From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 406 - 116: Rising Influence! Pressure on Messi and Ronaldo! A Fiery Christmas! Second Captain + Number 7! (Part 2)

Torino Sports Paper, also known as All Sports, was founded in 1945 and enjoys a prestigious reputation in world football..... Of course, it often leads to controversy.

In short, this can be considered a relatively successful newspaper, with chief editor Vachago being a well-known figure in European football.

"I believe that football newspapers should focus on one to two teams, that’s my personal philosophy."

Vachago gladly shared this after dinner, "Like us, we focus on Juventus and Turin Team, and we’re often criticized for being biased.

"But from a company’s perspective, this is a good thing. You’ll be labeled by fans, making it easier to find your precise audience.

"People often say that in the streaming era, newspapers and magazines will suffer, but I believe there’s still a significant part of Europe that is accustomed to subscribing to newspapers and magazines.

"So I believe one should focus on digital subscriptions, advertising fees, newspaper circulation, and magazine subscriptions.

"The first two go without saying, but the latter two aren’t difficult either. You just need to print based on the subscription volume, there’s no risk, it will only enhance the stickiness of your users."

At this point, he opened a bottle of red wine and glanced at Ma’el and Mr. Mendes, "I see Football Record also focuses on Arsenal and the France team? Seems they’re all related to Ma’el.

"Haha..... I won’t speculate further, but overall, you have a very promising future."

On the other side, Peter and Amelia nodded, they poured a glass of red wine and leaned closer to Vachago to discuss some detailed issues.

Ma’el didn’t talk with them about this, he turned to Mendes and said: "I want to open an honors exhibition room near the Emirates Stadium, what do you think?

"First open it at Emirates Stadium, and in the future, with national team honors, create one with replicas in my hometown Aix."

After listening, Mr. Mendes instinctively glanced at Clément and Betty, thought for a while and nodded: "I think it’s great, as long as you have the intention in this area, it will never be a bad thing for you.

"All in all, you already have a good amount of honors, with the Golden Boy Award trophy anchoring it, no one will think it’s an abrupt exhibition."

Ma’el nodded slightly, and simply counted all the honors now, all those with trophies would count among them.

Firstly, during last season at Sheffield United, he won the Championship League title, Championship Golden Boot, Assist King, Season’s Best Player, Mid-Season Best Player.

And 5-Month Best, 19 Player of the Match awards, 2 Hat-Trick Balls, and 1 Boxing Day match ball.

These can all be placed in the exhibition room, arranged in a dense row without any problem.

In the middle, the Champion of the Championship trophy is placed, serving as the best summary of that Championship season... players usually don’t have a trophy, but it can be reproduced one-to-one, many stars do so.

And these are just from the first season, coming to the Premier League this season has also yielded quite a few.

Recently received Golden Boy Award, 1 Premier League Monthly Best, 5 Premier League Player of the Match awards, 2 Champions League Player of the Match awards, 1 English League Cup Player of the Match award.

And 1 Premier League match ball, one international A-level match ball.

There’s really quite a lot.

Although the most valuable are the Golden Boy Award and Championship title, the others don’t seem out of place displayed there.

In the future, slowly obtain some heavyweight honors, then gradually replace them... Just do it!

"I’ll ask Pepeño to find a place for you." Mr. Mendes saw Ma’el was interested and actively said: "By then, you might have to make an honor cabinet, find someone to replicate all your trophies.

"That would count as a kind of collection, regardless of its value to others, to you, it’s worth a fortune..... if you lose the real ones, the loss would be considerable."

"Indeed."

Ma’el nodded, that’s how he thought initially, placing all replicas, keeping the real ones at home.

Mendes drooped his eyelids and smiled, then after raising his eyes said: "Don’t worry about the storefront rent, it’s not much, I’ll cover it."

"Really?" Ma’el turned around, shook his head with a smile, "No need, Mr. Mendes....."

Before he finished, Mendes interrupted, "Consider it a personal favor returned, you know how much I can earn from you, just this Golden Boy Award wave brought in £234,000 post-tax."

Ma’el didn’t refuse further and agreed, then curiously asked: "When will the bonuses from the three endorsement companies be paid? I remember I have about £1.33 million?"

They spoke quietly, as if conspiring something important, but actually just enjoying the fun of being financial enthusiasts.

"It should already be down."

Mendes leaned closer and chuckled: "Check it out when you return to London, I still remember you said, once this money is credited, you’d have £4.5 million in your account."

Ma’el pursed his lips and restrained a laugh, "Uh-huh, it’s the first time nearing £5 million, the acquisition price for some lower League Two teams is around there, right?"

"About that, but you’d still have to consider multiple aspects, like the team’s history and financial situation."

Mendes explained briefly, then said: "Looking at you reminds me of Maradona and Naples, wouldn’t you want to make good money early in your career, buy a lower-tier team at the end, and turn it into Naples?

"And step by step turn that team into a giant through your skills, assets, and football network... while becoming a legend of a town?"

"Who knows what the future holds."

Ma’el didn’t give a definite answer, nor did he deny it. After drinking a cup of yogurt, he said: "Overall, I’m making more money now, starting from next year, my basic endorsement fee will be £1.85 million.