protest outside the stadium later.

"I apologize for Manchester United's situation this season."

After all, the Glazer family are the owners; as a player, Rodri had no way to say anything specific and could only gloss over it vaguely.

Dongqiu Di Match Report: After missing out on the Premier League title, Manchester United was ruthlessly eliminated by Liwupu in the Champions League quarter-finals, sparking fierce reactions from fans on site. (Comment count: 563,262)

"Last season we were just four points short of the Premier League title; failing to beat Mancheng in the end is something we can understand—mistakes are normal, and we can accept handing over a season's league championship to Mancheng."

An angry Manchester United fan accepted an interview outside the stadium: "But why is the league title gone this season as well? And, and!"

"And we are getting further and further away from the Premier League title! Last season it was four points; this season it has become six points!"

The elimination from the Champions League broke the last straw in the hearts of Manchester United fans; the interviewee was extremely angry, even stuttering slightly while speaking.

"The Glazer family must get lost!"

"That 550 million euros from ty was not money for you!"

"Return the money to Manchester United! Return it to us!"

Manchester United's terrible tactical performance has pushed Ten Hag into the eye of the storm, but the greatest pressure actually rests on the shoulders of the Glazer family.

Tang Ye's transfer to Al-Hilal brought Manchester United 550 million euros in liquid funds, with this transfer fee paid in a single lump sum.

It was originally expected that Manchester United would use these funds to purchase more powerful players to maintain the team's dominant status after Tang Ye's departure; Ten Hag even stated as much during a press conference.

As it turned out, the Glazer family played a dirty trick: through shell companies and leverage, they directly transferred the family's debts legally onto Manchester United, causing the club to face accusations of violating Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

UEFA requires that clubs cannot incur losses exceeding a certain amount for three consecutive years, yet this legal debt transfer maneuver by the Glazer family caused Manchester United to lose 500 million in a single season, resulting in a situation where they had money but could not buy players.

In the past few transfer windows, Manchester United has not made a single signing exceeding 100 million euros!

Sports Weekly Front Page Headline: One shot, one assist, a perfect performance; Wang Wang Yudong single-handedly created two goals to help RB Leipzig defeat Stuttgart 3-1, preserving their chance to compete for a European spot. (Comment count: 475,332)

The Sun Front Page Headline: "Glazers Get Out!" Manchester United fans launch a massive protest march, demanding the Glazer family return the assets they acquired by sucking the club dry.

Manchester Evening News Editor-in-Chief: Although there is only one FA Cup title, considering the outstanding performances of Dembélé and Rodri in the match, I still believe this year's Ballon d'Or will be decided between these two players. The Club World Cup in the US this June should be key; the restructured Club World Cup will have a huge impact on the Ballon d'Or selection.

Time moves to April 26; Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng from the Chinese Super League was eliminated in the AFC Elite quarter-finals, failing to advance to the next round.

This news is indeed very terrible, because if Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng had advanced to the AFC Elite final, they would have faced their own boss—Tang Ye—in the final.

Originally, Chinese fans hoped Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng could perform well enough to defeat their own boss, but now it seems there is still a significant gap between Guangzhou and Asia's top teams!

Speaking of the development of the Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng team, it is truly very interesting.

Relying on their decent performance in the Chinese Champions League, the Guangzhou team managed to return to the Chinese Super League for the 2024 season; however, at this time, Guangzhou's financial problems were already extremely severe, unable to even pay player wages, with even airfare for away matches needing to be booked on credit, simply absurd to the extreme.

At this moment, Paopao Bond did something very clever: to avoid assuming Guangzhou's sky-high debts amounting to several billion RMB, Paopao Bond first established a professional club in Guangdong and began attracting investment.

After confirming that Guangzhou's debt problems were severe and could no longer support the 2024 season, the Guangzhou Paopao team (Chinese Champions League), controlled by Paopao Bond, directly purchased all of Guangzhou's players; subsequently, Guangzhou announced its dissolution and would no longer participate in the 2024 Chinese Super League season.

Relying on their "second" outstanding performance in the Chinese Champions League during the 2024 season, the Guangzhou Paopao team officially announced their promotion to the Chinese Super League in November 2024, subsequently changing their name to "Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng" due to sponsorship and equity investment from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Since then, Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng completed the replacement of the Guangzhou team; although Baidu Baike lists Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng's founding year as 2023 rather than 1954, due to the acquisition of the original team roster and coaching staff (plus Paopao Bond owning all equity of the Evergrande Football School), the original Guangzhou fans very naturally all transformed into Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng fans.

Although the Guangzhou team's crest, meaning the club's shell, is gone, the soul of the Guangzhou team lives forever!

After succeeding in promotion, as a pilot club for golden-yuan football, Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng began frantically buying players, killing their way into the AFC Elite League with the Chinese FA Cup title, and charging all the way to the AFC Elite quarter-finals.

Unfortunately, Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng exhausted their strength right at the quarter-finals, losing the opportunity to face their boss.

"I think it is still quite a pity."

Tang Ye touched his hair: "If Guangzhou could have advanced to the semi-finals or the final, I believe that would have been a huge success, but the quarter-finals are not bad either; the new AFC (referring to AFC Elite) intensity is slightly higher than before, and there are many strong teams here in the Middle East, so I am quite satisfied with this quarter-final result, hoping the team gives Guangzhou Guangdong Hengsheng a bit more patience."

"However."

In a video interview with Zhan Jun, Tang Ye additionally mentioned the issue of Chinese Super League development: "I said before, and Instructor Zhan should have been present at the time. Buying players from other leagues to inflate results is not the correct way to operate golden-yuan football, but we need to do this right now because we first need to make the Chinese Super League strong; in my view, we must do this first."

"Because youth training is an extremely time-consuming endeavor; although we have already sent over 200 players to Europe, Japan, and South Korea, they are all too young to bring spectacle to the league."

As a professional player, Tang Ye has always held a viewpoint: sporting events must be exciting enough to attract audiences, which is also the direct reason for the birth of the new Guangzhou team.

"What about your child?"

Zhan Jun brought up Tang Rui: "Have you considered letting your son play football?"

"Haha, well, he is too small. But even if he grows up, I probably wouldn't want him to play football; he could try studying, learning economics or management and things like that—this is the advice I received."

"Anyway, I indeed do not really want him to play football."

"Mm."