Everyone says professional football is a money-burning game.
Whenever people talk about club spending, the conversation immediately focuses on the astronomical transfer fees for star players.
That's certainly true.
But in reality, not all clubs spend money that way.
For the vast majority of professional clubs, their biggest expenditure is not on signing players.
If you carefully examine the financial reports of top clubs, you'll find that salaries make up the largest share of expenditure, often exceeding 80 percent.
At Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez has worked hard to control the wage structure and keep it within healthy limits. This is what allows the club to invest heavily in the transfer market year after year.
And salary structures don't just apply to players. They also cover coaching staff and club employees.
The coaching staff, for instance, includes those brought in by the first-team manager, but also consists of other team coaches, youth coaches, doctors, analysts, scouts, and specialists in various roles.
Even then, that's just the visible part of the organization. The club employs far more people behind the scenes.
For example, chefs, cleaners, security staff, and others. Even the youth academy must provide qualified teachers and tutors to help young players with their studies. These are the largest group working at any training base.
At Elland Road, there are also numerous staff involved in stadium maintenance, as well as administrative personnel and matchday service workers, many of whom are part-time.
Together, they form a very large team and create a significant number of jobs.
If a club plays in the top flight and maintains decent attendance, it can attract tens of thousands of fans every matchday. This flow of people and their spending power brings enormous commercial value, and the number of supporting businesses and jobs created around the stadium is equally impressive.
According to UK statistics, the Premier League creates 20,000 full-time jobs across the country each year.
And that only counts full-time positions. If part-time roles were included, the figure would be even higher.
Behind all of this is a club constantly burning money.
Because in Europe, human resources are the most expensive cost.
It's no exaggeration to say that as soon as you open your eyes in the morning, you see piles of cash being burned.
…
"I've made a preliminary estimate. We'll need at least two million pounds to invest in the hardware. Once renovated, the operating cost of the training base will at least double," Lucas said, looking at Gao Shen with some hesitation.
Unlike direct investments like transfer fees, salary expenditures are the most important costs a club must control.
This is why many teams opt not to sign certain players—doing so would disrupt their wage structure.
Doubling the training base's operating costs would significantly increase the pressure on the club's wage budget.
Gao Shen frowned slightly but nodded. "We must invest this money. I'd rather cut back in other areas than skimp on this. The training base and youth development are our core competitive strengths."
As a head coach, no one understood the importance of this better than Gao Shen.
In the past, when Italian owner Massimo Cellino took over Leeds United, he fired the laundry staff and made players wash their own kits, dismissed the chefs and had players bring their own meals, and let go of most of the staff at the training base.
These moves may have seemed like cost-cutting, but they were not sustainable.
In fact, Leeds United performed even worse during those years.
The players are the club's core assets. High-level training is the only way to ensure top performance on the pitch. Cutting logistics and backroom support is shortsighted and damaging.
After seeing Gao Shen's determination, Su Qing thought for a moment and said, "Richard Cramer told me that Elland Road and Thorp Arch were sold for just £4.2 million. Even adding in the land from the old Fullerton Park training ground, I still think we can try to bargain down the price further."
The greatest value of the Fullerton Park site was its location in the city center.
Twenty million pounds may be the market valuation, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the transaction price.
Just like Elland Road and Thorp Arch were sold for only £4.2 million.
"I recently asked someone to do some research. It turns out Leeds United's kit sales are quite strong, better than some Premier League teams," Lucas added.
"Really?" Gao Shen asked with interest.
"According to the data, when Leeds United were promoted to the Championship last season, they sold over 100,000 shirts. Even in the Premier League, that would rank in the top ten. It shows the strong purchasing power of the fanbase."
That wasn't surprising. Leeds is one of the UK's most economically active cities.
"The current Championship broadcasting fee is very low, about £50,000 per match. Over a season, it adds up to just over a million. Including ranking bonuses and other revenues, it's acceptable."
"We'll try to secure a shirt sponsor and front-of-shirt advertising. I'm confident our revenue will improve significantly."
