Chapter 264: Chapter 264

Sports director office at Bayern club.

In front of the sports director Reiske, Bayern’s head coach Guardiola dialed Tang Long’s phone number.

Reiske stood nervously to the side, arms crossed over his chest, listening closely.

As a language genius, Guardiola could speak six different languages.

Spanish, Catalan, Italian, English, French, and German.

He had learned in advance that Tang Long’s Italian was not very good, so he spoke with Tang Long in English on the phone.

Reiske was a bit worried, after all, Tang Long was Chinese, and English wasn’t his native language. Could he understand Guardiola’s English with a Spanish seafood accent?

"On behalf of Bayern Club, I sincerely invite you to play here with us, yes..."

"But we’ve been tracking you for half a season now, the club really appreciates your ability to read the game exhibited in midfield..."

"...As for me personally, I am amazed at your prediction ability on the field, Tang, you know, it reminds me of a player I coached before, Busquets..."

"Oh, really? Well, let me reiterate, when you come to Bayern, you will be the absolute main force in midfield, you’ll replace Alonso and serve as the midfield core commander..."

"You must have heard of my story, I am very skilled at coaching midfield players, I will elevate your abilities to the next level, many players have said so."

"...Alright kid, I wish you all the best in the future!"

Having seen Guardiola frown and hang up the phone.

Reiske, Bayern’s sports director, sensed trouble and hurriedly asked, "Does he not want to come to Bayern?"

Guardiola nodded dejectedly, then shook his head.

"Tang said he really wants to play under me, but his current top-choice team is in the Premier League. I asked him which team in the Premier League he wants to go to, he didn’t tell me, only saying that if possible, he definitely wants to work together with me sometime in the future."

Reiske let out a long sigh of relief.

"I said all along, this Chinese player is hard to snatch, the whole world is eyeing him. From what I know, at least three teams in the Premier League are in contact with him; these teams are wealthy, no wonder all the players in the world head to the Premier League, we at Bayern can’t compare with them."

Guardiola glared at him quite angrily, "How can we not compare? Are you saying my coached Bayern is poor? Tell me, are we not comparable to Manchester United, or Manchester City, or are you saying we can’t compete with Chelsea and Arsenal?"

"No, no, no, I didn’t mean that," Reiske realized his mistake and hurriedly explained, "In terms of team strength, your coached Bayern is absolutely top-notch, we fear no team. But in terms of financial power, because we have the 50+1 policy, we face our own difficulties."

The 50+1 referred to by Reiske means that German football clubs must maintain at least 51% voting rights—

Even if an owner buys more than 50% of the team’s shares, his voting rights cannot exceed the club itself.

In other words, the clause restricts billionaire owners like Abu and Mansour from entering Bundesliga, even if they purchase all shares, the decision-making power is not in their hands.

The 50+1 policy has largely hindered potential investors’ enthusiasm for investing in Bundesliga clubs.

Because after analysis, they all believe that no matter how much money they invest, they ultimately cannot become the club’s true master, nor can they have absolute decision-making power, which is why few investors have been willing to invest in Bundesliga clubs for a long time.

Guardiola was not satisfied with this explanation.

"Reiske, you didn’t say this to me when I came to Bayern two years ago!"

"You promised to give me absolute control over transfers, and there’s no need to worry about funding. Moreover, Tang is a player I tracked myself, I’ve followed him for half a year, even went to the UEFA Europa League site to write a scouting report on him. You promised to do your best to help me get him!"

Reiske waved his hand, saying that times have changed.

After Tang Long won the UEFA Europa League, his value skyrocketed. Icardi was sold for 80 million British Pounds, which equates to 95 million Euros, almost a hundred million!

Given Tang Long’s age and potential, he would require at least over 60 million Euros to secure.

Bayern emphasizes sustainable development and strictly adheres to the European Fiscal Fair Play Act. The club’s transfer record is still the 40 million Euros spent in 2012 to bring in Javi Martinez from Bilbao Athletic, and the club does not want to spend more money on a single player like Tang Long.

Guardiola listened, feeling annoyed.

It seems Manchester United, having spent 80 million British Pounds to buy Icardi from Inter, has frightened Reiske.

"If we don’t have major reinforcements, we’ll soon fall behind our competitors!"

"At Barça, we had La Masia’s continuous blood supply, but at Bayern, we don’t have that."

"If Bayern is simply satisfied with winning the Bundesliga, we can do without Tang Long. But if we’re aiming to win the Champions League in the next three years, this kid is the perfect piece in my possession-based system!"

The two could not agree and began to argue.

Guardiola repeatedly emphasized Tang Long’s importance to Bayern’s tactics.

Reiske kept shouting that we don’t have that kind of budget, we are a 50+1 club, while you are a globally renowned coach favored by the management, you can’t act rashly either!