2020年翻译资格考试三级笔译实务材料三

Football and Finance: Scouts’ Honour

How three middling clubs used clever hiring to beat the top dogs

If you had told football fans in a pub 15 years ago that Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur would one day dominate the Premier League, they might have told you to make it your last pint of the day. In 2004 City finished 16th, Spurs 14th and Liverpool a distant fourth. The ruling triumvirate of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United were the only clubs to win the competition in 1996-2011.

Yet today the league tables are turned. The Premiership’s new sultans are Manchester City, who on May 12th sealed their fourth title in eight seasons, to the delight of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, who bought the club in 2008. One point behind were Liverpool, whose tally of 97 made them the best runners-up ever. On June 1st the Merseyside team will face Tottenham in the final of the Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious tournament. What has allowed this new trio to dominate?考生如果怕自己错过考试报名时间和考试时间的话，可以 免费预约短信提醒，届时会以短信的方式提醒大家报名和考试时间。

Money is part of the answer. In 2008-12 Manchester City splurged £520m ($675m) on transfers. Fenway Sports Group, an American firm that bought a near-bankrupt Liverpool in 2010 for £300m, now spends that much a season on players’ wages and transfer fees. But lots of English clubs are wealthy: nine of the world’s 20 highest-earning clubs are English. City spends only 8% more per year on players than United, and Spurs pay 20% less than Arsenal.

In the past, Premier League clubs squandered their wealth. When 21st Club, a consultancy, plotted European teams’ spending against their results, 16 of the 20 English sides sat below the trend line. Continental clubs charge higher transfer fees to affluent Premier League sides, who spend 80% more than their rivals for the same level of talent. What’s more, English clubs have a habit of buying ageing stars rather than nurturing talented youngsters.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham have learned from these mistakes. Since 2016 the players they have signed have been younger and from less flashy clubs than those bought by their rivals. City paid £55m for Kevin de Bruyne, a midfielder for Wolfsburg, a mediocre German team. Liverpool bought Mohamed Salah, an attacker for Roma, for £37m. Now in their peak years, each has become his team’s best player. This season Spurs became the first club in Premier League history not to sign a single player, after years of recruiting young talents from lesser clubs. Many have matured into stars, such as Son Heung-min (from Leverkusen) and Dele Alli (from Milton Keynes).

Meanwhile Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have made costly errors. United made 30-year-old Alexis Sánchez the league’s highest earner, on £25m a year. But the striker scored just five goals in 45 games. Chelsea got rid of Álvaro Morata, a £60m striker from Real Madrid, after just a year. Arsenal have purchased several woeful defenders.

Challenges remain for the new trio at the top – not least an investigation by UEFA, Europe’s football authority, into claims of financial irregularities at City, which could mean a season-long ban (City deny it). Either way, on June 1st an English side will win the Champions League for the first time in seven years.

足球与金融：球探的荣耀

三家中游俱乐部如何运用巧妙的选人策略击败豪门俱乐部

如果15年前你跟一间酒吧里的球迷们说，曼城、利物浦和托特纳姆热刺有一天会成为英超联赛的主宰，那他们可能会跟你说，行了行了，可别再喝了。曼城在2004年的排名是第16位，热刺第14，利物浦比较靠前，排在第四。当时称雄的是阿森纳、切尔西和曼联，从1996到2011年，只有这三家俱乐部赢得过英超冠军。

然而今天的排名已经转变。曼城成了英超的新苏丹。5月12日，曼城获得了八个赛季的第四个冠军，令在2008年收购了这家俱乐部的阿布扎比皇室甚为欣喜。利物浦落后一分，以97分的成绩成为有史以来分数最高的亚军。6月1日，这支来自默西赛德郡(Merseyside)的球队将在欧洲最负盛名的赛事欧洲冠军联赛的决赛中对阵热刺。是什么让这新三强笑傲英超?

金钱是部分答案。2008到2012年，曼城豪掷5.2亿英镑(6.75亿美元)用于支付转会费。2010年，美国公司芬威体育集团(Fenway Sports Group)以3亿英镑的价格收购了几近破产的利物浦，如今每个赛季要花费同样的金额支付球员的工资和转会费。但很多英国俱乐部都很有钱：全球收入最高的20个俱乐部中有9家来自英国。曼城每年在球员身上的花费仅比曼联多8%，热刺则比阿森纳少20%。

在过去，英超俱乐部大肆挥霍它们的财富。咨询公司21st Club研究了欧洲各支球队的支出与赛果的对比情况，绘制成图表。图表显示20支英国球队中有16支位于趋势线以下。欧洲大陆的俱乐部会向富足的英超球队收取更高的转会费，后者购买相同水平的球员要比竞争对手多花80%。另外，英国俱乐部习惯购买更成熟的球星，而不是培养有才华的年轻人。

曼城、利物浦和热刺从这些错误中吸取了教训。自2016年以来，它们签下的球员比竞争对手购买的球员更年轻，之前所属的俱乐部也没那么耀眼。曼城以5500万英镑签下了平庸的德国球队沃尔夫斯堡(Wolfsburg)的中场凯文·德布劳内(Kevin de Bruyne)。利物浦以3700万英镑的价格买下了罗马的前锋穆罕默德·萨拉赫(Mohamed Salah)。现在他们都处于各自的巅峰期，也都成了所在球队的最佳球员。本赛季热刺成为英超历史上首支一名球员也没有签下的俱乐部。多年来，热刺一直在从更低级别的俱乐部中招募年轻球员。当中的许多人已经成为明星，如孙兴慜(Son Heung-min，来自勒沃库森)和迪利·阿里(Dele Alli，来自米尔顿凯恩斯)。

与此同时，曼联、切尔西和阿森纳却犯下了代价高昂的错误。曼联给30岁的亚历克西斯·桑切斯(Alexis Sánchez)开出了2500万英镑的年薪，这使他成为英超收入最高的球员。但这位前锋在45场比赛中只打入了5球。切尔西之前以6000万英镑签下了皇家马德里的前锋阿尔瓦罗·莫拉塔(Álvaro Morata)，但仅仅一年之后就把他打发走了。阿森纳也买下了几名糟糕透顶的后卫。

傲立英超之巅的新三强仍面临挑战——特别是曼城因涉嫌金融违规而遭到欧洲足球管理机构欧足联的调查，这可能会招致禁赛一个赛季的处罚(曼城否认有违规行为)。不管怎样，6月1日，七年来将首次由一支英国球队捧走欧冠的冠军奖杯。

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