With the rapid advancement of computer technology, more and more industries were beginning to move toward informatization and data-driven development. Even football training grounds, which had traditionally had little to do with high technology, were paying increasing attention to progress in this area.
AC Milan's Lab was not the first team to introduce high technology to the training ground, nor was it the only one. Ethan had heard that the Brazil national team had introduced this kind of support model even earlier than AC Milan, reportedly with backing from Brazil's main sponsor, Nike.
Later, Barcelona also used high-tech methods to help young players develop scientifically, which was one of the reasons for the collective rise of young stars from Barcelona's La Masia academy in the 21st century.
As someone who had transmigrated back from 2010 and was very familiar with football, Ethan knew exactly how amazing the potential of this project was.
"How much research funding does this project need?" Ethan asked after thinking for a moment.
"The first investment requires at least 5 million pounds, and there will be further investments after that. In addition, a team is needed to cooperate with the research," Derek said helplessly.
It was precisely because the research funding was high and the results were still uncertain that Fryer had approached many clubs in the UK, including Manchester United, but none of them were willing to invest in this project. That was why he had gone to Germany this time.
"5 million pounds!" Ethan repeated, only to emphasize the figure, not because he was as surprised as Derek had expected.
"That could buy a national team player!" Derek laughed at himself.
This had also been the original response from some clubs to Fryer. After all, at this time, almost no club would be willing to invest money in such scientific research.
"Perhaps, for a team without national team players, this research is quite good. For example, our New Manchester United!" Ethan said with a smile.
"You?" Derek, who had thought Ethan would be surprised, was instead surprised himself.
"Is there a problem?"
Derek suddenly laughed. "Don't kid me, kid. 5 million pounds is not a small amount."
"I also know it's not a small amount, so I never joke about this kind of thing!" Ethan became very serious.
"Frankly speaking, I personally am very optimistic about high technology entering the training ground. This represents keeping pace with the times. Although New Manchester United is only a small club now, in a few years, we will definitely grow. By then, we will enter Division Two, be promoted to Division One, and even enter the Premier League and play in European competitions. I have great confidence in this!"
When saying this, Ethan radiated an unquestionable confidence, especially in the way he spoke.
After yesterday's failure, Ethan began to crave victory even more, not just victory on the pitch, but also victory off the pitch, in every aspect, because he did not want to suffer another defeat like yesterday's.
"If it is really as you described, such a research institution could even be said to be more useful to a football club than a superstar. Do you know how much it cost for Vieri to transfer from Atlético Madrid to Lazio?"
Without waiting for Derek to answer, Ethan gave the answer himself.
"It was 28 million dollars! And do you know how much the transfer fee was for the Argentine White Wizard, Verón, to move to Parma? Nearly 20 million dollars. Compared to such huge transfer fees, I don't think 5 million pounds is expensive. I can even pay 10 million pounds, provided that this research must belong to me!"
Just kidding, if he could not completely secure the research, why would Ethan work so hard just to benefit someone else?
As someone who had transmigrated from the future, Ethan knew very well that monopoly technology could generate huge profits. That was why Bill Gates had been able to become the richest man in the world.
In other words, even if the research results were not of much use to New Manchester United in the future, Ethan could easily take them out and sell them. He believed any superpower club would fight for such a complete sports medicine research system, one even more advanced than the Lab. At that time, Ethan could just sit back and count the money.
Of course, Ethan would not allow New Manchester United to fail.
As for whether the research would succeed as desired, Ethan thought it was not important, because every business had risks. It was the same principle as the two consecutive capital injections he had given to Google. Even if he could be sure that Google would succeed based on his knowledge of the next ten years, who could guarantee that history would not change?
Since that was the case, why not invest in this research?
"You must be kidding, Ethan. 10 million pounds?" Derek smiled bitterly.
"Perhaps I should tell you that I established an investment company in the United States and have made a lot of money recently. I am also an Apple shareholder. I currently hold 200 million worth of their non-voting shares. Oh, those are shares without voting rights on the board of directors. They only provide dividends."
Ethan clearly saw that Derek did not understand much about the stock market, so he explained it himself.
As for the Apple stock, it was a cooperation that Ethan had negotiated with Apple through John Davey's connection. After all, Apple did indeed need a sum of money to operate, and they had several plans to launch during this period.
