"Really? Can those two Americans afford so much money?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Chen Ran knew that he had asked a stupid question.

Whether it was Tom Hicks and George Gillette, or the Glazer family before them, these Americans never intended to use their own money to acquire football clubs.

"Haha, Chen, as you analyzed before, it doesn't matter whether the one billion pounds is their own or borrowed, as long as we can receive the money."

"Indeed."

Chen Ran nodded slightly. If he hadn't taken it too seriously when he heard the two Americans proposing an acquisition intention.

So now, they actually agreed to their asking price of one billion pounds, which forced Chen Ran to take it seriously.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ran looked up at Stephen.

"Stephen, tell them that since they have agreed to a price of one billion pounds, formal negotiations can begin."

"However, due to the schedule, I have neither time nor energy to deal with this matter now, so I need them to wait patiently for a while."

"Chen, do you mean to wait until the end of the season before starting formal negotiations?"

"Stephen, you also know the upcoming schedule of Crystal Palace. Do you think I have the time and mind to deal with this matter now?"

Chen Ran spread his hands and looked at Stephen helplessly.

"But......"

Stephen glanced at Chen Ran, gritted his teeth, and continued.

"Chen, if our next performance does not meet expectations, then we are likely to be bargained by those two Americans."

"Haha, Stephen, do you think that if you start negotiating with them now, the two Americans won't delay the negotiations until the end of the season?"

"Chen, are you saying that they are also waiting for our Crystal Palace's final results this season?"

"Of course. If we can finally win the Premier League championship and the Champions League championship this season, although they may need to spend more money, after all, Crystal Palace will also be worth twice as much because of the blessing of these championship trophies. In total, they will not suffer a loss.

.”

"If we don't win these two championships in the end, or only win one of them, then they will have a reason and bargaining chip to bargain. No matter how you calculate it, they will not suffer a loss."

"It's true. These Americans are really clever."

After listening to Chen Ran's analysis, Stephen also felt that this was probably what those Americans thought.

"The more important reason why I want to postpone the negotiations until the end of the season is that now is the critical moment for Crystal Palace to sprint forward. I will not allow anything to interfere with the players' emotions."

"The British paparazzi are pervasive. I'm worried that once I have formal contact with those Americans, if it is exposed by the media, it will destabilize the team's military morale and affect the championship competition. That would be a small gain but a big loss. Do you understand?"

"That's true. Chen, you are still thoughtful."

As a native British man, Stephen is very aware of the power of British paparazzi.

"Stephen, you have to keep one thing in mind. Crystal Palace's current development momentum is very good, and I have no intention of showing up."

"So, even if we fail to win the Premier League championship and the Champions League championship this season, the price of one billion pounds will only rise. As for whether the two Americans are willing to accept it, I don't care."

"Okay, I've written it down."

After staring at Chen Ran seriously, Stephen finally understood Chen Ran's true thoughts.

After a day's rest, Crystal Palace welcomed Newcastle United at home.

According to the previous plan, Chen Ran made a large rotation in this game.

Among Crystal Palace's main lineup, only Ribery continues to start.

The reason is simple, because he received a red card in the last game against Real Madrid, so Ribery was suspended in the Champions League two days later.

Newcastle United is obviously well prepared for this game against league leader Crystal Palace.

From the first minute of the game, they all shrank and defended in their own half, assuming a posture of fighting to the death but not reaching the halfway line.

Newcastle United's move was indeed effective against Crystal Palace's substitute lineup.

When the game lasted until seventy minutes, the score on the field was still 0:0 unchanged.

As a last resort, Chen Ran had to replace Toni and Ronaldo, plus Jan Kohler and Ribery on the court, and used the twin tower tactics for the final attack.

Finally, in stoppage time, Tony scored the only goal of the game. Crystal Palace defeated Newcastle United 1:0 at home.

While getting three points, the system once again rewarded Chen Ran with a "Level One Blood Recovery Card".

This is the first time that the system has continuously rewarded the same type of cards, and they are all cards that Chen Ran urgently needs to replenish his physical fitness. It seems that the system cannot stand the intensive schedule of Crystal Palace.

After a day's rest, Crystal Palace's opponent in the Champions League semi-finals, Inter Milan, came.

When talking about Inter Milan, there is always a layer of sadness.

Especially before the "Italy Telephone Scandal" incident broke out, Inter Milan had been suppressed by its local rival AC Milan for a long time.

Inter Milan's president Moratti has invested heavily in signings for the club all year round. However, after those previously powerful stars arrived at Inter Milan, they often failed to perform to the level they should have, which also gave Inter Milan a "star black hole".

nickname.

But despite this, Inter Milan's lineup is still daunting enough.

Forwards: Adriano, Recoba, Martins, Cruz;

Midfielder: Luis Figo, Veron, Stankovic, Cambiasso, Pizarro, Zanetti, Solari, Killi;

Defenders: Zanetti, Samuel, Materazzi, Cordoba, Mihajlovic, Zemaria, Burdisso, Favalli, Worm;

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni.

The head coach is Mancini, a young coach who is just in his early 40s.

As usual, every important game, Chen Ran will arrange for Guardiola to edit the opponent's game video, and this time is no exception.

In order to take care of Simeone, this coaching staff meeting was still held in Simeone's hospital room.

After playing the video, Chen Ran looked at his three assistants again.

"How's it going? Do you have any ideas about playing against Inter Milan?"

As soon as Chen Ran finished speaking, Southgate and Simeone's eyes suddenly focused on Guardiola.

Guardiola looked at the two of them in confusion. What's going on? Are these two guys cheating on me?

