Chapter 333 Twenty-year-old Ling Feng completely defeated Mero!
The next day, the front page covers of the major media were almost identical.
They are all photos of Ling Feng holding the PFA Rookie of the Year and the PFA Player of the Year, with a smile on his face!
The titles of each media are also different:
"Superstar of the new era!" - The Times.
"The hope of English football!" - Daily Telegraph.
“Next stop: Ballon d’Or?!”
In professional football, competition is extremely fierce.
If you can play in the five major leagues at the age of twenty, you can already be called a genius.
However, compared to Ling Feng, all the geniuses and prodigies of the same age group suddenly eclipsed him.
Because, at the age of 20, Ling Feng was not only able to play in the Premier League, which has the most intense competition among the five major leagues, but he even contributed an astonishing double score of goals and assists in the league.
He can also serve as the absolute core of the team and lead a small team that only returned to the Premier League last season to win the first Premier League championship in team history!
Moreover, in the long history of football, only "alien" Ronaldo can win the best title in the league at the age of twenty!
If we say that Ling Feng, who made his debut in the Premier League last year, was like a rocket that soared into everyone's field of vision.
This year's Ling Feng is like the brightest star among the stars in the sky, overshadowing all the players in the Premier League!
He is the most handsome boy in the Premier League!
In the next few days, in addition to winning the PFA Rookie of the Year and the PFA Player of the Year (Premier League MVP, English Footballer of the Year), Ling Feng was also elected to the Premier League for the first time without any suspense. The best player in the league and won the FWA Footballer for the second time!
This makes Ling Feng the second player to win the Grand Slam of individual awards in a season after Gareth Bale in the 2012-13 season!
At the same time, he also surpassed Bell, who won the award at the age of 21, and became the youngest winner of the PFA Player of the Year Award since its inception!
Everyone can see that compared to Bell, who was 21 years old at the time, Ling Feng, who was less than 20 years old, had a brighter future.
People began to believe that the twenty-year-old Ling Feng had become a strong contender for the Golden Globe Award.
Some British media even compared him with the 20-year-old Melo, and then made a comparison:
The 20-year-old Messi has become Barcelona's main force and key training target.
Forty appearances in all competitions, scoring 16 goals and providing 12 assists;
Twenty-year-old Ronaldo has already established himself at Manchester United, appearing in all competitions Forty games, scoring fifteen goals and providing eight assists;
And the 20-year-old Ling Feng has played in 40 games in all competitions, scored 26 goals and provided 31 assists!
Looking at personal data alone, Ling Feng is even more explosive than Melo of the same age!
From the perspective of championship honors, Ling Feng, as the absolute core and frontcourt of the Blue Fox, led the team to win the first Premier League championship in the team's 132-year history, as well as the League Cup championship.
Barcelona, where Messi belongs, lost to Real Madrid in the first phase of La Liga and finished second.
Coincidentally, Ronaldo's Manchester United lost to Mourinho's Chelsea in the league championship and also ranked second.
From this point of view, the 20-year-old Ling Feng almost surpasses the 20-year-old Melo in both personal and collective honors!
Since then, many Blue Fox fans have started making jokes again:
“I have never seen Melo at the age of 18, nor have I seen Melo at the age of 20. But I have seen Ling Feng who was twenty years old!”
“And he won!”
And the British media was in a frenzy again.
Since Rooney, they so need a new local football idol.
Originally, Arsenal's Prince Wilshere was the most anticipated future leader of England.
However, he himself failed to live up to expectations and his physique was too glassy.
Two hours of charging and five minutes of talk time.
Who can withstand this? !
Fortunately, Ling Feng came out of the blue and quickly replaced Wilshere's position.
And he is also very ambitious, seizing the stage and exposure of the World Cup, and soaring directly into the sky.
After arriving in the Premier League for the first time, I didn’t have stage fright at all.
Coupled with Kane's "flash in the pan" last year, and this year the media once thought that England's youth training program finally ushered in a new golden generation with a talent explosion.