The biggest problem at Leeds United right now is that Ken Bates, the majority shareholder, has essentially given up. As a result, the club has fallen behind commercially. The current shirt sponsor is a betting company shared by multiple Championship clubs, so the revenue is minimal.
Of course, Championship income is still limited.
For example, the per-match broadcasting fee in the Premier League is at least ten times higher. Add in prize money and other revenue streams, and TV income alone can multiply a club's total income several times over.
That's why any club with ambition wants to reach the Premier League.
Gao Shen nodded repeatedly as he listened. Fernando Lucas had not let him down. He then turned to Rodolfo Borrell, who had been quiet.
Sensing Gao Shen's gaze, Borrell gave a wry smile.
"I know things are tough right now, and the financial pressure is enormous. But whenever I speak up, it's usually about spending money, so…"
Everyone laughed.
Youth development is costly.
"Go ahead. I'm mentally prepared. I can handle it," Gao Shen encouraged.
Borrell thought for a moment and said, "I've looked into it. Right now, the youth team only has eleven players. Sometimes, we can't even field a full starting lineup for U23 matches. So I suggest we start by rebuilding the U23 and U18 teams. Once that's stable, we can expand when the club reaches the Premier League and has more financial resources."
Just operating two age groups requires significant investment.
Borrell's plan was well thought out—pragmatic and cautious.
Gao Shen considered it and felt that this was indeed the only viable path.
Don't think Leeds United's situation is particularly bad.
In fact, after a deeper investigation, many second-division clubs in Europe's top leagues are worse off. Most are just scraping by.
"Everyone, I believe we're all clear on the situation. We're taking over a club that's almost starting from zero. This will be a brand-new challenge for us."
Su Qing, Lucas, and Borrell all nodded in agreement.
"I want to make one thing clear. I'm eager to get the team promoted to the Premier League, but I also hope everyone understands that laying a solid foundation is crucial. There's no contradiction between promotion and long-term development. Getting promoted will greatly increase our income. Building a foundation will steadily improve our competitiveness."
"If we want to stay in the Premier League, we must have a solid foundation. That foundation is our baseline. The training base, youth academy, scouting network, and support staff—these are all part of it."
This would be a very different path from Manchester City.
Manchester City's approach was to get results quickly, open up the situation fast, and build the foundation later—requiring huge investment.
But Leeds United couldn't do that. They had to move forward step by step.
Of course, Gao Shen himself was Leeds United's shortcut on this journey.
He would fully leverage his experience as a transmigrator and his connections in European football to provide the club with the best possible support. The goal was to gain promotion to the Premier League quickly and secure a stable foothold.
But all of this would only be possible with a strong foundation.
…
After discussing the current state of Leeds United, the conversation turned to the next key task—due diligence.
The purpose of due diligence was to gain a full understanding of the club's operations and potential.
This meant reviewing every employment contract—not only for players, but for all employees.
Every tax bill, lease agreement, intellectual property right, transfer contract, sponsorship deal, trade agreement, and more needed to be thoroughly examined.
They also needed to fully understand the club's debts and liabilities.
All in all, it was a massive and complex process.
Su Qing had emphasized this from the beginning. Having worked in a ministry, she knew well that risks rarely present themselves openly, they hide in the details.
Due diligence not only protected Gao Shen, but also served as a pressure tactic on Ken Bates and other shareholders.
"Richard Cramer said it'll take at least two months. Only one of the top-tier law firms in can finish that quickly. If we used another firm, even his own, it would take more than six months," Su Qing reported.
Gao Shen calculated the time. It was now mid-March. Two months meant May.
"That works. We need to push forward," Gao Shen said.
He wanted to take over in June and begin summer transfer business.
Otherwise, it might be too late and another year would go to waste.
"In the coming months, I'll be busy with Manchester City's matches and affairs. I'll leave the Leeds United negotiations to you. If it gets too much, we can have Fernando resign early to assist."
"No problem for me," Lucas readily agreed.
Transitioning from a scout and analyst to club CEO was a major new challenge for him.
Su Qing also understood the responsibilities she now carried.
(To be continued.)