In the end, Guardiola was defeated by the three people staring at each other, so he had to stand up and speak again.

"Boss, Inter Milan's front, middle and back lines are all very strong, with almost no shortcomings. If we must find their weaknesses, maybe their right back and captain Zanetti, and left back Favalli can be considered

A weakness."

"Zanetti is almost 33 years old this year. As a full-back, his speed is much worse than when he was young. And his side happens to be facing Ronaldo, our strongest offensive player. If we strengthen this offensive,

There may be quite a bit of gain.”

"For the same reason, left back Favalli is 34 years old this year, and his speed is also his weakness. However, Ribery was suspended for this game. I don't know how Alves, who replaced him, performed."

As soon as Guardiola finished speaking, Simeone, who is also a fellow Argentine and has played for Inter Milan and Lazio, also added:

"Josep is right. From the video just now, we can see that the speed of Javier and Giuseppe now is indeed incomparable to that of back then. If we focus on the two wings, the effect will definitely be very good.

"

Seeing that his two assistants both believed that the main direction of attack should be on the two wings, Chen Ran of course followed suit.

Moreover, considering that Inter Milan’s defense is short of height, except for Materazzi who is 193cm tall, others like Samuel is 182cm tall and Cordoba is 173cm tall. They suffer a lot in defending high-altitude balls.

Therefore, Chen Ran adopted the 442 twin-tower tactic, preparing to break through from the wing and carry out high-altitude bombing of Inter Milan's penalty area.

Forward Toni, Forward Jan Kohler

Left midfielder Ronaldo, right midfielder Alves

Defensive midfielder Vieira, defensive midfielder Yaya Toure

Left back Chiellini, center back Southgate, center back Vidic, right back Maicon

Cech

As for Mancini, he was once again beaten by Juventus in Serie A, so the Champions League has naturally become his most important goal now.

Therefore, he also sent out all the main players of Inter Milan.

Center Adriano

Left midfielder Stankovic, midfielder Veron, right midfielder Luis Figo

Defensive midfielder Cambiasso, defensive midfielder Zanetti

Left back Favalli, center back Samuel, center back Materazzi, right back Zanetti

goalkeeper toldo

Regarding this game, neither Crystal Palace nor Inter Milan are conservative.

As soon as the referee blew the whistle to start the game, the two teams started to attack each other.

As Chen Ran and others analyzed before the game, the speed of Inter Milan's two full-backs is obviously not able to keep up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Alves from Crystal Palace.

After a few rounds, Mancini realized that the situation was not good and had to order his full midfielders to retreat to help defend.

As a result, Inter Milan's offensive, which lost support from both wings, was immediately suppressed by Crystal Palace.

Veron, the attacking midfielder in the middle, was sandwiched between Vieira and Yaya Toure. He seemed isolated and helpless, let alone delivering shells to Adriano in front.

The game had only been played for less than twenty minutes, and the situation on the court had already begun to tilt towards the Crystal Palace.

At this time, in a box at Highbury Stadium, Tom Hicks and George Gillette appeared again.

"Tom, although this game is very important to Crystal Palace, we only need to know the result of the game. There is no need to go to the scene to watch, right? You also like football now?"

For George Gillette, sitting for nearly two hours watching a football game that he was not interested in was actually a kind of torture.

"George, you have to adapt to your new role quickly. We will be the owners of the football club in the future, and we will definitely go to the site to watch the team's games frequently."

"Let me tell you, Tom, we haven't even started negotiations on the acquisition of Crystal Palace yet, and you are so sure that the acquisition will be successful in the end? Didn't you hear the reply from Crystal Palace? Let's wait until the end of the season to talk about it."

George Gillette thinks Tom Hicks is a little too optimistic.

"Haha, George, doesn't this further prove that the Chinese boss of Crystal Palace has seriously considered this matter?"

"If he has no intention of selling the Crystal Palace Club, he can reject us directly, or send someone to negotiate and find a reason to refuse."

"That's true."

After hearing Tom Hicks' analysis, George Gillette also felt that this matter was really interesting.

"But what if that Chinese guy refuses to let go after holding on to a billion pounds?"

"It depends on Crystal Palace's results this season. If they really win the Premier League title and also win the Champions League, one billion pounds is not unacceptable."

"Are you crazy?"

George Gillette almost shouted.

He was really frightened by Tom Hicks' words. The Glazer family only spent less than 800 million pounds to acquire Manchester United.

George Gillette then looked around carefully, then leaned into Tom Hicks' ear and whispered a reminder.

"Tom, don't forget how much assets we have together."

"I know. George, if you think so, since we have already prepared to borrow hundreds of millions of pounds, what difference does it make if we borrow another one or two hundred million pounds more?"

"It's just a matter of paying off the loan for a few more years. Anyway, it's not with our own money. Either don't buy it, or buy the best one! What do you think?"

Tom Hicks stared closely into George Gillette's eyes, as if he wanted to see his true inner thoughts through his eyes.

"What difference does it make if we borrow another one or two hundred million more? What you said is quite easy."

George Gillette muttered something in a low voice, and then asked Tom Hicks.

"Tom, do you really want to play this big?"

"Haha, George, do you think we can play small now?"

"Okay, as you said: 'Either you don't buy it, or if you want to buy it, buy the best one!' This one, I'm going with it."

"Haha, great, I knew you would support me. We brothers join forces, the Glazer family is nothing."

Seeing that George Gillette agreed to his plan, Tom Hicks happily hugged George Gillette's shoulders and cheered.

At this moment, deafening cheers erupted throughout Highbury Stadium.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Tom Hicks then looked at football consultant Rodriguez who was sitting not far away.
Chapter completed!