Chapter 121: The Choice of Summer

After reporting to YouTube's shareholders, Ricardo left Chiara and the UBS team to follow up on YouTube's acquisition offer. UBS also legitimately acted as the sell-side advisor and started docking and negotiations with Goldman Sachs, the buy-side advisor.

In addition, the UBS California team also accepted Ricardo's commission to negotiate with Twitter on the basis of a trust...

Although there is only about 3000 million US dollars left in the 200 million US dollars trust fund injected by Ricardo last year, once the sale of the pipeline's equity goes smoothly, Ricardo's trust fund will receive a large sum of money, and there will be no problem buying anything!

Therefore, Ricardo did not plan to invest additional funds in the trust fund, but instead arranged for an offshore investment company to start buying a large amount of the S&P index of US stocks.

As for the timing of selling YouTube and investing in Twitter, the due diligence and negotiation processes will take at least one or two months. The progress of both sides should be similar, so they can be connected perfectly.

As for Ricardo himself, he arrived in Chicago, the largest city in the central United States, on Saturday, July 7, and met up with Julian, who had also just landed in a white short-sleeved shirt, jeans and pink sneakers.

In the next few days, Ricardo will accompany the Ice Goddess to settle down and travel in Chicago.

I won't go into detail about the trips to the Millennium Park and Lincoln Park Zoo. Ricardo mainly helped Julian rent a large apartment in Regents Park near the University of Chicago as their love nest. Oh no, it was the dormitory where the Ice Princess lived when she was studying for her doctorate...

RegentsPark is where Richard Sr. rented an apartment when he was studying for his doctorate in Chicago. It is very close to the University of Chicago and can be reached on foot, so most of the people living here are professors, staff and students of the school.

The apartment is fully equipped with central air conditioning, high-speed Internet, laundry room, gym and swimming pool, as well as large indoor parking lot; 24-hour security system and round-the-clock front desk butler service.

In addition, the apartment is close to Lake Michigan and is within walking distance of the lakeside boulevard and park. Residents on high floors can enjoy beautiful views of the lake and the Chicago city skyline.

The surrounding community is prosperous and life is convenient. Chain supermarkets and restaurants are all within walking distance. It takes only 3 minutes to walk to restaurants of various flavors from the apartment, and it takes only 10 minutes to drive to downtown Chicago.

Back then, old Richie, who was short of money, could only share a small room of about 60 square meters with his classmates. This time, Ricardo helped Julian rent a 120-square-meter apartment with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Then he took Julian to Ikea and Costco for a big shopping spree, from beds and sofas to pots, pans, instant noodles... the shopping list had nearly 200 items, and nothing was left out.

7月27日再次清空弹夹的里卡多才和冰公主依依惜别，就前往英国的伦敦，马上又会合上提前来伦敦政治经济学院报到的小公主萨拉菲娜；此时离里卡多回俱乐部报到的8月1日还有最后4天。

The little princess Sarafina, wearing a cute ponytail and a black silk JK miniskirt, is going to study for an undergraduate degree, so her first choice is to live in the school dormitory; there is no need to hesitate, just choose the most expensive one - expensive things often have no other disadvantages except being expensive, and anyway, both of them are not short of money.

In addition, during these few days in London, Ricardo also met up with his management team and began busy business connections.

First, the endorsement contracts with Nike and Coca-Cola were updated, with the prices more than quadrupled, but the number of activities required to be participated in and the number of advertisements shot each year also increased significantly, and the portrait authorization was also more extensive.

In the newly renewed contract with Nike, Ricci also added a new additional agreement, which is that Nike will assist Ricci in co-creating a new trendy sports brand named Ricardo Ricci, whose main business is trendy football protective gear and equipment, referred to as RR.

Ricardo wanted to start this sports brand, mainly because he felt that the shin guards, bandages, football boots and base layers he used were really ugly and had poor performance. After all, with old Li Qi's advanced aesthetics and experience feedback that was several generations ahead, Ricardo knew what kind of design was a good design, not to mention that he was the user who benefited most directly!

Relying on Nike's factories, R&D capabilities, and global promotion capabilities, Ricardo predicts that RR, a trendy sports equipment brand, is likely to become the second or even surpass its predecessor Jordan.

Ricardo then took on two new big-name endorsements, one of which was the Italian luxury brand Armani, which he won thanks to his male model figure and handsome face, and the other was the Swiss high-end watch brand Tissot, which he won thanks to his academic background.

So during the few days in London, in addition to signing a new endorsement contract, Ricardo was also busy shooting commercials and participating in various commercial activities...