"In addition to Apple stock, I also established an investment company in Silicon Valley in the United States. This company now owns shares in several famous Silicon Valley companies, such as Google and eBay, which are very famous on the Internet this year. You should know the current value of these companies."
Derek was shocked. "But... but didn't previous reports say that you went broke founding New Manchester United?"
Could Ethan be a hypocrite? Had he deceived everyone?
The look in Derek's eyes toward Ethan suddenly changed.
"Come on, brother, everyone knows how down-and-out I was at the time. Do you think that looked fake?" Ethan did not like Derek's look. That was an extreme suspicion of his character.
"Then where did you get so much money?" Derek was still suspicious.
Ethan smiled. "Have you heard of venture capital in the United States?"
Derek nodded.
"I was very down-and-out at the time, but by chance, I was preparing to set up a company with my two American college student friends, but we lacked funds. I only had 500,000 pounds on hand at the time, so I thought, how could that be enough? Have you heard of World Cup betting, Derek?"
"Of course!" Derek answered immediately. Looking at his expression, he might often play himself.
"I took a gamble and made a lot of money. I bet on France, England, and Italy to win because the odds for Brazil and Argentina were too low at the time. In the end, I won, so I started Google with my friends. Later, someone was optimistic about Google's prospects and invested a large sum of money for half a year. After that, someone wanted to buy part of my shares and offered an astronomical price. You know, this is very common in the United States, especially in Silicon Valley, so I sold them."
Derek felt as if he were listening to a legendary story, thinking that the young man in front of him was simply too miraculous.
"My next experience was just like the founder of Yahoo. I became rich overnight. The only difference is that they are super rich, and I am still only a little rich because my company has not gone public yet. But this is enough for me to have money to make other investments, such as Apple and other technology companies. And I'm lucky. John Davey is a great investment advisor, so I've been making money. Even at this moment while I'm talking to you, I may have made tens of thousands of pounds."
Ethan stated the wealth-making experience he had designed long ago in one breath.
In fact, these were verifiable. Ethan had already arranged everything. Any paparazzi who went to the United States and dug three feet deep would get the same answer as what Ethan had just said.
"Wait, after saying so much, you want me to believe that you can indeed come up with enough money to invest in our project?" Derek felt that Ethan's experience was too legendary and was confused.
In the end, he simply chose to believe Ethan. Anyway, he seemed like someone worth believing!
"Yes. If you are willing, I can even transfer the money from the United States tomorrow," Ethan said confidently.
"There's no need to be that urgent. I think I should talk to Professor Fryer first." Derek felt a headache coming on. He had some insight into research, but he had a headache when it came to social interaction. This was his weakness.
In fact, almost everyone engaged in scientific research had weaknesses in this area, except for those who specifically used scientific research to defraud funds for personal gain.
At this time, the sound of Messi and the others returning came from the corridor, and the two tacitly stopped discussing the topic.
"Leo, how were the check-up results?" Ethan asked Messi with concern.
"I only grew 5 centimeters." Messi was a little disappointed.
"Ah, Leo, don't worry. It's not bad to have results like that at the beginning. And you have to know that in this recent period, you are paying off the debt from the growth hormone injections you had before, so the effect of the later treatment will definitely be better," Derek comforted him.
Bones stimulated by growth hormone injections were relatively fragile. For normal people, there was not much difference, but for players, it was fatal, especially for fast, technical players like Messi.
After Fryer and Derek conducted tests on Messi for a period of time, they decided to abandon this injection method and use traditional methods instead, relying on scientifically arranged training and reasonably rich nutritious meals to help Messi grow and become stronger.
In this regard, Ethan had to approve of it, because at least over the past six months, Messi's body had truly become stronger and stronger. While his speed and agility had not decreased at all, his body had grown increasingly stronger.
Perhaps this was also because he was always battling with people stronger than him on the training ground.
"Derek is right, Leo. Don't say you haven't reached your growth period yet. Even if you don't grow tall by then, so what? Look at how tall Maradona is. But he is still the King of Football, and you are the same!"
As soon as Messi heard Ethan compare him to Maradona, his eyes immediately lit up. That was his idol!
(To be continued.)