Chapter 15 What Kind of Thing is an Agent Team?

Chen Hero had never considered it.

He had always thought that having one agent by a player's side was enough. Why form a team? Was it necessary?

"It doesn't seem necessary now. But to fully develop your commercial potential, it is necessary," Dekura said. "After all, you're a Chinese player. The Chinese market behind you is somewhere many brands want to break into or expand their influence."

"As you become more famous, you'll have more and more things to do. It's impossible for you to do everything yourself, right? How else are you going to level up?"

Hearing Dekura's words, Chen Hero was stunned.

It was true. He was only a little famous now, and he already felt like he didn't have enough time. Last week, Chen Hero hardly went to the dungeon to train, which slowed down his leveling.

Why was that? Wasn't it because many other things kept him from getting away?

"For example, this time with the media... I was wondering if it would be better if you had a spokesperson? Let him deal with the media for you, while you can concentrate on training and leveling up..." Dekura said.

Chen Hero felt a headache just thinking about being surrounded by a large group of reporters, forcing him to say what his relationship with Sharapova was.

It seemed that he really needed a spokesperson...

"And a spokesperson is just one member of your agent team. In addition to an agent and a spokesperson, you also need a lawyer. For now, these three roles are enough."

Chen Hero felt that Dekura made sense. With a lawyer, anything involving the law would be easier to handle. He got dizzy looking at the legal clauses in those European contracts. Even if he could understand the words, he had no idea what they meant.

But...

"Does increasing manpower mean increasing expenses?" He would have to give more money to others. Chen Hero was most concerned about this issue, as it directly affected his interests.

"So we're not in a hurry to expand our manpower... But I think a spokesperson is very necessary. Because... you're a very troublesome person, Hero."

Chen Hero couldn't tell if Dekura was praising him or mocking him, so he could only laugh dryly. He admitted that he was prone to making trouble, but sometimes it wasn't what he wanted.

"We need a professional to help you shield you from the wind and rain, and deal with the media. You definitely can't handle them as smoothly as they can."

"I think it's okay, just slap them in the face..." Chen Hero said.

"It's not that simple. Sometimes you also need the media to speak for you. Do you remember what happened in China?"

Dekura reminded Chen Hero, and he thought of the things he encountered after returning to China. If Zhong Dajun hadn't promoted him positively in the media at the time, and let that Xie Liang guy distort the facts and confuse right and wrong in the newspapers... he might have really become a swindler.

Hearing Chen Hero's silence, Dekura knew that he had realized the key.

"For those who offend you, of course you can slap them. But you also have to cultivate media that are closer to you. Most of the time, you need them to speak for you. With a dedicated spokesperson, he can help you handle these media relationships. You can't possibly do these things yourself, can you?"

"Uh... can't you do it alone?" Chen Hero asked.

"I don't have the ability to be in two places at once, Hero."

"Oh, you don't?"

"Hero..."

Hearing Dekura's helpless voice, Chen Hero felt proud for teasing him: "Okay, okay, you're in charge of this. Anyway, you're my agent."

He wasn't interested in management teams or anything like that. His interests lay in playing football and picking up girls.

The match between Zenit Saint Petersburg and Kuban Krasnodar wasn't as easy as everyone had imagined. In this game, Zenit was held to a draw by the tenacious Kuban on the road.

In the twenty-eighth minute, Kuban's Bosnian forward, Kresimir Kordic, scored the first goal for the home team, and a huge cheer rang out at Kuban Stadium.

But they weren't happy for long. In the forty-third minute, Chen Hero equalized the score for Zenit with a header.

"Hero! Hero! Chen Hero! His ninth goal! The ninth goal in nine league games!" Shirgayevski roared again. Now everyone could often hear the commentator's passionate roar, because Chen Hero scored repeatedly.

The head coach and assistant coaches on Zenit's coaching bench jumped out of their seats and raised their arms to cheer for the goal.

It was a good thing to equalize the score before the end of the first half, so of course they had to celebrate it.

But Chen Hero's next celebration made Advocaat's heart tighten—the kid took off his shirt again, bared his upper body, and showed off his muscles to the fans and the TV audience.

But this action made Advocaat cover his forehead... This damn kid!

Sure enough, after celebrating the goal, he received a "Yellow Gemstone War God Card" from the referee—a yellow card!

Chen Hero didn't care. He grinned, not taking the yellow card to heart. This wasn't the first time he had received a yellow card for taking off his shirt after scoring a goal. He also knew that taking off his shirt to celebrate would result in a yellow card, but he just wanted to show off his good figure—something he had always been proud of.

"Damn it!" Advocaat cursed, "Does this kid know that he already had two yellow cards before!"

