I AM the Football Star

Chapter 384 - 112: Official Awards Announced, Season Settlement (Part 2)

Possible?

In movie partnerships, people tell you not to take profit-sharing, but box office sharing. Why?

Because there are too many ways to manipulate so-called profits.

If a movie can be manipulated, imagine a large football club.

There are countless expenditure items, and ordinary fans can’t possibly understand the twists and turns.

Moreover, the club’s contracts best reflect what they believe is the profit and loss between them and the players.

Signing a one-year contract with a veteran shows that signing two years might lead to losses for the club, but signing one year won’t be a loss if things proceed normally.

Signing a five-year contract with a youth player, with low wages and bonuses, indicates that even after hard work to nurture a youth, if they leave right after the contract ends, the club doesn’t lose anything.

So there’s no need to call these youth players, or even those not from youth training, ungrateful.

Of course, some might say why were clubs and players so loyal to each other before, not chasing high wages or being lured by big teams?

Because that was in the past.

Rather than saying players were loyal to the club, it’s more accurate to say players were loyal to the local people. Back then, football was regional, which is completely different from the current relationship between clubs, players, and fans.

Take Arsenal as an example, if players are still loyal to Arsenal now, it’s loyalty to its owner Kroenke, only to be mercilessly exploited and called fools by people.

Their loyalty was stolen by the club and owner, turned into money, but never reached the hearts of fans.

This is why most rational fans currently don’t demand players to be "too loyal."

What truly causes the club to lose money is youth players being lured away before signing official contracts, the decisive departure of players around whom an entire lineup was built, players colluding with outside clubs to pressure their home club to reduce transfer fees, players with high wages not playing and frequenting hospitals and nightclubs.

Gutierrez is neither Inter Milan’s youth player nor a local Milanese, yet he plays diligently for Inter Milan during his contract year despite having alternatives and salary promises, demonstrating professional ethics.

Yet in the mouths of Inter Milan fans, Gutierrez is labeled as someone who works without effort, a mercenary driven by money, a Judas who will rot in hell.

It’s truly disheartening!

The Italian Cup’s best midfielder is also a Milan player, but AC Milan’s top star Izalelt.

This award is rather unconvincing.

Although Izalelt is currently Serie A’s number one star, he only appeared three times in the Italian Cup.

And unsurprisingly, he played only half a match each time.

If Izalelt can win the best midfielder with such performance, then Morici who played similarly three or four times also has the grounds to compete with him, which leaves San Remo fans somewhat dissatisfied.

Actually, the real hero for AC Milan in the Italian Cup was Andrés, who played nearly every match, had the highest average rating in the AC Milan team, was the midfield nucleus, and had notable goals and assists stats.

Any rational AC Milan fan should know this.

Yet when the news of Izalelt winning the best midfielder came out, not a single AC Milan fan spoke up for Andrés.

This made Andrés very disheartened, and he clearly felt the gap between a superstar and a normal star.

Never mind doing equally well, even if Andrés performs better, in the eyes of fans and the team, he’s still not as good as Izalelt!

This would definitely dishearten the true contributors.

Perhaps while Izalelt is still here, these hidden issues might not surface.

But once Izalelt leaves AC Milan someday, the consequences of AC Milan fans and the team’s neglect of key players will gradually unfold.

If one day AC Milan has to rely on Andrés, then don’t doubt it, he will undoubtedly demand a lot because he never experienced the warmth of this team, naturally feeling no obligation to give warmth in return.

The Italian Cup’s best defender was awarded to AC Milan’s captain, the last of the four Butcher Praxedes.

Although Praxedes has similar issues as Izalelt, with limited playtime, there’s really no one better in this position.

San Remo’s Palacios perhaps had a chance, but San Remo’s defense wasn’t good at all; they conceded too many goals, which is their significant weakness.

The best goalkeeper is naturally Rome’s Gate God Ameluci.

In fact, some media claimed if Lu Yang had played more as a goalkeeper, this award might not have belonged to Ameluci.

Ameluci liked this news and commented, "Indeed."

Finally, the Italian Cup’s best player emerged, Lu Yang without a doubt!

If you say Gutierrez’s team didn’t reach the top four, Izalelt played too little, Praxedes didn’t outperform Palacios significantly, and Ameluci didn’t make the finals, there’s some truth.

But if you argue Lu Yang shouldn’t get the best player, no one would agree because this is the most indisputable award among this year’s Italian Cup official accolades.