From Arsenal to the Ball God

"No."

Mendes chimed in, raising a glass of red wine and smiling: "But LV is on the luxury route, while the Procter & Gamble Company is on the affordable route. The two companies shouldn’t have much competition, right?"

"Some subcategories do have some overlap."

Arnault’s expression changed, realizing Mendes meant wanting to take both if there was a chance. He raised his glass again, skirting the topic, "But it’s too early to talk about these, cheers."

After some more drinks, as the dinner was coming to an end, Arnault revealed his important purpose for coming this time, "We have high hopes for Ma’el, so we want to achieve a longer, more close-knit collaboration with him.

"If the annual endorsement fee increases to 3.75 million pounds, and all bonuses in the bonus clause increase by 25%, would you consider a 4+1 contract?"

Mendes turned to glance at Ma’el and found he was not inclined to immediately reject, so he said: "Thank you, Mr. Arnault, for the sincere proposal; we need to discuss it in private."

Arnault gestured for the two to go aside for a private chat and took out his phone to check other messages.

To him, this matter wasn’t too important, just something an executive suggested he bring up at the dinner as a final attempt.

If the contract duration is longer, they might be more focused on promoting and betting on Ma’el.

Meanwhile, testing his feedback data in various markets would provide significant insight into whether they should choose further collaboration... In that regard, the additional money doesn’t matter much.

Meanwhile, Mendes and Ma’el headed outside, and he advised, "I think it’s worth considering. But if Dior Perfume can settle at around 4 million pounds, it’s definitely worth signing a 4+1 contract.

"Arnault has been expressing LV’s desire to sign you as an international ambassador today. If this collaboration is truly reached in the future, then signing a few years with Dior Perfume won’t matter since you will eventually endorse the full range."

Ma’el nodded slightly, indeed finding this reasoning sound and thinking he should compromise on the contract length.

For other players, they might worry about Arnault making empty promises, but he didn’t worry because as long as Arnault had this intention, he would definitely impress him with his performance on the field.

He always exceeds expectations, not only of bystanders but also of himself, and he is very confident about this.

"Then let’s sign it and try to push for a higher price?" Ma’el agreed, wanting Mendes to push the price.

Mendes nodded and led Ma’el back inside, smiling along the way, "Ma’el, don’t you find it strange? Everything seems reversed."

"What?"

"When ordinary stars sign endorsements, they usually want a longer, more guaranteed contract, while it’s the brand considering whether to sign a longer contract."

Mendes couldn’t help but chuckle, "But with you, it’s reversed; the brand wants to sign a longer contract, and you want to sign a short one; it’s the same with club renewals."

"Haha..." Ma’el sometimes thought about this too, shrugging with a smile, "Because I’m young, and everyone believes I’ll eventually go further."

Mendes’s eyes showed admiration, appreciating the confidence revealing casually; he didn’t often see it even with Ronaldo, "Let’s keep it up; our next goal is to become the dual international ambassadors for Procter & Gamble Company and LV.

"Maybe someday, activities about who doesn’t know Ma’el will start worldwide, and people will be interviewed from Europe all the way to Antarctica."

Ma’el leaned back with a laugh, and soon he and Mendes returned to the hall, expressing their intention to Arnault.

"Yes.....!"

Half an hour later, amidst cheers, they signed a whopping 4+1 year contract with an annual endorsement fee of 4 million pounds, totaling 20 million pounds.

There were also several large bonuses similar to those with the Puma Company, only without the cumulative bonus and extra bonus clauses.

This contract also marked Ma’el’s endorsement qualification reaching the significant level of millions of pounds, signifying his official status as a money-printing machine!

All this was thanks to his performance on the field, his accumulation of championships, and his potential!

In the following days, Ma’el frequently visited LV headquarters for photo shoots and promotional video recordings.

During this process, he also began trying to shoot advertisement videos, posting them on Facebook and Twitter at the rate of one every three days.

Pepeño and Jose were already in London running around with company registration, just waiting for him to return to confirm some details.

Mendes was also helping him find some excellent operators, and besides that, preparing to allocate some people from his own company to support Ma’el’s personal marketing company.

Everything was progressing in an orderly manner, heading towards a new, unknown, and tempting season.

...

On July 10, all Premier League teams had regrouped to start preparing for the season, with only a small vacation given to players participating in the European Cup.

Although there was a long time before the transfer window closed, each club’s recruitment work had already reached the final stages.

The teams definitely prefer to train and integrate newcomers for a period, then enter the new season; signings after the league starts are often emergency reinforcements, not the best choice.

That afternoon, at an official Arsenal media press conference, Brazilian defender Thiago Silva and Wenger appeared smiling in front of the cameras.