After Ethan left the clinic with Messi and the others, Derek immediately called Fryer, who was far away in Germany.
The latter had clearly been running into walls everywhere in Germany. His voice on the phone was a little hoarse, and he did not seem to be in high spirits. However, when he heard Derek say that someone in Manchester wanted to support his research, he suddenly regained all his energy.
"Who did you say? Ethan? You're kidding me, Derek?" Fryer was furious on the phone.
Unexpectedly, Derek insisted, "Perhaps you should come back and see for yourself, Professor!"
"I don't think that's necessary, because I can't see how the owner of an English tenth-tier club could come up with 10 million pounds. If he had that kind of financial power, he could just directly acquire a higher-level professional team. Why bother sticking with New Manchester United?"
Although Fryer was a Manchester United fan and now considered himself half a New Manchester United fan, when it came to his research, he would not make exceptions for anyone, not even his own parents.
"I didn't believe it at first either, but now I do. Besides, Professor, perhaps you should hear about his rise to success!" After saying this, Derek recounted to Professor Fryer the history of Ethan's rise that Ethan had previously introduced to him.
The latter knew nothing about Internet investment in the United States and was confused while listening. Later, he confirmed the matter through friends in the United States, and the answer he received was, it was true!
Good heavens, New Manchester United actually had a wealthy owner, and he was even interested in his research!
With that, Fryer immediately abandoned his unfinished plans in Germany, rushed back to Manchester at the first opportunity, and then drove to the New Manchester United training ground in Newton Heath.
"Hello, Professor Fryer!" Ethan was in a good mood.
After New Manchester United's defeat at Highbury, they returned to Manchester and immediately secured a 6-0 landslide victory over their visiting opponents. Later, in a midweek make-up match, they thrashed their opponents 4-0 away from home. Having won two consecutive matches by large margins, not only was Ethan in a good mood, but the entire club was as well.
"Ethan, are you really interested in investing in my project?" Fryer got straight to the point as soon as he sat down.
It was clear that he was anxious.
It was no wonder. This project had been in the works for so long without finding an investor. Now that someone was finally willing to put up the money, it was undoubtedly timely help for him.
"That's right, but I think we need to discuss the details of the cooperation," Ethan said with a smile.
Even brothers should settle accounts clearly. This was Ethan's style.
Surprisingly, Professor Fryer waved his hand and said, "No need to discuss. As long as you are willing to pay and ensure that you can provide me with a stable research environment, then I will agree to whatever conditions you have."
Ethan was taken aback, and Derek, who was at the side, could not help but smile bitterly.
"The Professor means that he only wants to enjoy the research process. As for the results, he doesn't care at all!"
Ethan burst into laughter upon hearing this. That made things even easier. Being able to work with such a research fanatic was just... amazing!
Professor Fryer immediately began to list the hardware facilities, such as the instruments and equipment needed for his research. Only then did Ethan realize that the 5 million pound investment Derek had mentioned earlier was mostly for purchasing equipment.
Relatively speaking, the other aspects Ethan had originally thought would be major expenses, such as the salaries of the research staff, accounted for a very small proportion.
It was only later that Ethan understood Professor Fryer actually had great authority at the University of Manchester. As long as he gave the order, experts in various required fields would be willing to come and help, some even on a voluntary basis.
"Some of the equipment and instruments you need can be bought domestically. Andy, go and look into it personally tomorrow," Ethan said decisively.
He wanted to finalize this matter as soon as possible.
"As for the others that cannot be bought domestically, I will order them from abroad. Regarding the software system you mentioned earlier, I don't think it's a big problem. I have many friends in this field in the United States, and if that doesn't work, we can find a large company to tailor it for us, such as Microsoft."
In fact, Google's talent in this area might not necessarily be inferior to Microsoft's.
Fryer was deeply moved after hearing this. He had originally thought the most difficult problem to solve would be the software system, but he had not expected Ethan to have already thought of a solution.
"The only relatively troublesome thing is the location of the Lab. I think it would be best if it could be located near Newton Heath. You know, it's more convenient to observe the players nearby," Ethan suggested tentatively.
He had expected Fryer and Derek to have objections, but to his surprise, both of them stared at Ethan in astonishment.
"Did you think we intended to conduct this research at the Royal Hospital or the University of Manchester?"
"Isn't that the case?"
Professor Fryer laughed heartily. "Of course not! I was actually going to talk to you about it. It would be best to put the Lab inside the training ground. I see you have enough space here. Just carve out a small area for us to use and build a few rooms, and that will do."
