Fortunately, the final outcome had not yet been decided, and this was the very purpose of the meeting.
While it wasn't an auction, it was indeed today that all potential buyers had gathered in this grand hall to negotiate a super deal worth billions, perhaps even tens of billions of pounds.
This meant that it was still uncertain who the eventual victor would be. The room was filled with truly wealthy business magnates and representatives of super-resourceful national consortiums.
They had all come for this single objective, one goal, yet ultimately only one person would truly achieve what they desired.
And Mike was merely one of them. More accurately, Cao Baming was one of them.
This grand conference was about to commence. The club's biggest benefactor at present was seated in the most central position in the entire room.
He casually raised his left hand and glanced at the time displayed on his wristwatch. Only eleven seconds remained until the originally scheduled time of 3:00 PM.
He looked up at everyone in the conference room. Almost the entire room was filled, and all who were expected to be there had arrived. No one should be late for such an important matter.
This meeting was being conducted in absolute secrecy from the outside world, and all attendees had undergone rigorous vetting.
The outside fans, though desperate to know the current status of the Manchester United acquisition and whether there were any new developments, were unaware that after this meeting concluded, Manchester United might very well have a new top leadership.
If this meeting concluded successfully, then he, the current highest benefactor and owner of Manchester, would undoubtedly sell the team today, secure the money he desired, and even have his future plans already laid out.
The club's official channels were dedicating most of their energy to news suppression. They did not wish for the external fans to learn of this news beforehand.
Their efforts had not been in vain, as at this moment, irrelevant parties outside were unaware of this matter and indeed had no way of finding out.
The reasons for the officials' desire to suppress the news and achieve this current situation were understandable. Of course, if the news were to leak before the transaction was completed, not only would it cause considerable chaos among the fans, but the consequences for stakeholders would be even more unimaginable.
"All those present here are the only ones who know about this matter. Whether today's business is concluded successfully or not, and whether all of our goals are achieved, I implore everyone to sign this confidentiality agreement!"
Precisely at the scheduled time for the meeting to begin, not a second more or less, the highest leader in the conference room, and the owner of the Manchester United team, spoke these words proactively.
Following this, several staff members entered the room one by one from outside, distributing an agreement to everyone seated in the conference room. In addition to this, legal matters were, of course, being handled by others. Within the entire room, apart from a select few prospective buyers of the team, everyone else was composed of these professional personnel, who were overseeing the proceedings.
Outside the door, dozens of security guards, armed with live ammunition, had already sealed off the area.
Cao Baming and Mike were seated next to each other, as they had arrived together. They happened to see that the two adjacent seats were unoccupied.
Upon sitting down, he discovered that names had already been placed on the seats. Mike had arranged a seat for Cao Baming, and on the table in front of them, besides a cup of tea, was a nameplate bearing their names.
Cao Baming's eyes flickered as he surveyed the scene in the conference room, and for a moment, it felt as though he was recalling something.
Indeed, this room was exactly as it had appeared in his dream. No, this wasn't a dream. More accurately, it was the scene he had witnessed within the system's time-bubble space. He remembered that it was the first time he had used this skill after acquiring it. As the image before his eyes gradually sharpened, what he saw was precisely this room!
Thinking back this way, everything came flooding back, as if it were all happening before his eyes. Many of the details in the conference room were exactly the same as in his memory, because the place that had appeared then was this very room, just at a different point in time.
This was Cao Baming's first time in this place, yet the sense of familiarity was as if he had been there countless times before. Because in the foreseeable future, he would most likely take over this team, and this room would become his own office. Whenever he wanted to come to the team, he would surely call a few senior leaders to come here to chat and share their thoughts.
After the meeting began, the club's senior leadership delivered their speeches. Mike was already familiar with these speeches, and nothing was unexpected. Although Cao Baming had not been involved in this matter before, he fully understood everything they said.
The man he had encountered in the corridor just now was seated directly opposite Mike. His gaze swept over Cao Baming almost incessantly, yet his eyes were filled with both surprise and fear.
He surely hadn't expected that this football player, as he remembered him, would today be one of the buyers in this conference room, his status no different from his own.
His surprise stemmed from the fact that his earlier remarks had been somewhat excessive. Although he didn't often watch football matches, he had some understanding of Cao Baming's personality. On the field, this fellow would practically exact revenge on the spot.
In that case, Cao Baming must be someone who doesn't hold grudges, right? the old man mused quietly. In fact, ever since the meeting began, the moment he saw Cao Baming sitting diagonally opposite him, this thought had been incessantly on his mind, and it still lingered.
He desperately wished that Cao Baming was indeed someone who didn't hold grudges, because if he were to remember the incident from just now, his safety would likely be compromised. Although he had brought a few bodyguards with him, could they truly stand against Cao Baming? That was truly hard to say!
Listening to these people utter inconsequential words, Cao Baming was close to losing patience. He wished the meeting could progress faster.