The Greatest Manager of All time

The Third Division season was nearing its end. Swansea would hold a symbolic trophy presentation after the final round, and once that was over, the club's competitive work would enter the holiday period. The players and coaches would all head off on vacation.

But the rest of the club's work would still continue in full swing. In fact, it would become even busier than usual.

Tony Benn was actively planning the club's youth system recruitment event, scheduled for late June.

Swansea had begun promoting it across all of Wales, including western England. At the end of June, the club would organize a football trial event called the "Little Swan Selection." Any young player under the age of sixteen could come to Swansea and sign up for the activity.

If Swansea selected them, the club would offer apprentice contract terms based on the player's talent and potential.

This was Lynn's idea. He needed to expand the club's youth system and increase their reserve of talent. During this event, he would select promising young players worth developing based on the talent data they displayed and their actual performance.

Mo Yuan was even busier. With Swansea promoted to the Second Division, coupled with the sensation the club had caused across Wales, plenty of sponsors were now willing to cooperate with them. As the club's CEO, he naturally had to personally handle the negotiations.

These negotiations often dragged into tug-of-war battles because of cooperation methods, sponsorship fees, contract lengths, and all sorts of other reasons. Mo Yuan could sometimes be idle, but once he got busy, it really became a blur of chaos from morning to night.

The fan organizations were also planning the grand party after the final match of the season.

Swansea fans who registered had to go through strict review by the fan groups.

After all, nobody wanted troublemakers mixing into a happy party.

Basically, the fans who paid the registration fee and would be allowed to stay at the Liberty Stadium were all people the fan organization members knew well enough. If nobody knew you, and you had no guarantor, then sorry, even if you had money, you still could not participate in Swansea's party.

On the afternoon of May 3rd, Mo Yuan held a meeting in his office with several club staff members to discuss the team's commercial expansion plan.

Although Swansea's league home tickets would still be free next season, that did not mean the VIP seats and private boxes could be used casually. There were only a limited number of them, and with Swansea attracting so much attention now, their prices would naturally rise.

Mo Yuan and his colleagues discussed the pricing of VIP seats and boxes, as well as the content of package services. For example, if someone rented a box for the whole season, what drinks and catering services would be provided? Would free stadium parking spaces be included? And so on.

After everything had been discussed and a conclusion was reached, the three staff members left. Mo Yuan glanced at his phone. There were two missed calls on it. He had known about them earlier, but unless it was something important, he did not like being interrupted while working. That would only lower his efficiency.

The call came from the marketing manager of BETFRED. In terms of stadium advertising sponsorship, Swansea had now become an attractive target for betting companies as well.

The reason was obvious. Swansea had been closely tied to the betting industry this season.

Although Swansea had not taken a penny from the betting companies, nor had they advertised for them, Swansea fans had benefited from betting. And that led to an easily imaginable phenomenon: after winning money, would the fans stop?

No!

At least the vast majority of fans would not.

Perhaps they would bet more rationally and put in less money, but they would not swear off it forever.

In that case, how many betting fans were there inside Swansea's stadium?

There was no way to measure it.

And how many ordinary people in the areas surrounding Swansea had become eager to try betting after seeing people around them earn huge sums from it?

Because of the "gift" Lynn had spoken of before the season, this market had become more active than ever.

Naturally, betting companies wanted to put their advertisements on the boards around the Liberty Stadium, promote their brands, and attract more new customers.

Because of that, there had recently been quite a few betting companies negotiating with Mo Yuan about stadium advertisements and shirt-front sponsorships.

He had not answered the BETFRED manager's call immediately. That was also a tactic. He wanted the other party to think he was busy, very busy, extremely busy!

Busy doing what?

Perhaps negotiating with other sponsors. Perhaps something else.

In any case, leaving the other party room to imagine things was enough. It would make it easier to raise the price during the next negotiation.

Only after drinking a glass of water did Mo Yuan call back.

"Hi, Rod. I was in a meeting just now. Sorry I didn't answer your call."

"It's fine. It wasn't anything important. Last time, I told you that if our two sides could cooperate, I'd introduce many clients to you. Now, although we haven't signed an agreement yet, I'm willing to show my sincerity. I'll send you an address in a moment. There's a client who hopes to meet you face-to-face."

"Okay, thank you very much. I'll treat you to dinner some other day."

Less than a minute after hanging up, Mo Yuan received a text message on his phone. The address written on it was a hotel in Port Talbot, along with a room number.

Mo Yuan revealed a faintly strange smile.