It was rare to see Advocaat get so angry at Chen Hero, and assistant coach Potter found it amusing. All along, Advocaat had been like a loving elder to Chen Hero, indulging him in doing what he liked to do.

It was rare to see him with an angry look on his face when talking about Chen Hero.

Potter certainly knew why he was so worried. Because the yellow card received in this game was already the third yellow card Chen Hero had received. If he received another yellow card in the next league game, he would automatically be suspended for one game due to accumulating four yellow cards.

The game he would miss was the focus battle between Zenit Saint Petersburg and CSKA Moscow!

CSKA Moscow was currently ranked third and was still a strong contender for the league title.

So seeing Chen Hero's bold move, Advocaat was naturally angry.

During the half-time break, he criticized Chen Hero and forbade him from taking off his shirt to celebrate after scoring a goal, if he could score a goal in this game...

As a result, Chen Hero didn't score a goal. Neither Zenit Saint Petersburg nor Kuban were able to score, and the final score was 1:1, with both sides shaking hands and making peace.

Since Spartak Moscow was held to a draw by CSKA Moscow on the road, the ranking of the top three remained unchanged. First was still Zenit Saint Petersburg, second was Spartak Moscow, and third was still CSKA Moscow.

Scoring goals in two consecutive rounds seemed to indicate that Chen Hero was still in good form, and everyone could fully expect him to perform in the game against CSKA Moscow. Who would have thought that his momentum of scoring consecutive goals would be stopped again.

However, this time it wasn't their opponent in the tenth round of the league, Rubin Kazan, who stopped him, but head coach Advocaat—in the tenth round of the league on May 19, Chen Hero was placed on the bench!

When the reporters in the media stands and the commentators in the commentary stands saw this scene, they were all surprised.

"Hero is on the bench?"

"He didn't even start?!"

"What's going on?"

"Could it be that Advocaat finally couldn't stand Chen Hero, this bad boy, anymore? Has he decided to put him on the bench?"

"Wow! This is going to be a good show!"

The Moscow media was the most excited, because they all knew what Chen Hero meant to Zenit now. If there was discord between Zenit's coach and players, then it would be an opportunity for their Moscow team!

The live cameras also frequently gave Chen Hero shots, wanting to see if he would show any resentment on his face because of this bench arrangement. This would indicate that he was forced onto the bench, and it would be very likely that he had a conflict with the head coach!

But who would have thought...

Chen Hero in the camera was chatting and laughing with Denisov sitting next to him!

"...Uh, Hero doesn't seem to be angry at all about not starting in this game..." Shirgayevski was also very surprised, and he almost didn't know what to say.

Of course these people didn't know that letting Chen Hero be a substitute in this game was something Advocaat had already agreed upon. He had communicated with Chen Hero a few days before the game.

Because Chen Hero already had three yellow cards on his back, if he received another yellow card in the game against Rubin Kazan, it would be dangerous... Although he had strictly ordered Chen Hero not to take off his shirt to celebrate after scoring a goal in the future, who could guarantee that nothing else would happen in the game?

Receiving a yellow card wasn't just for taking off his shirt to celebrate, but also during defense, counter-attacks, or even conflicts with the referee—Advocaat was most worried about this, because Chen Hero's temper might really go to the referee to "reason" with him if he encountered an unfavorable penalty. His reasoning was probably not something nice to hear...

Based on his understanding of Chen Hero, Advocaat simply sought stability and directly put Chen Hero on the bench. It was mainly just in case—what if he needed to come on to solve the problem? If he didn't need to come on, then that would be the best, and he could just be a spectator on the bench.

As a result, this game really didn't require Chen Hero to come on. In the end, Zenit Saint Petersburg defeated Rubin Kazan 2:1 at their home stadium.

In the forty-first minute of the first half, the visiting team scored first, taking the lead.

But in the second half, Zenit launched a fierce counterattack.

The two people who scored goals were both members of the Zenit Saint Petersburg Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang. The first goal was scored by Skrtel, who used a header from a corner kick in the sixty-seventh minute to equalize the score. In the seventy-ninth minute, Arshavin helped the team complete the comeback.

When the two gang members scored goals, Chen Hero and Denisov both stood up and cheered loudly for them, and it couldn't be seen at all that he was dissatisfied with being on the bench.

This disappointed the media very much.

In the post-match interview, Chen Hero was also asked this question.

Chen Hero shook his head, first denying the speculation that he had a conflict with the head coach: "I have a very good relationship with Mr. Advocaat, and there is no conflict between us."

Then he talked about why he was benched for this game: "Now, we can talk about CSKA Moscow."

This bear grinned, revealing his white teeth, and a cold light flashed in his smile.