Chapter 1 After the Italian League

After the end of the Serie A league, the Champions League final took place at the Bernabéu Stadium, a showdown between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

In the end, Mourinho's team easily defeated Bayern Munich by two goals at the Bernabéu Stadium, lifting the European Champions Cup, the highest honor in European club football, after forty-five years.

At the time, many Inter Milan fans couldn't help but burst into tears, and veteran captains like Zanetti were even more overwhelmed. Even President Moratti was in tears, because he had fulfilled his childhood dream.

That day was Inter Milan's most glorious moment. Winning the European Champions Cup, they achieved their Treble. Many exclaimed that European football had returned to the era of Grande Inter.

Mourinho, who won the Champions League, stood proudly at the Bernabéu Stadium, his arrogant and domineering expression attracting someone in the VIP box. This person was Florentino Pérez, the current president of Real Madrid. He felt that only a coach like Mourinho was worthy of the noble and great white giant, Real Madrid, and only he was fit to be the helmsman of the Galácticos.

So he couldn't even wait for Mourinho to celebrate the victory with his team. Immediately after the game, he had someone keep Mourinho behind, and the two had a secret conversation.

Of course, all of this had nothing to do with Chen Hero. He didn't even watch the Champions League final, either in person or on television.

The only news that had anything to do with him was the confirmation that he was the Champions League top scorer. Because Ivica Olić, who had scored seven goals, failed to score a hat-trick in the final, he could only rank third. What about Messi? He scored eight goals and ranked second. So Chen Hero would exclusively enjoy the honor of being the Champions League top scorer this season. This meant that this summer, he would have to go to UEFA headquarters to receive the award from Platini.

At that time, I'm afraid it will be… as awkward as it can be!

I wonder what kind of expression Platini will have when he presents the award to him at that time?

Some malicious people were already waiting to see the show.

※※※

Chen Hero's vacation began with a busy schedule. First, he treated Christine Cabrilla to a meal, and gave her twenty-seven months' salary as a bonus. This money surprised Cabrilla very much, but Chen Hero casually said that it was a bonus for her meticulous care over the past year, and told her not to be too sensitive about it.

What else could Cabrilla say? She had no choice but to accept it honestly. He had already gone this far, so it would be too hurtful to refuse. Besides, her family really needed the money, and she wasn't one to stand on ceremony.

After receiving the money, Chen Hero told her that he wanted to extend her contract. He wanted her to be his bodyguard and... nanny for the next season as well.

Cabrilla didn't object, just nodded.

After seeing Cabrilla off, he went non-stop north to Milan, where he met with Vian and Dracula, as well as his agent team. Now it could finally be called a team. In addition to Vian and Dracula, the team also had a full-time lawyer and an accountant.

This accountant wasn't just calculating the team's accounts, but Chen Hero's accounts, calculating which contracts could allow Chen Hero to obtain the maximum income. In addition, a portion of Chen Hero's income had to be handed over to the team, to be operated by the team. How to turn this money into more money was the main task of the agent team.

What if there wasn't anyone managing the accounts in this team? So much money would be wasted!

After meeting his agent team, Chen Hero had to go sign a contract.

The company that wanted to sign him this time was very impressive.

It would scare people to death to say it!

Okay… actually, it's nothing. This brand is now everywhere. But in the sports world, it is still the undisputed overlord.

Nike.

Some people may find it strange, Chen Hero has already won the Serie A top scorer twice, how come he's only signing with Nike now? Logically speaking, Nike or Adidas would have been fighting for a player like this long ago, would they have waited until now?

But the truth is that the initial prices offered by several sports brands were not high. Of course, Chen Hero's own reputation and strength were not as good at that time. In the beginning, he was still playing in the Russian Super League. Although Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok and other companies had heard of Chen Hero, it was only limited to the local branches in Russia. The headquarters were not clear about Chen Hero.

At that time, Chen Hero was at best a rising star who looked promising. Many such rising stars emerge in the world of football every year. It really wasn't anything special. You have to know that even the successors of Maradona and Pele are a dime a dozen.

So these companies were not interested in Chen Hero. Big companies like Nike and Adidas didn't even bother to look at him. They would never sign such players as spokespersons. The athletes who can be spokespersons for these two brands must be superstar-level, unless it is a spokesperson limited to a specific region…

And the other brands? The prices offered were not very high either.

Dracula felt that since the prices offered were not high, there was no need for us to go out of our way to curry favor with them. If you offer low prices, we don't want to sign with you either, so let's forget about it.

