Kenneth William Bates was born in London, England, but lived in Monaco.
The reason was tax avoidance.
Although he held a majority stake in Championship club Leeds United and served as its chairman and major shareholder, he rarely went to watch matches at the club. He simply wasn't that interested.
Besides, he was nearly eighty years old and couldn't handle the travel.
He was based in Monaco and controlled his UK business remotely.
Not only that, he had specifically commissioned Cash Harris, chairman of Seymour Pearce Investment Bank in the City of London, to act as his agent in selling Leeds United to interested foreign investors.
He had been trapped with this team for six years.
Back then, one of the main reasons he invested in Leeds United was because he saw the foundation of the club and believed they could return to the Premier League soon after relegation. So he bought low, planning to cash out and make a fortune once the team got promoted.
You have to know, the Premier League around 2004 and 2005 was experiencing a wave of foreign investment acquisitions.
But who could have imagined that shortly after acquiring the club, Leeds United would be docked points due to debt issues? Not only did they fail to return to the Premier League, but they also fell into League One, and that lasted for six years.
Just as they finally clawed their way back to the Championship, the global financial crisis struck.
So when Cash Harris told him that an investor from China was interested in Leeds United, Bates thought he'd misheard. After confirming it several times, he flew to London without delay.
He met the investor at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, just south of Hyde Park.
"Mr. Bates?" Cash Harris gave a gentle cough as a reminder.
Actually, he wasn't surprised. He himself had been stunned when he first saw this elegant Chinese woman.
He just didn't expect that the nearly eighty-year-old Bates would still lose his composure like that.
"Oh." Bates smiled awkwardly and adjusted his glasses. "Sorry, I just didn't expect the person I'd be meeting to be such a beautiful and elegant lady."
But soon after, Bates frowned.
"Excuse me, but why do you two look so familiar?" Bates looked at Su Qing in front of him and Fernando Lucas seated beside her, with a puzzled expression.
Both were easy to recognize. Su Qing was Chinese and Lucas was Spanish.
More importantly, they were quite well-known.
"Allow me to introduce them, Mr. Bates." Cash Harris smiled, thinking the old man had a sharp eye. He recognized them right away, not bad for someone his age.
"This is Miss Su Qing, head of the Chinese investment company. She is also Mr. Gao Shen's fiancée."
When Bates heard this, he slapped his thigh as it came back to him.
"Right, I've seen Miss Su's photos in newspapers and on TV. No wonder she looked familiar. And this one, if I'm not mistaken, should be Mr. Gao's assistant."
Lucas didn't hesitate. He extended his hand and said, "I'm his chief analyst, Fernando Lucas, and also Miss Su's investment advisor for this deal."
Bates looked at Su Qing, then at Lucas, and laughed again.
"Excuse me for asking, but is the investor interested in acquiring Leeds United actually Mr. Gao?"
"He's helping me as an advisor," Su Qing answered directly this time.
Cash Harris added, "In fact, Miss Su's family has substantial assets in China. Because of Mr. Gao, they're very interested in investing in football."
"So, Mr. Gao is planning to coach Leeds United himself?" Bates asked tentatively.
If that were the case, he would have to think it over carefully. After all, Gao Shen's reputation was no joke.
He was the hottest head coach in world football. His coaching meant trophies.
If he could own shares in a club coached by Gao Shen, and if that team reached the Premier League, it would be a guaranteed windfall.
"How is that possible? He won't get involved. In fact, he doesn't support my decision and has advised me against it, saying that football clubs don't make money." Su Qing replied with a smile.
Bates glanced at Cash Harris, who gave a subtle nod.
Indeed, he hadn't seen Gao Shen throughout the process. The only people he'd interacted with were Su Qing and Lucas.
According to media reports, Gao Shen was still in Manchester preparing the team for the upcoming city derby against Manchester United. How would he have time to get involved in a club acquisition?
Besides, with Gao Shen's salary, could he even afford to buy a club?
"In fact, it might not be a bad thing. With Mr. Gao's connections in European football, as long as he's willing, you could make money after acquiring the club. For instance, you could loan players from Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Napoli—he has great relationships with those clubs and with people like Ferguson."
"Once the club is promoted to the Premier League and has more money, you can buy even more players. Besides, the whole world knows Mr. Gao has an excellent eye for talent. Any player he sets his sights on sees their value skyrocket." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥
Bates laid on the praise, but he was really probing.