Now it seems that this is not an era of local geniuses blowing out, but an era of Ling Feng suppressing everything!
Because, not to mention "passed" geniuses such as Sterling and Wilshere, Ali, who has suddenly emerged, and Kane, who continues to improve this year, have also been greatly separated by Ling Feng!
Among the players of the same age group in world football, no one is better than Ling Feng.
Even Pogba, who helped Juventus complete three consecutive Serie A championships, is not his opponent in the eyes of the media.
With the blessing of the Premier League championship and the best of the season award, Ling Feng has officially ascended to the throne of the new generation of football!
The next step, his goal is that golden golden ball!
. . .
As Ling Feng’s name and personal news were reported and discussed by the entire British media and social media, a meeting about him was also held in the Manchester United office in London. .
In the spacious conference room, important figures from Manchester United's management were sitting.
Club Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Ed Woodward, Commercial Richard Arnold, Head of Corporate Development Matt Judge, Head of Football Development John Murtaugh, Chief Scout Jim Law Le and others were all present.
Since taking over the position of CEO of the club, "Sandezi" Woodward has spent most of his time working in the Manchester United office in London, remotely managing Manchester United, one of the most influential clubs in the world. football club.
Compared with his predecessor David Gill, he rarely appeared at the Carrington base and even had the nickname "Ghost" among the players.
Most of the club's important decisions will be discussed and concluded in this conference room.
This time, it is no exception.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson, the retired but still influential former legendary coach, and Louis van Gaal, the current Manchester United coach, did not appear in the office.
Even Mourinho, the next Manchester United coach who has been appointed, did not show up.
The management personnel attending the meeting are basically the current decision-makers of Manchester United, and they are also the "culprits" responsible for the decline of Manchester United's competitive performance in recent years
In addition to the spokesperson of the Glazer family, the "talker" who oversees all affairs "Other than Woodward, the ones with the greatest say among his subordinates are Arnold, the "Second Virtue", and Judge, nicknamed "Judge".
Woodward and Arnold are alumni of the University of Bristol, and it was Woodward who recruited them to the club.
Since 2007, Arnold has been in charge of the commercial side of the club and is a well-known negotiator and a master of sponsorship!
“After you meet and shake hands with Richard, your first task is to check whether your unconscious fingers are still fully grown on your hands!” This is a man who once played with Arnold. A business person with whom he interacts, this is how he describes his impression of him “without exaggeration”.
Thanks to his efforts, even though competitive performance fluctuated, the team's commercial revenue increased from 130 million a year to 200 million a year today!
And Murtaugh is the "incarnation" of Woodward in the team's competitive aspects
He is mainly responsible for youth training, but he also appears in the first team from time to time to monitor the team. operation.
Judge is equivalent to Woodward's number one player in transfer signings, and is also the actual operator of the club's transfer signings.
After the club executives and head coach drafted the signing list, they then handed over the task of negotiation to Judge.
Judge will personally negotiate with agents and players.
Manchester United's top executives gathered together for one thing. That is to discuss an issue:
Should we introduce Ling Feng as the cornerstone of Manchester United's future revival?
A few days ago, Ferguson, who had just met with Ling Feng in private, immediately came to Woodward's home.
"We have to sign him!" - This was Ferguson's first words.
Woodward was stunned on the spot.
“Who?”
“Ling Feng!”
Then, Ferguson chatted at his home for half an hour.
For half an hour, Ferguson was talking about how important Ling Feng was to Manchester United and what benefits it would bring to Manchester United if they could sign him.
Although I am very annoyed with Ferguson, a stubborn old man who still interferes in club affairs after retirement.
However, on the surface, Woodward still nodded in agreement seriously and promised Ferguson that he would convene a high-level meeting as soon as possible to discuss the matter.
Although I am very unhappy with Ferguson's actions behind the scenes.
However, Woodward has never doubted Ferguson's vision on the competitive level.
This is also the first time he has seen Ferguson so eager to sign a player for the club!
