reporter Han Bing reported It looks like an operation that turns a magic comedy movie into reality: 22-year-old Chinese player Ge Wenjun was the defender of the Spanish fifth-level team Talajar last season, but in May the club's management changed, and he transformed into the club's player and chairman. Of course, he has the support of Chinese capital behind him. The club Talahar, where he works, has been acquired by Chinese capital. In addition to Ge Wenjun himself, there is also a Chinese vice chairman to help him manage the club.
This "realistic version" of " Xihong City Richest Man " which was suddenly hotly discussed by fans on Chinese social networks. The protagonist Ge Wenjun comes from the Shenzhen team echelon and plays as a central defender.
After two years of training in the Shenzhen echelon, Ge Wenjun went to Spain to play football in the 2019/20 season and changed three teams, but they were basically in the amateur leagues below level 4. In 2020, he also became the first Chinese player in Pueto United's history.
In fact, the "realistic version" of "The Richest Man in Xihong City" is not uncommon in low-level leagues in Europe and the United States. In the summer of 2009, 21-year-old Tom Mitchell had realized his "magic dream" of becoming a player into a chairman. He played for Dorchester in England's 6th level and played in the midfield. His father bought the club. Tom and his 18-year-old brother Josh became the youngest football club chairman in English football history. At that time, Tom Mitchell was the club's chairman and player, perfectly replicating the plot of the movie.
Ge Wenjun's football level may not allow Chinese football to see hope at the moment, but for those who love football, it is not the only way to participate in the World Cup or the top league to be the highest ideal. Like the Mitchell brothers and Ge Wenjun, going from playing football to having a football in the management is also a life choice. From a player to a club president is just a transformation of the role of the football world, and in clubs in low-level Western European leagues, the cost is indeed not high.
2021/22 season Spanish Football Association repackages Spain's semi-professional and amateur league system. The Great Talajar where Ge Wenjun is located is in the 5th level. There are 18 competition areas in this level, with 16 teams in each competition area. The average season budget of the Spanish 5th-level team is between 100,000 and 200,000 euros, with a maximum of no more than 1 million euros. For example, the Andorra FC, which was acquired by Barcelona defender Pique at the end of 2018, also had very low investment. In the summer of 2019, because the debt of the B team in the Spanish Second Division (level 3) Reus was administratively relegated, the Spanish Football Association sold Reus' qualification for Segment 3 B to pay off the club's debt. Pique bought , B, B, and FC Andorra has never played in one game in the Western Conference C (level 4) and has even been promoted to two levels.
2019 China League Two, Jilin Baijia team boss Xu Guangnan once appeared in person with a weight of 100 kilograms. In the China League One in May 2021, He Shihua, the 35-year-old boss of Zibo Cuju, also fulfilled his dream of playing in the professional league, but their close contact with the stadium was just a fun game. Ge Wenjun himself is the main player of the team. Now he is the chairman after the club acquires Chinese capital. At the age of 22, he is at the age of rising balls, and his main business should still be a "player".
Of course, for Chinese footballers who want to spend the addiction to players and chairmen in the five major leagues of low-level clubs, Ge Wenjun's story is a ready-made "new way of playing".
Previously, "money burning era" of in the Chinese Super League, there were many Chinese businessmen and brokers investing in low-level clubs in Portugal and Spain, as "backed" clubs for young Chinese players who went abroad to "gilded" and returned to China at high prices. But now that the domestic football world is in decline, investing in overseas clubs has lost its previous "speculative" function. Although Ge Wenjun's experience is in the Spanish low-level league, investors' inexpensive investment can be exchanged for the immersive Spanish football experience of Chinese footballers, which is also a new way of playing "study abroad".
