From Arsenal to the Ball God

Mendes could sense that Ma’el was teasing him. He helplessly smiled and waved his hand, then sat down on the sofa.

He took out a stack of documents from his bag and handed them to Ma’el, "You’re probably going to get busy soon, but I guarantee your assets will definitely double."

Mendes picked up an orange from the table, peeling it as he said with a refreshed smile, "There are countless brands wanting you to endorse, and some even bizarrely asked if they could sign you and Cristiano at the same time to shoot an ad together.

"I refused, but thanks to the foundation of the relationships established during Cristiano’s endorsement negotiations with some brands.

"They can indeed offer a high price and are trustworthy partners; your endorsements will overlap with his in some parts.

"But rest assured, you two won’t be shooting any ads together, I’ll prevent any awkward situations from happening."

Actually, Ma’el and Ronaldo haven’t met yet, nor had any face-to-face communication. They only echoed each other remotely during the Golden Boy Award promotions, so their relationship foundation isn’t bad.

But since Ma’el has already shown superstar potential and competitiveness for the best, when they do meet, there will definitely be some uneasy emotions.

"You currently have a total of 3 endorsements, with a total endorsement fee of 2.85 million pounds, a 3+2 year contract with Puma, 1.5 million pounds for a 2-year Lays Potato Chips deal, and 1.4 million pounds for a 3-year Tsingtao Beer contract."

Mendes took out paper and pen to help Ma’el calculate, "Plus the 2 million pounds Puma bonus you’ve received, your previous endorsement income sums up to 7.75 million pounds.

"After deducting tax and miscellaneous fees, you’ll have about 4 million pounds in hand."

Mendes beamed with joy, saying with a smile, "And this time, you’ll have 7 million pounds in hand, note that’s after tax."

"7 million pounds?" Ma’el put down the document, lost interest in looking further, "So much?"

"Yes."

Mendes was pleased to see such an expression on Ma’el’s face, "I accepted endorsement offers from four companies: Pepsi, the clothing brand Pepe Jeans, Olay under Procter & Gamble Company, and Louis Vuitton.

"They all accepted offers for 2-3 years, with the specific term length being our choice.

"The endorsement fees are 2.4 million pounds, 2 million pounds, 1.6 million pounds, and 2.2 million pounds respectively."

"Why the differing prices?" Ma’el asked, with a smile unknowingly emerging. He’s already become a player with an annual endorsement fee of 2 million pounds.

It reminded him of his very first ’endorsement,’ which was only 4,000 pounds, and he had to sign 100 names.

More than 500 times increase over a year!

But this comparison is meaningless; at least he enjoyed it back then and remembered the lovable old man Kedao’Er.

"Pepsi is exceptionally popular in America, especially in countries like Mexico, where some people can’t live without this drink."

Mendes explained to Ma’el, "And America is a place of football, they have always been keen on finding outstanding football players to endorse for them, and are willing to pay high prices.

"Pepe is a UK-based clothing company, and since you play in the Premier League, they want to try it at 2 million pounds.

"As for Olay, it’s a female skincare brand, they’re just experimenting with you and can’t offer too high a price.

"Louis Vuitton is a big brand, and it’s a French brand, they expect your performance representing the France team in this June’s European Cup and are willing to offer 2 million pounds."

Ma’el nodded, roughly understanding, "So that adds up to 8.2 million pounds, and I’ll have about 4 million pounds.....oh, the rest are all Twitter and Facebook ads?"

Mendes raised his eyebrows and nodded, pointing at Ma’el, meaning he guessed right, "Ads are always more than endorsements, but I was waiting for your championship and 30+ goals before accepting them.

"This time, the ad fees have increased to 500,000 pounds, I accepted 11 at once, you can post one every 3 days, totaling an income of 5.5 million pounds.

"Overall, I brought a contract worth 13.7 million pounds this time, and you’ll get nearly 7 million pounds."

"That’s awesome." Ma’el leaned back and sighed, he never thought he’d make money like this one day.

He went to the bank recently to check the balance; with his salary increase, signing bonuses, Puma bonuses, and club bonuses, his bank account already exceeded 9 million pounds.

Add this 7 million pounds, that makes 16 million pounds, and by the end of the season, if he can earn some more bonuses, it’ll likely surpass 20 million pounds!

He’s already receiving finance calls from various banks, but has yet to pay them any mind.

"And....."

Mendes chuckled again, as if he still had some big moves kept, "Aside from the Procter & Gamble contract, the other 3 have special bonus clauses.

"Pepe includes a Premier League champion bonus of 500,000 pounds, Pepsi and Louis Vuitton not only have a 500,000-pound Premier League champion bonus but also tiered bonuses for making it to the top four, final, or winning the European Cup.

"I negotiated, and it’s 200,000 pounds, 500,000 pounds, and 1.5 million pounds respectively."

"The European Cup Golden Boot and Best Player of the Tournament can each be multiplied by 1.5, and the overall win can be multiplied twice."

Fearing Ma’el would ask, Mendes explained in advance, "Don’t be disappointed that P&G has no bonuses; as long as this experiment works and you penetrate the female fan market, they’ll be there in the future.

He glanced at Ma’el’s face and smiled with envy, "I have confidence in you, calling you the next Beckham seems an understatement."