Ethan was overjoyed to hear this. He had been thinking about keeping the Lab closer so it would be easier for him to control. If it could be set up directly in the training ground, that would be absolutely perfect.
"Since that's the case, in my opinion, we might as well just buy this land, Andy," Ethan said with a smile.
He had long wanted to buy the training ground. It was located in the suburbs, the land price was cheap, and if they bought it in the name of New Manchester United, he believed they could get a discount.
Walsh had long heard Ethan mention his legendary rise to success, so he was not too surprised by Ethan's words. He just thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Buying it is fine, but building a complete training base will, I think, take some time. At the very least, we can only train here for now. There's nowhere else to go."
"Then we'll improve it slowly. Once the land is bought, we'll first outline the overall framework of the training ground and carve out an area for the Lab, prioritizing the Lab's requirements," Ethan decided immediately.
In reality, he did not have much liquid capital on hand. Most of it was tied up. Moreover, he had to consider the purchase of the local stadium, and now he had to build a new training base. These were all quite expensive.
After finalizing the details of the cooperation, Fryer and Derek left the training ground.
At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the training ground was empty and silent.
The morning air was particularly fresh, especially in the well-landscaped Newton Heath training ground, where it carried a sweet scent.
"Andy, I'm thinking that in the future, we should build a garden-style training base and provide the best possible training and rest environment for the players. Not just for the first team, but also for the youth teams. We must give them the best!" Ethan stood outside the first team's training pitch and spoke with great ambition.
Finalizing the cooperation with Professor Fryer gave Ethan a great sense of satisfaction and made him feel confident about completing his goals and challenges. So, even though he had not slept all night, his spirits were still very high.
"But how much would that cost?" Walsh replied with a smile.
"I really don't care about the money anymore. I'm just thinking about football!" Ethan said with a grin.
As long as he held onto the stocks of Apple and a few other companies, Ethan would never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life. So, what was the remaining money for?
Besides football, Ethan really could not think of any other interests he had.
Maybe buying a small island in the Caribbean would be nice, but that would have to wait until Ethan was older and wanted to retire.
"Frankly speaking, Ethan, I can understand that you are determined to work in football, so you want to buy the local stadium and build a training base. But is it worth investing 10 million pounds to set up a laboratory?" Walsh could not help but ask.
Ethan patted his good partner on the shoulder. "What do you think is the greatest enemy of an athlete?"
"It's injury, my friend!" Ethan answered first again.
"And what is the most important goal for a team? It's the championship!"
After a pause, Ethan said with a serious expression, "Setting up a laboratory might cost a lot of money, and it will also require years of research and accumulation, but in the long run, it is worth it because it can provide great assistance to the team in two ways, by avoiding injuries as much as possible and by helping the team maximize its chances of winning the championship!"
"If I had to choose between Ronaldo and the Lab, I would choose the latter without hesitation!"
Walsh looked at Ethan in shock. He did not know what to say. Anyway, he felt that Ethan was crazy, but he just could not find the flaw in his madness and could not stop him.
Just like when Ethan helped Messi with his treatment, Walsh had also thought it should not be done, but Ethan did it anyway. And now, watching Messi gradually grow up and seeing his excellent performances in the youth team, Walsh had to wonder, perhaps Ethan was right.
"Andy, do you know what the biggest difference between the two of us is?" Ethan suddenly asked.
Walsh shook his head blankly.
"It's that we look at problems from different perspectives!" Ethan said with a chuckle.
"You are a very good assistant, Andy. You are diligent and responsible, and what's most rare is that you have a deep affection for the club. You watched it grow step by step from nothing to success, so I can hardly imagine anyone in the world more suitable to be my partner than you. But Andy, you also have your flaws."
"Your strength is that you are meticulous and kind-hearted, but you also have many shortcomings. The biggest one is that your perspective on problems is very conservative. You always think that we are a semi-professional club and shouldn't do this or that. But Andy, I want to tell you that my perspective on problems is not like that."
Walsh listened, becoming more and more surprised and interested.
"I always see New Manchester United as a future giant. We will succeed, we will enter the Premier League, and we will win the championship. So I always look at problems from the perspective of a future giant. For example, this training base and the Lab, these investments will bring us incredible returns!"
"Therefore, every time, I can confidently answer you, it's worth it!"
The sun slowly rose from the east. The golden sunlight shone on Ethan, as if plating him with a layer of gold, illuminating his straight posture and casting a very long shadow.
(To be continued.)