In addition, under the arrangement of his agent, Ricardo also secretly met representatives from Tottenham and Manchester City in a high-end private club...

Of course, Ricardo was not very satisfied with the conditions offered by these two Premier League clubs; Ricardo also did not want to be on the bench in the cruel and fierce Premier League when his value had not risen...

After spending the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day with Sarafina in London, it was Ricardo's turn to say goodbye to the little princess on August 8. Sarafina returned to Milan, Italy to prepare for the start of university, while Ricardo had to return to Barcelona to report.

However, Ricardo had already learned from Raiola that he was destined not to be in Barcelona in the 06/07 season, and there was a high probability that he would not be in Barcelona in the future...

Before and after the World Cup, Raiola, Rijkaard and Barcelona's top management held many discussions to determine Ricardo's future, but no matter what, Barcelona could not give Ricardo the commitment and guarantee he wanted. It was not a matter of money, but that Barcelona really had no room for him.

Barcelona's frontcourt already had many big names. Although Larsson and Gabriel Gabri both left the team at the end of the season, and Van Bommel was sold to Bayern Munich, the team immediately brought in Gudjohnsen from Chelsea, Saviola also returned on loan, and promoted another young talent, Dos Santos, from the second team...

Originally, Rijkaard wanted to position Ricardo as a key rotation player in the midfield and backcourt, but after the World Cup, Barcelona successively brought in Zambrotta and Thuram from the punished Juventus...

In addition, the club has decided to focus on supporting Messi and Iniesta this season; so Ricardo can only barely maintain his position as a substitute last season.

But this is far from Ricardo's core demand of having a main player in the frontcourt of the first team; so Ricardo also suspended the contract renewal negotiations and submitted transfer and loan applications.

Facing Ricardo, the best newcomer in the World Cup, although there is no place for him in the team, Barcelona still does not want to give up easily, so they can only agree to loan him out for a season to let Ricardo level up well, and then renegotiate the contract renewal and positioning next season.

But Ricardo knows clearly that his career at Barcelona is coming to an end. Barcelona will be even more competitive after this season. Although it has been delayed for a season, Henry the Great will arrive next summer, and Ibrahimovic will also join after that. In addition, with the emergence of Busquets, Pedro, Bojan and other young players, the midfield and frontcourt will be overcrowded, not to mention vacancies.

As fun as it would be to sit on the bench with Henry or Eto'o... it doesn't fit into Ricardo's long-term development plan.

In addition, with the rise of Messi and the strength of Xavi, Ricardo will not be able to gain the offensive dominance he most wants.

Ricardo knows very well what his biggest advantage is. The most suitable application scenario at the explosive point is shooting at the front of the penalty area or the last pass, rather than intercepting and defending in the midfield and backcourt; after all, no matter how well he defends, the best result is 0-0...

Raiola, who knows Ricardo well, also agrees with this. Raiola also suggested that Ricardo must go to a team that can guarantee him a main position in the midfield, preferably in the middle, but an attacking winger is also fine.

Therefore, before Ricardo set off for the World Cup, Raiola had obtained authorization to help Ricardo start specific negotiations with a club. Although Ricardo had already put forward a clear target team at the beginning of the season; as a not only qualified but also excellent agent, Raiola was responsible for providing many alternative teams and made detailed comparisons for Ricardo to choose from.

First, there were the Premier League teams Tottenham and Manchester City, which he had just met secretly in London. Both teams are traditional veteran teams in the Premier League, and their lineups are also very competitive; especially the fact that Sun Jihai, the Chinese Suns, will play for Manchester City in the next two seasons, which suddenly made Ricardo feel an impulse.

The two clubs promised Ricardo that he would be a rotation player in the first team and would be a striker on the wing. However, these did not quite fit Ricardo's idea, and Ricardo was actually unwilling to go to the fierce Premier League too early, after all, he was still a child growing up.

According to the latest physical examination results after returning to the club, Ricardo has grown a little taller, reaching 1 meters; Ricardo decided to give his personal nutritionist Lopez a chicken drumstick...

In addition to the Premier League, Raiola also provided alternative options in Serie A and Bundesliga.

Serie A is Fiorentina and Sampdoria; but Ricardo doesn't really want to return to Serie A. First of all, almost his whole family is in the Nerazzurri team, so if he wants to return to Serie A, Inter Milan is his first choice. However, Inter Milan has benefited from the phone-gate incident in recent seasons and is in its heyday. If Ricardo goes back, he can only continue to be a nobody.

