I AM the Football Star

Chapter 358 - 105: Italian Third Division Champion Gift Pack, Only One of Three Endorsements_4

Especially the male stars in the entertainment industry, they certainly won’t miss this great opportunity to rise, and Lu Yang will have many competitors then.

Collaborating with top luxury brands typically involves a lot of procedures, progressing step by step.

There’s no overnight success.

Even top sports superstars, without a long history of cooperation, can at most endorse slightly niche products like underwear but cannot become the core spokesperson for those brands.

However, the birth of a new series means the creation of many vacancies, giving many people the chance to reach the top in one step.

Moreover, "Suited Thug" actually quite matches Lu Yang’s image on the field, to be frank.

Lu Yang has always had the title of "tough" on the field.

Yet he doesn’t appear fierce at all.

He has the foundation to become a quality spokesperson.

Lu Yang has no reason not to accept this challenge full of sincerity and respect. He likes this kind of partnership attitude, rather than those endorsement deals filled with intrigue and schemes!

Sofia was very pleased that Lu Yang took on Armani’s endorsement.

Because compared to normal sports stars, this Armani endorsement holds more significance. It can expand Lu Yang’s influence in the entertainment industry, fashion circle, modeling industry, and other fields.

Perhaps you can’t see any difference now, but once Lu Yang becomes a superstar level player, his global influence and income will vastly surpass other players of the same level.

By then, it won’t just be a matter of money.

The difference between a player who is known beyond their sport and one who is not is too great.

You can refer to Beckham and other retired stars at the same level for details.

The former, even years after retirement, is still among the top 200 in terms of global fame and attention, earning millions of dollars annually from endorsements.

As for the latter, although they are unlikely to lack money, if their endorsement fees can break a million, it’s already quite impressive.

In fact, many of them have long faded from people’s memory.

Not to mention extreme examples like Adriano living in slums, even those retired superstars like Gerrard, Lampard, Giggs have almost no influence outside of football and their respective countries.

Sofia has high expectations for Lu Yang.

Because this is Sofia’s man!

In stark contrast to signing the Armani contract, the endorsement contracts sent from Arthas regarding sports brands Nike and Ah Ke were mercilessly rejected by Lu Yang.

Firstly, the contracts offered to Lu Yang belonged to the rookie category in the football world, with endorsement fees below Fifty thousand euros and a contract term of five years.

Although it doesn’t fall under the "child labor contract," it’s close.

The price isn’t low, but the term is evidently too long!

Perhaps these two companies believed Lu Yang would be very tempted by this price, because apart from superstars who can earn more than a million in endorsement fees, which player in the Italian Third Division gets endorsement fees?

But they have no idea how confident Lu Yang is about his future.

Forget about five years, Lu Yang believes he would regret signing this contract in just two years!

No, he would regret it in less than a year!

Moreover, Ah Ke and Nike don’t know that Lu Yang isn’t the only one with such confidence in himself!

Arthas has already hinted to Lu Yang that the new contract prepared by San Remo for him has wages far beyond the imagination of players in the Italian Third Division or Serie B, full of sincerity.

Even Arthas, the big agent, was quite astonished by the salary, calling it "revolutionary" and "matching the Serie A standard"!

As a result, Lu Yang looked down on these two top sports brands’ contracts even more.

Secondly, the contracts provided by Nike and Ah Ke to Lu Yang were also standard contracts, with relatively strong phrasing, including some special rights for the first party.

For instance, if Lu Yang causes some social controversy or gets involved in discrimination or political stances, they have the right to terminate the contract unconditionally, or even claim some compensation from Lu Yang.

On the other hand, Lu Yang doesn’t have corresponding rights.

How could Lu Yang possibly sign such an unequal contract!

Therefore, Lu Yang only had Arthas ask them a question: "Do you use East cotton?"

The representatives from Nike and Ah Ke stated that their products absolutely do not use East cotton, and even if they did, they’d still say so publicly.

Lu Yang replied: "Well, I’m sorry, but I refuse this contract!"

The staff responsible for liaising with Arthas from both brands were a bit stunned.

What does this mean?

Why did the negotiation just end like that?

Negotiate the price, it’s open for discussion!

Besides, they heard that Lu Yang’s Armani endorsement fee is not even Fifty thousand euros! How can Armani do it, but Nike and Ah Ke can’t?

Ah Ke’s representative: "Is it a cotton issue?"

Lu Yang: "Yes and no."

Nike’s representative: "Is it about the term and endorsement fee?"

Lu Yang: "No."

Both parties repeatedly asked Lu Yang, and finally, Lu Yang’s side replied: "It’s an attitude issue! You must first respect me, then I will respect you! Mutual respect, only then can we talk about cooperation!"

This statement seemed a bit baffling, and neither Nike nor Ah Ke understood it well, but having received a response, they didn’t pursue the matter further.

They have other new stars to secure.

Not getting Lu Yang isn’t a big deal; there are plenty of stars in football with endorsement fees below Fifty thousand euros, and Lu Yang wasn’t the most special one.

Especially after they learned that the other party didn’t secure Lu Yang either, so their departure was even more justified.

But they would never know how much damage their departure would bring to the future of Nike and Ah Ke!

Of course, let’s not mention the future.

Some impacts are already occurring immediately.

Though it’s targeted at Lu Yang.

Rejecting contracts from two giants brought a lot of discussion and negative feedback to Lu Yang.

The dominance of these two giants in football is not only about the amount of money spent.

They have great discourse power in this field!

Refusing them comes at a price!