Anyway, we're not short of that little bit of money.

Endorsements of other brands can be changed casually, every year. In the sports world, endorsements of sports brands must be cautious. Of course, you have to try to find big brands, sign big contracts, and make big money.

Dracula was not in a hurry, and Chen Hero was not in a hurry either. He felt that Dracula's strategy was very correct.

Later, as he gradually gained fame, the previous small brands became more active in looking for him, and the prices they offered also began to rise. And big companies like Nike and Adidas finally began to notice a rising star in the Russian Super League.

Then, considering the Chinese market, Nike and Adidas intervened, which prompted those small brands to offer what seemed to be high-priced contracts at the time in order to grab Chen Hero. Dracula still refused to sign, complaining that the prices offered were too low.

Later, Chen Hero asked Dracula, and only then did he know that Dracula had such an idea—if you sign a contract at a low price, the other party will naturally not value you, and they will not put their heart into promotion, etc. How can your personal reputation and commercial value be reflected and improved?

Only when you are signed by the other party at a high price will they desperately promote you. At this time, you can take advantage of the situation and rise with the wind, and use the vigorous promotion of big brands to become a superstar comparable to Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka and others in one fell swoop.

And if you sign a contract casually, it will be difficult to change it in the future. Because those companies initially give very low prices, but contracts with very long terms. For those young players who are eager to find an extra income for themselves, it is easy to sign a contract. In this way, if those young players become famous in the future, they will have made a profit. Even if they don't do well in the future, the sports brand will not suffer.

From the beginning, Dracula only locked in Nike and Adidas. As for Reebok, Puma, Umbro… he didn't even bother to look at these brands.

But Adidas and Nike are both big companies. When companies get big, they naturally have a big air. How could they condescend to offer Chen Hero, a player who was only slightly famous, a sky-high contract? This doesn't conform to the laws of business. They all felt that Chen Hero's agent was too bad, only caring about making money for himself, and completely ignoring the player's wishes.

Dracula's response was: Since you are not willing to give this money now, then we will wait and see if you will have to pay more to sign Chen Hero in the future.

Dracula was very optimistic about Chen Hero's future.

He believed that Chen Hero would soon be able to show the value that would make big companies flock to him.

Sure enough, when Chen Hero won the top scorer award in his first season after transferring to Serie A, the attitude of the two major brands finally softened. The two sides restarted negotiations.

Dracula waited for the price to rise. Whoever offered a higher price and who could give a promotion plan that satisfied him, he would sign with them.

As Chen Hero's performance in the Champions League became more and more outstanding, as he led the Serie A top scorer list, and as he had more and more controversies and news off the field, his worth and commercial value also began to soar.

And big brands like Nike and Adidas also began to realize that this Chen Hero might become a very remarkable player in the future, and his personality would definitely help promote his commercial image…

However, Adidas hesitated a bit, because Chen Hero was banned by the Chinese Football Association, and he had nothing to do with all national team events. If they signed him, he would not be able to represent the Chinese national team in competitions, and some of the commercial value would be wasted…

While they were hesitating, Nike took the lead.

Nike has always had a tradition of signing controversial stars. From the very beginning, this brand has been looking for athletes who are maverick, individualistic, temperamental, and aggressive to be spokespersons. Nike's first signed star, Steve Prefontaine, was a very strong long-distance running star. He embodied the characteristics of Nike stars. Since then, Nike has always liked to find rebellious athletes to be spokespersons, which is also closely related to their brand culture and temperament. Nike has always appeared as a challenger to Adidas, the leader in the sports world. Adidas represents orthodoxy, stability, and the rigor and rigidity of Germany, so Nike must take a different approach. Then, those who dare to challenge the secular, dare not take the usual path, and are maverick, always become the focus of public discussion. No matter whether he is half praised or half criticized, no matter whether there are more people who like him or more people who hate him, at least he will not be unknown. In this way, the Nike he endorses will naturally be gradually recognized and accepted by everyone. Just like Nike's famous slogan "just_do_it".

The current spokespersons range from Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to Cristiano Ronaldo. These stars are all top in their respective fields, and they are also the darlings of the media, and they all have controversial topics. And good boys and good husband images like Messi and Kaka are spokespersons for Adidas.

So if they were to promote Chen Hero's image, they would be able to do it with ease and have a wealth of experience.

The personal image promotion plan for Chen Hero that they came up with was naturally more convincing.

In addition, the price offered was really not low. After Dracula asked Chen Hero, he nodded.

