Football giants

Chapter 830 The Last Fig Leaf
In Germany, for a long time, in addition to the estrangement between the east and the west caused by the Second World War, there were also many contradictions between the south and the north.

Especially with the decline of some heavy industrial cities in the north and the influx of immigrants over the years, the contradictions between the North and the South have intensified. Although they will not cause conflicts, there are still many psychological prejudices.

In recent years, although there are big cities like Hamburg and Berlin in the north, in terms of livable environment, they still lag behind cities such as Munich in the south. The latter is more suitable for living in terms of climate and environment, and it is the favorite place for German rich people to gather.

But for some rich people in the north who are alienated from the south, it is undoubtedly against their wishes to let them live in Munich in the south. Therefore, they prefer to choose Switzerland further south.

Especially around Zurich.

The home of Klaus Michael Kuhn, a well-known super rich in Hamburg, ranked No. 30 in the European Forbes list, ranked No. 90 in the global Forbes list, and a shipping tycoon with a net worth of more than 100 billion US dollars, is located in the southeast of Zurich, in Skiedlage, Schwyz.

The 77-year-old Kuhn has lived in Switzerland for many years. Because he is engaged in the shipping industry, his mansion is designed like the command cabin of an ocean-going ship. The interior is extremely luxurious and has been reported by the media all the time, but there are very few people who really have the chance to see it.

Although, the rich German is already in a semi-retired state, but he still devotes himself to the affairs of Hamburg.

The most famous is that in 160, in order to keep Hapag-Lloyd, the world's leading container ship operator with a history of more than [-] years, in Germany, Kuhn and the Hamburg city government issued an appeal and formed a consortium with many investors to complete the acquisition of Hapag-Lloyd.

This acquisition has further improved Kuhn's reputation and status in Hamburg.

Not only that, Kuhn is also a well-known fan of the Hamburg team.

Almost every time there is a crisis in the Hamburg club, Kuhn can be seen.

The Kuhn family and the Otto family, which ranks No.11 on the European rich list and is worth more than 180 billion US dollars, are also known as the two major financial backers behind Hamburg.

Therefore, every time there is any trouble in Hamburg, they will be contacted as soon as possible.

This time is no exception.

Near noon, the sun was shining brightly, and Kuhn Manor welcomed guests from Hamburg.

The butler recognized at a glance that the leader was Alexander Otto of the Otto family.

He is the younger brother of Michael Otto, who is at the helm of the Otto Group, and is mainly in charge of the largest shopping mall chain development group in Europe.

Don't underestimate this ECE group. Although it is not as good as its older brother's Alto Group, its annual turnover is as high as 200 billion euros. It owns nearly [-] large shopping centers in Europe, and it can be called the hegemony of the European retail industry.

Unlike his elder brother Michael Otto who is keen on business, his younger brother Alexander Otto is more enthusiastic about football and has been an avid Hamburg fan since he was a child. Therefore, he and Kuhn are the most famous and influential representatives of Hamburg fans.

Accompanying them were Bern Horst and Sergey Babarets, who are the leading local rich people in Hamburg.

Basically, only the Burger Club can make so many rich people appear in the same place at the same time.

Klaus Michael Kuhn obviously knew their purpose long ago, so he had a secret talk with them in the study.

The topic of discussion is undoubtedly the current situation in Hamburg.

"For the past few days, Kerkhoff has been calling me and saying he wants to meet me."

In the study, Klaus Michael Kuhn formed a circle with the visiting crowd.

The 77-year-old silver-haired man spoke slowly and calmly, as if he didn't care about anything.

But everyone listened to him very seriously and followed his opinion willingly.

"However, I didn't see him, and then I didn't answer the phone at all."

When everyone heard this, they were a little surprised.

Unexpectedly, Kuhn actually made a real move this time.

"In the past few years, we have paid enough for this club, but in their eyes, all this seems to have become a matter of course."

Kuhn's words were recognized by everyone present.

To some extent, the management of Hamburg is in this way.

In any case, no matter how much they toss, it doesn't matter in the end, anyway, fans will come out to support them.

At worst, change the leadership!

But in the past so many years, the leadership has changed wave after wave, what is the result?
"I still remember that in the 80s of last century, Bayern South, Hamburg North, and the North and South duo represented the highest level of German football. The double-strong matchup was known as the North-South Derby. What kind of scenery was Hamburg at that time?"

The group of wealthy fans present, even the youngest Alexander Otto, was a witness to Hamburg’s most glorious period. At that time, Otto happened to be a passionate young man, eager to play for Hamburg and gallop on the green field with his idols.

That's why he has been representing Hamburg fans for the past few years.

"Bayern Munich at that time was not as good as us at all. They even fell into a financial crisis and almost died. But in the end? They not only survived, but also completed their rise in the 90s. Taking advantage of the upsurge of TV broadcasting, they established their Bundesliga supremacy in one fell swoop."

"However, for us, Hamburg has been in a deteriorating situation in the past 30 to [-] years. It has long lost the demeanor of the Bundesliga giants, and even the dignity of the team has been lost again and again!"