Port Talbot was southeast of Swansea, roughly a thirty-minute drive away.

A client wanted to meet him, yet had specifically arranged the meeting in Port Talbot instead of Swansea. Mo Yuan felt that today's matter might be quite interesting.

He had never thought about backing down or refusing to meet the other party. Whether it was a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, he would still go and take a look. More experience and more knowledge were all forms of wealth.

However, before leaving the club, he opened a drawer. Inside were various little tools. He took out a portable pinhole camera and a voice recorder, stuffed them into his pocket, then got up and walked out of the office.

When he walked out of the office building, he saw Lynn walking with several coaches, talking so seriously about a topic that neither Lynn nor the coaches noticed Mo Yuan even as they passed by.

"Nelson can try playing on the right."

"But he's completely unfamiliar with the right side. Ever since he started playing football, because his dominant foot is his left, he's always been on the left. He has played left-back, left midfielder, and central midfield, but he truly has no feeling for the right side at all."

"Positional sense can be developed. His footwork, dribbling, and speed are his strengths. Once he adapts to the right, then playing as a dribbling inside-cutting type on the pitch will surprise our opponents."

"Maybe. But first, the foundation is that he needs to adapt to the right side. How do we give him more opportunities to adapt? Training and matches are completely different concepts."

"Let him play reserve-team matches in the first half of next season."

"Will he be willing?"

"I'll find a chance to talk to him."

Mo Yuan stood where he was, watching Lynn and the coaches focus on their discussion. Then he turned his head and watched them enter the office building. He smiled silently and walked toward the parking lot.

He drove out of the club and headed southeast. The rural scenery outside the city was refreshing beneath the evening light. Mo Yuan deliberately slowed the car down, listened to his favorite BSB songs, and hummed along, occasionally admiring the beautiful fields or the sunset sinking toward the horizon in the distance.

At 6:40 in the evening, Mo Yuan arrived at Port Talbot. Twenty minutes later, he parked outside the target hotel, picked up his briefcase, entered the building, went up to the eighth floor, walked to Room 805, and pressed the doorbell.

A moment later, the door opened. Standing in front of him was a young Black man wearing an azure shirt. When he saw Mo Yuan, he showed a row of white teeth in a smile and said, "You're Mo Yuan, right? I know you. Please come in. Thank you very much for coming."

Mo Yuan entered the room and shook hands with him.

It was a simple business suite. After the young man invited Mo Yuan to sit down, he did not notice that in the gap of the briefcase pocket on the single sofa beside them, a pinhole camera was aimed at the two of them sitting on the long sofa. Inside Mo Yuan's pocket, a voice recorder had already begun recording.

Mo Yuan asked curiously, "It was Rod, the BETFRED manager, who introduced me and asked me to come here. He said there was a client who wanted to meet me, and that it was about cooperation with Swansea Football Club. I haven't misunderstood the purpose of this meeting, have I?"

The young Black man kept smiling. He said, "No, you haven't misunderstood. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Martin Nally. You can call me Martin. Rod and I have been good friends for many years. This time, I asked him to help arrange our meeting because I do indeed have a cooperation proposal I'd like to discuss with you.

"First, let's talk about Swansea. Swansea this season has truly been surprising. You've hardly lost any matches. You're practically the Manchester United of Wales."

Mo Yuan chuckled and said, "That's a bit exaggerated. After all, it's only Third Division football."

Martin Nally suddenly put away his smile and asked, "Mr. Mo, do you like money?"

Mo Yuan's eyes changed slightly. He said in confusion, "Of course I do. Who doesn't? If it weren't for money, why would we be sitting here? We're here to cooperate and make money. But I still don't know what the cooperation is about. You're simply Martin Nally. Who do you represent? What kind of cooperation does this involve? I still know nothing."

Martin Nally bent down and pulled a briefcase out from under the sofa, placing it on the coffee table. He pressed the code lock and opened it, then gestured for Mo Yuan to take a look.

At that moment, Martin Nally calmly took out a cigar, placed it in his mouth, lit it, and exhaled a mouthful of smoke while carefully observing Mo Yuan's expression.

Mo Yuan saw that the briefcase was filled with neatly stacked British pounds, all in £50 notes. That was the highest denomination of British banknote. Facing upward, Queen Elizabeth II's portrait was clearly visible on each note.

Mo Yuan made a rough calculation. There should be around £600,000 in the briefcase.

Converted into RMB at the current exchange rate, it would be close to ten million.

Mo Yuan looked up at Martin Nally and smiled. "My love for Elizabeth II will never change."