"I said he won't get involved. He doesn't have the time. And think about it—if what you said is true, and Leeds United gets promoted to the Premier League, wouldn't it be a conflict of interest for him to be coaching Manchester City?" Su Qing countered.
Ken Bates finally believed her, though he felt a bit disappointed.
If Gao Shen were involved, he truly believed Leeds United could be revived.
Once the negotiations began, Bates revealed his sharp edge, not at all like someone pushing eighty.
He currently owned 72.85% of Leeds United's shares. He was the majority shareholder, and with his approval, Su Qing could initiate a takeover of the club. But his first offer was outrageous—he asked for 50 million pounds.
Not only were Su Qing and Lucas shocked, even Cash Harris was stunned.
Damn, the lion really opened his mouth. Who was he trying to fool?
At that moment, the lawyer Su Qing and Lucas brought with them stepped forward.
"Mr. Bates, I'm a lawyer from Frontier Law Firm, specializing in sports law." Richard Cramer handed over his business card. "Our firm is based in Leeds."
Leeds was the UK's second-largest legal hub.
Alright, bluffing wasn't going to work here.
When Cramer laid out all the findings from their investigation—ownership of the stadium, training ground, and surrounding land—Bates had to acknowledge it and admitted those assets had indeed been sold, though he claimed it wasn't his doing.
"I was wronged too. After I took over, I found out that bastard Ridsdale had sold them all."
Richard Cramer laughed. "Mr. Bates, you only spent 10 million pounds to acquire your stake in Leeds United, while the stadium, training ground, and land were worth 20 million pounds."
What he meant was, come on, old man. You're not naive enough to think someone would sell you a club worth 300 or 400 million pounds for just 10 million, right?
"Mr. Bates, I think we should all be more sincere. Otherwise, we'll consider other clubs. You know, many teams in the Championship, League One, and even the Premier League are in poor financial condition. You're not the only one selling." Su Qing applied pressure.
Bates licked his lips and nodded. "You've clearly done your homework. But the 50 million pounds I mentioned is real. Twenty million of that would be needed to reacquire the stadium, training ground, and land."
Su Qing gave a faint smile. She'd be a fool to take him at his word.
"Thirty million pounds?"
"That's unrealistic. I've also heard that you've been unable to pay player wages and even owe rent and stadium management fees," Su Qing said.
"That's false, completely false. You can check. We hire a professional accounting firm for annual audits. We've made a profit every season. Just a few days ago, they told me this season's operating profit is around one million pounds."
"Ha, Mr. Bates, that's easy to verify." Su Qing chuckled again.
Richard Cramer added, "According to my investigation, Leeds United is indeed behind on wages. But that's fine. If both parties are willing to cooperate, we can sign an exclusivity clause and arrange for a Magic Circle law firm to conduct due diligence."
An exclusivity clause meant that during a specified period, neither party could negotiate with third parties.
The benefit was that it would allow the next phase to begin, initiating due diligence on the target club. This would generate a detailed and accurate financial report, including specific personnel data.
It was standard practice in acquisitions.
But in football, it's particularly complicated because it involves player transfers, even from years ago. Outstanding transfer fees, back wages, bonuses—all were common. Installment payments were also widely used, and many clubs used those to secure bank loans.
This required extensive investigation, which only large firms with deep resources could handle. The "Magic Circle" referred to the top-tier elite law firms in the UK.
Bates was immediately silent.
This was precisely why Su Qing had brought a specialized sports lawyer.
No matter what, trust in the law and you'll never suffer.
Bates looked at Su Qing with complicated eyes. He suddenly realized that this elegant woman in front of him was no pushover. She did things flawlessly.
It seemed there was no more room for concealment.
Su Qing noticed Bates's expression change and understood what he was thinking.
"Mr. Bates, we are very sincere in our desire to acquire all shares in Leeds United. But to be honest, we can't accept your offer. Given the club's current situation, our highest offer is 15 million pounds," Su Qing said directly.
"That's impossible!" Bates shook his head.
"That's fine, take your time to consider. We're also looking at other clubs." Su Qing stood up with a smile.
Reaching a deal in the first meeting was unrealistic. She wasn't that naive.