Because Chen Hero was in the midst of a fierce battle with Di Natale for the league's top scorer at that time, he didn't have time to sign the contract, so the two parties agreed to wait until the end of the season and let Chen Hero go to Nike's headquarters in the United States to sign the contract.

A four-year contract, with an endorsement fee of 3 million euros per year for Chen Hero.

This is the biggest endorsement contract Chen Hero has signed so far.

You have to know that the highest endorsement contract in the actual football world is the one signed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Nike, which is 6 million euros per year, which can be called a sky-high price. Chen Hero is half less than the other party, but considering Chen Hero's current popularity in the world, it is also reasonable.

Moreover, considering that Chen Hero is particularly good at scoring goals, Dracula also demanded that if Chen Hero's number of goals in each season exceeds twenty-five, Nike will have to give an extra 1 million euro bonus that year. If he wins the top scorer award, there will also be a bonus, 1 million for the league's top scorer and 1.5 million for the Champions League top scorer.

It's a pity that this contract was signed late, otherwise Chen Hero would have been able to get a bonus of 3.5 million euros just for this top scorer award…

The fact that Nike is willing to give Chen Hero this contract obviously also shows that they are optimistic about Chen Hero's future development.

In a team like Napoli, he can win the league's top scorer for two consecutive seasons, which shows his strength. Not to mention that he won the Champions League Golden Boot with ten goals in his first Champions League appearance.

Such a shooter will definitely have unlimited potential in the future!

Moreover, he has a huge Chinese market behind him?

Based on this alone, Nike will definitely not lose money by signing Chen Hero for 3 million euros a year.

Nike has already signed many famous sports stars in China. Yao Ming, Liu Xiang and Li Na are all leaders in their respective fields. But in the football world, there has always been nothing that can be shown off. This is of course related to the image of Chinese football and the ability of Chinese players. If you don't have the ability, what kind of influence do you want?

At this time, Chen Hero was born out of nowhere. Nowadays, almost more than 80% of the fans in China are supporters of Chen Hero. Nike once commissioned a reputable research institution to conduct a survey in mainland China. The survey results showed that Chen Hero's influence is already on par with Liu Xiang and Yao Ming, and Yao Ming is already on the decline, and Liu Xiang has begun to decline after the retirement turmoil at the Beijing Olympics. Chen Hero is a rising star, a potential stock. Of course, people like this must be firmly held in their own hands.

Therefore, signing Chen Hero has become the decision of Nike's headquarters.

Accompanied by Vian and Dracula, Chen Hero flew to Portland, Oregon, USA, and rushed to Nike's headquarters, the "World Campus" in Beaverton near Portland. Then, under the full-city shooting and interviews by multiple media arranged by Nike, he completed the signing this time.

Judging from this specification, Nike's headquarters does attach great importance to Chen Hero.

Among the media who came to interview and report on Chen Hero's signing with Nike, there were also several Chinese media. Nike wanted to use the media to promote Chen Hero to the world, especially to the Chinese market.

Tell the Chinese people that the idol you admire is our Nike's signed star. If you like Chen Hero, pay attention to Nike and buy our Nike products! Don't you want to wear the shoes and boots worn by your idol? Running shoes? Walking shoes, T-shirts, sports pants, etc.? Do you want to get your idol's autograph? Do you want to get in close contact with your idol? Do you want to compete with your idol?

Nike can arrange as many such activities as they want, as long as they are willing. And Chen Hero is now sold to them, and Chen Hero must come to the scene to attend and help with their commercial activities. These are all written into the contract. If he plays big and doesn't go… sorry, pay the money!

However, for Chen Hero, attending various commercial activities held by Nike and frequently appearing in the media's lenses and in front of the public is also an important means to increase his exposure and enhance his reputation.

If he wants to enhance his reputation and enter the ranks of world-class stars, it is not enough to keep scoring goals on the field. He must cooperate with such commercial promotion.

Under the lenses and flashes of numerous media, both parties signed the contract, and the signing ceremony was completed.

Then Chen Hero shook hands with the representative of the other party to show that the cooperation was reached.

"We are very optimistic about you, Hero." Since they have already cooperated, of course they have to say something nice. The other party shook Chen Hero's hand and praised him.

"Thank you." Chen Hero smiled slightly. In front of the media, he still did his best to maintain this appearance, but in the next sentence, he accidentally revealed his true nature. "You won't regret today's decision!"

Who praises themselves like that?

The representative of the other party was stunned on the spot, and the smile on his face became unnatural. But Chen Hero smiled even more brilliantly, and all of it was captured by the reporters' lenses…