Martin Nally burst into laughter and even choked on his smoke. After coughing several times, he pushed the briefcase toward Mo Yuan and said, "Six hundred thousand pounds. This is our first cooperation. You'll get more in the future."

"But what do I have to do?"

Mo Yuan did not take the briefcase. Instead, he asked curiously.

Martin Nally moved slightly closer to Mo Yuan, then said, "You're the club's CEO. We've investigated you. You can influence Swansea's manager, Lynn, and your relationship with the players is very good. Although I've heard that Swansea's players are paid fairly well, how much can they earn from one match?

"Here. This is £600,000. Take £300,000 for yourself, and give the rest to the players. Of course, if you have the ability to give them nothing, or give them less, then the rest is all yours. What you need to do is very simple.

"This weekend, Swansea play Blackpool at home. When the ninety minutes end, Swansea must lose the match!"

Mo Yuan's expression froze.

Before coming here, he had perhaps guessed that there would be something dirty about this conversation. For example, maybe the other party wanted to bribe Mo Yuan so they could become Swansea's sponsor with a lower sponsorship fee, or maybe they had some damaging material and wanted to blackmail him into submission.

But he had never expected that he might run into a gambling syndicate trying to manipulate a match!

Football was a positive sport, but once it became linked with financial interests, the darkness born from it was something ordinary fans could not even imagine.

Moreover, Swansea were only a Third Division club. The FA could not provide stronger supervision for matches at levels like the Second and Third Divisions. Being infiltrated by a gambling syndicate and having matches manipulated was only natural.

Of course, not every match would be fixed. But this was not a black-and-white issue. Some clubs had a clear conscience, while others could never wash themselves clean.

Martin Nally smoked his cigar, his eyes fixed on Mo Yuan's expression the whole time.

Mo Yuan looked troubled. He glanced at the money in the briefcase and said, "This doesn't seem right. The risk is too great. If this gets exposed, I'll go to prison."

Martin Nally placed his left arm around Mo Yuan's shoulder and coaxed him patiently. "You can relax. As long as you're careful, everything will be fine. Look, who knows you came here? Nobody knows I'm here either. We didn't meet in Swansea. I'm giving you cash as well. As long as you're not stupid enough to deposit the money directly into a bank, there won't be any evidence."

Mo Yuan fell into hesitation, as if the lure of £600,000 had left him struggling to decide.

Martin Nally continued tempting him. "I'm not asking you to harm Swansea's interests. Swansea have already won the title. Even if they lose, it's perfectly reasonable. It won't affect Swansea playing in the Second Division next season. And this won't be our only cooperation. We can earn even more money in the future. This time, it's £600,000. Next time, it might be £800,000, or £1 million. Think about it carefully. In one or two years, you can become a multimillionaire."

After thinking for a while, Mo Yuan suddenly became firm. He raised his head and stared at Martin Nally from close range, saying in a deep voice, "If I can make Swansea lose, how much can you earn? More than £6 million, right?"

Martin Nally immediately shook his head. "Brother, you're exaggerating. Six million? At most, we can earn £2 million! We need to spread the funds across many betting companies. If a huge bet enters one account, it will raise suspicion. European companies, Southeast Asian companies—this is only a Third Division match, not a Premier League match. If too much money goes in, we'll be inviting trouble. Remember, we have to be cautious and rational.

"Even if we can earn £2 million, £600,000 is already being given to you. The rest also needs to be used to manage and smooth things over in various places. Don't you think so?"

Mo Yuan thought carefully, then nodded. It looked as though he believed Martin Nally's words.

"Fine. I'll take the money. Wait for my news."

When Mo Yuan carried his briefcase and the money-filled case to the door, Martin Nally's voice sounded behind him again.

"Mo Yuan, I believe you're a smart partner. Please don't disappoint me. Otherwise, the friendship we've just built will shatter. And shattered things often become weapons that hurt people."

Mo Yuan stopped and turned to look at Martin Nally. In a low voice, he asked, "Are you threatening me?"

Martin Nally laughed loudly. "No, no. Of course not. You're thinking too much. Have a safe trip."

Mo Yuan opened the door and left the hotel. Martin Nally put out his cigar, then took out his phone and called his boss.

"Boss, everything went smoothly. Right now, Blackpool's odds to win are around 4.5. I suggest we wait a little longer. Before the weekend, once Swansea's odds drop due to heavy betting, Blackpool's odds can still rise. We only need £1 million to make around £4 million. After deducting expenses, we'll make roughly £3 million."

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