"We won't lose to Bayern Munich when it comes to money, and our foundation is not bad when it comes to players, but why is Bayern Munich able to get out of the predicament and establish itself as a superpower in the Bundesliga, but our Hamburg is getting worse and worse, the first team is nothing more than that, the youth academy is also in name only, and even the team's financial income has problems..."

At the end of Kuhn's speech, everyone present also looked indignant.

Now everyone says that Bayern Munich is the top player in the Bundesliga, and other teams are simply hard to come by.

But how many people know how long has it been since the rise of Bayern Munich?
It has only been since the 90s that he truly established his Bundesliga supremacy.

Hamburg, which also has superior objective conditions, is mired in a quagmire.

In the final analysis, it is the incompetence of management!

In the past, they weren't ignorant of those bastard things of the management. It's just that they can pay some money, but if they want to get involved in the daily operation of the team, firstly, they are not good at it, and secondly, they don't have the time and energy.

So, they have always turned a blind eye and closed their eyes. As long as it is not too much, they will pretend not to know.

But in the past two years, the situation has obviously gotten worse.

They even came close to being relegated last season.

You know, Hamburg is the only team in the Bundesliga that has not been relegated.

For Hamburg fans, this is the last fig leaf for this traditional giants!

But those bastards couldn't even keep the last fig leaf.

Now that something like this has happened again, how can people bear it?

"Recently, how is the situation of the team?" Kuhn asked again.

"It's okay. I just won the last warm-up match. The fans are still looking forward to Tuchel's team."

After hearing this, Kuhn couldn't stop nodding, and sighed, "Yes, isn't the greatest wish of fans to see their team getting stronger and better?"

But soon, Kuhn turned to look at Alexander Otto.

"Alexander, do you think the Bild incident has anything to do with Thomas Lake and Beiersdorf?"

Alexander Otto shook his head, "I've done an investigation, and it was my maid who leaked the information to Bild. She was bribed by a reporter from Bild before to leak my family's privacy to him. But this time, she overheard my conversation with Thomas Lake and others, so..."

"In addition, there is another one, said to be from the financial department of the club. He has been in office for more than six years, but he has been fired by Thomas Lake. It seems that it should have nothing to do with them."

Kuhn smiled faintly, noncommittal.

"It doesn't matter whether it's relevant or not. The important thing is whether they have the ability to lead this Hamburg team well. Is it possible that before I die, let me see Hamburg regain the glory of the former German football North King!"

When Kuhn said this, everyone noticed that he was 77 years old.

Although he is still in good health, he is old after all.

Over the years, he even seldom went to Hamburg games, saying that he was afraid of being stimulated.

"Beersdorf's ability goes without saying. When he was kicked out of the Hamburg management, we also kept him. Tuchel's coaching level is also top-notch in Germany. Even compared with Klopp, Loew and others, it is not much better. As for Thomas Lake..."

Speaking of this, Alexander Otto paused, "I have found someone to get to know him. He is very capable. He was originally an elite cultivated by Deutsche Bank, but he chose to leave. It can be seen that he wants to rely on his personal ability to make a career."

"Although the various measures he has taken since he came to Hamburg are a bit suspected of suppressing Kerkhove, they are also based on the long-term."

After Thomas Lake took office, the first thing he did was to remove redundant staff, clean up the club's financial system, and reduce various expenses at the same time. Then he invited Bernhard Peters to reorganize the youth academy.

To put it bluntly, Hamburg's youth training is in Germany, which is at the bottom of the list.

What is not known is that as early as a few years ago, their group of rich fans raised funds to reorganize the youth training for Hamburg.

In the end, the money was given, but the youth training has never been seen.

For this matter, Kuhn and others did not know how many times they asked, but the result was nothing.

"Alexander, I heard that your company has cooperation with Yang Huan?" Kuhn suddenly asked again.

As soon as Yang Huan was mentioned, everyone present immediately looked over.

Alexander Otto nodded, "We have a close cooperation with the e-gift card company under the WeChat company, and we are also very interested in building two shopping centers at the new stadium of Inter Milan and the new stadium of Atlético de Madrid."

"Then what do you think of him?" Kuhn asked with concern.

Alexander Otto shook his head, "I have seen him several times in public, but I have no idea what kind of person he is. However, judging from his running of Southampton and Atletico Madrid, if he intends to develop in the Bundesliga, Hamburg's performance will definitely not be bad."

When Kuhn heard this, a light flashed in his eyes, and he nodded, obviously knowing it well.

"Can you arrange a time so we can meet him?" Kuhn asked.

"This should be no problem!" Alexander Otto nodded, "I'll call Thomas Lake, and he should be able to arrange it."

Kuhn nodded and said no more.

Everyone can see that he has completely despaired of the management of Hamburg.

In the past, when there was no more suitable candidate, he was forced to compromise.

But now, he wanted to make a better choice.

After all, what they like is the burger itself, not the vote of management!

Even, as long as the burgers are good, they don't mind who owns the club at all!
(End of this chapter)