Secondly, Ricardo hasn't had enough fun yet! Back home, he has his parents, brothers, uncles and other relatives and friends watching him. How can he be as free and comfortable as being abroad? Let's play for a few years first...

As for the Bundesliga alternatives, they are Werder Bremen and Leverkusen. Last season, Bremen and Barcelona played against each other in the Champions League, and Bremen was jealous of several players in the Barcelona team. In addition, because of preparations, Bremen followed and inspected the Barcelona lineup for a period of time, and they also liked Ricardo.

In addition, the just-concluded World Cup in Germany has made Ricardo very popular in Germany. So Bremen also showed considerable sincerity, which once made Ricardo a little tempted. It would be nice to team up with God K.

So Ricardo set Bremen as the first alternative, and then compared it with the two La Liga teams that made the final offer.

There are two La Liga teams, one is Sevilla, which Ricardo himself likes, and the other is Villarreal, which Raiola used for comparison.

Let's talk about the Yellow Submarine first. The coaching style of the Chilean engineer Pellegneri is what Ricardo likes. In addition, Pires, the French midfielder who was introduced by the Yellow Submarine in the summer, suddenly tore his cruciate ligament before the start of the new season and needs to rest for 6 months. Most of the season has been scrapped; this urgently needs Ricardo to fill the position.

In addition, Huang Qian also recruited a number of good players such as Jose Enrique, Nihat, Cani and Xigan in the summer, and the depth of the lineup is quite good.

However, Villarreal currently revolves around Riquelme; although Ricardo admires the skills of this classic attacking midfielder, he does not like to team up with him.

Because Riquelme plays a bit slowly and doesn't defend very well, his teammates need to constantly run around him and cover for him and assist him in defense. This also means that the upper limit of Villarreal is not high...

Finally, there is Ricardo's original target - Sevilla, which is also the team that Raiola has been in contact with the longest. Head coach Juande Ramos also sent a special scout to track and observe Ricardo's performance at the end of last season, including his performance in the World Cup stage, which was also written into the final scout report, so Sevilla knows Ricardo very well.

Then, the head coach Juande Ramos who took over the team just last season is a typical Spanish coach who likes short passes, overall coordination and the pursuit of entertainment. This Spanish style fits very well with Ricardo's technical characteristics of being good at organizing and advancing and emphasizing passing and cutting coordination. He is the type of coach that Ricardo likes.

In addition, last season, with the departure of Baptista and Ramos, Sevilla not only retained its place in the UEFA Cup, but also won the UEFA Cup championship trophy. At the end of the season, although it was defeated by Osasuna in terms of win-loss ratio and only won the fifth place in the league, it will continue to fight in the UEFA Cup as the defending champion.

Sevilla, which needs to fight on three fronts in the new season, needs to upgrade its main lineup and strengthen its bench.

Sevilla never introduces big-name stars, and they prefer players with good quality and low prices; therefore, renting players who can fight immediately is also the main plan for the team building. Last season, Sevilla loaned Saviola from Barcelona, ​​and the two clubs have a mature cooperation foundation.

In order to bring in Ricardo, Sevilla also made key arrangements in the summer window. After retaining Alves and Navas, who were the main players last season, they only signed defender Hinkel, defensive midfielder Paulsen and left-winger Duda for free. The deal for Uruguayan attacker Chevanton, who was originally planned to be brought in from Morocco for 890 million euros, was temporarily suspended, waiting for Ricardo's reply and decision.

Finally, Sevilla promised Ricardo that he would be a regular first-line player, mainly positioning Ricardo as an attacker in the midfield and frontcourt, responsible for organizing midfielder, attacking midfielder, winger and shadow striker positions.

This is Ricardo's favorite position, and it is also a position where he can easily shine if he performs well. It can also be said that Sevilla basically accepted Raiola's requirements and made a sincere loan offer.

Of course, in addition to Ricardo's own excellent conditions, this must also be due to the matchmaking arrangements of several major endorsement brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola; after all, Ricardo, who has a low salary, can't spend much money, and it mainly depends on personal connections and network...

So, the next day after returning to Barcelona, ​​after a friendly meeting with Rijkaard, Ricardo informed Raiola that the decision had been made!

Officially accepted Sevilla's loan invitation and will report to Sevilla the day after tomorrow.

They fought hard in Sevilla in the 06/07 season! This is the legendary team that turned the Europa League (the UEFA Cup was renamed the Europa League after the reform) into the Sevilla Cup!

I hope I can win the Europa League as I wish. I may not have a chance to win it in the future...