This is enough to prove how outstanding Ling Feng is!
However, what he cares about is not how outstanding Ling Feng is on the field, but whether Ling Feng off the field can bring more commercial income to Manchester United!
Thinking of this, Woodward, who was sitting in the upper position, looked at Arnold, the club's second-in-command:
"Richard, have you made a business report about him?"
"It's been done."
As he spoke, the chubby Arnold immediately motioned to the female secretary standing aside and asked her to distribute a stack of business reports to everyone.
"Gentlemen, this is my comprehensive analysis of the personal commercial value of the player Ling Feng."
"First of all, it is his personal influence."
“As of May, he is the number one player in jersey sales in the Premier League! He has surpassed Rooney, Aguero, and other long-established stars!”
"It is worth mentioning that in addition to England, there are also a large number of overseas orders."
"This means that his influence is definitely not limited to the United Kingdom!"
"Of course, we are still No. 1 in the world in terms of jersey sales. However, if Ling Feng joins the club, it will be a strong alliance!"
"In addition to jersey sales, according to statistics, Ling Feng's popularity on major social media platforms is the highest among all English players. Even if the scope is expanded to the world of football, he is second only to Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar."
"And each of his highlight clips on major video websites has exceeded one million views."
"There are players all over the world imitating his iconic celebrations."
It is worth mentioning that with the advancement of the times, social platforms have become the main tool for the public to share their daily moments.
In order to shorten the distance with fans and better cut leeks, many clubs and stars have established social media accounts.
In the past, Manchester United did not have an official Twitter.
When Ferguson was coaching, he always regarded Twitter as a "waste of time." He encouraged players to go to the library and read more books, and also persuaded them to put down their mobile phones and stay away from social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The current official Twitter account of Manchester United was created after Ed Woodward, the club's executive vice chairman, took office.
This is also his first major decision after taking over from David Gill.
It was established just after Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement.
Therefore, in the eyes of many fans and industry insiders, Manchester United’s official Twitter can be regarded as a dividing line.
Before it, the Red Devils were primarily a football club.
After it, the Red Devils turned into a commercial entertainment club!
This move is just an insignificant one since Woodward took office.
But it is enough to see that Woodward has his own set of ideas and plans on how to run the Manchester United club.
There is a saying in English football to describe him: At Old Trafford, the price of anything Woodward touches will quickly soar.
He was even praised as "the Ronaldo of football business" by the famous British brand value consulting company BrandFinance.
The company said of Woodward:
“He has leveraged the growing power of the Manchester United brand to capitalize on the worldwide fan base and attract a series of sponsorship contracts that are unrivaled in the world in terms of amount and value!”
For the Glazer family, the American owners who own the club, it does not matter where the club ranks in the season or whether it has a championship.
What they care about is the club’s stock price and the rising numbers in the financial statements!
And Woodward, who has increased the club's revenue by 11% every year, is the best CEO in their eyes!
In Woodward's eyes, Arnold, the fat alumni who talked eloquently and whose face turned red when he talked about excitement, was his most trusted money-making expert!
What he said is absolutely reliable!
“I dare say that this twenty-year-old young man is definitely the most commercially valuable player in the Premier League!”
“No one!”
"If Ling Feng can be signed and then through commercial packaging, it becomes Manchester United's business card to the whole of England and even the world. By then, the club's influence will definitely be greatly improved!"
"Beyond Real Madrid is not a dream!"
Following a wave of wonderful and persuasive speeches, everyone present could clearly feel the importance of Ling Feng in increasing Manchester United's commercial income.
However, when everyone turned their attention to Woodward, the Manchester United talker just touched his chin and then said:
"The biggest taboo in investing is to All the eggs are put in the same basket."
After a pause, he looked at Judge sitting on the left and asked:
"What's going on with Raiola?"
Hearing this, Judge curled up the corner of his mouth and cursed directly:
"That fat Italian guy thinks we are begging him. Customers join, so the lion opens his mouth!”
(End of this chapter)