What kind of football player is handsome?

Chapter 40: Making it to the promotion playoffs? The first endorsement contract arrives!

A tavern in Leicester City, frequented by die-hard fans.

Outside the window, the wind from Beihai Park is tearing at the winter night.

Inside the tavern, the flames in the fireplace licked the firewood, and the firelight reflected on the slightly tipsy faces of Leicester fans, as the joy of leading by two goals spread among the crowd.

A middle-aged male fan wearing a Les Les Friesian scarf took a big gulp of beer: "These two lads on loan from Manchester United are really energetic!"

Another fan scrolled through his phone, which displayed the Championship standings: "Hiccup... I told you, a loan is worse than a buy! If we win this game, we can briefly move up to seventh place, just one win away from the playoff zone!"

Suddenly, cheers erupted from the crowd.

Leicester City's offensive has resumed.

Vassell dribbles down the wing, looking for a chance to break through.

Sheffield United's two wing-backs have dropped back.

Currently, the backfield has five defenders plus two defensive midfielders.

Seeing that he couldn't drill in, Vasser had no choice but to dodge and kick out in an arc.

Maguire's hang time is quite good.

However, before jumping, he quickly glanced around.

Make sure that Liu Yi doesn't suddenly appear and steal the chicken.

Upon scanning, a clue was indeed discovered.

Liu Yi had been standing quietly not far behind him at some point.

"This guy's definitely up to something again!"

We dare not be negligent.

Maguire's hair stood on end, and he leaped high into the air.

He tossed his head back.

They hurriedly cleared the ball.

"Hey! Maguire!"

"How do you pass that ball behind your back?!"

"Back penalty kick!"

"Steve, hit with your left foot!"

"It hit a Sheffield player! It was blocked!"

Maguire looked up at the sky.

Determine the landing point.

It's near the penalty spot!

With just one step, Liu Yi had already darted to that spot like a nimble deer.

His right foot drew a short, powerful arc in the air.

A powerful volley!

Danish goalkeeper Simonsen reacted very quickly.

His right hand swiftly reached out and caught the ball.

Unfortunately, the force wasn't enough; a light touch only slightly bent the ball's trajectory.

The football still went into the net.

The enthusiasm in the tavern was reignited.

"Three to zero!!"

"We won again!"

"Haha, Liu, how come he always manages to find an opportunity to score?"

"These Sheffield United defenders are only watching the ball, not marking their players!"

After securing victory, Eriksson substituted Liu Yi.

The enthusiasm inside the bar remained high, with people still discussing the resounding victory.

As the final whistle blew, the camera slowly panned to the sidelines.

A female reporter is handing Liu Yi a small trophy that symbolizes the best player of the game.

"Congratulations, Liu. This must be... countless times this season that you've been selected as MVP. How does it feel to win this game?"

Liu Yi draped a towel with the Fox City team logo over his head.

He played for quite a long time in this game, and his running distance finally surpassed that of the center-backs. He was no longer the last player on the team except for the goalkeeper, so he was eager to go back to the locker room to take a hot shower to relieve his fatigue.

However, they were stopped halfway and given an interview.

"Great! With the season entering its second half, every three-pointer is crucial!"

Liu Yi thought for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"Of course, because our goal is to upgrade..."

Before Liu Yi finished speaking, deafening cheers erupted once again in the pub. Once upon a time, that goal was just a vague and unrealistic dream, because Leicester City's investment in the Championship was not high, and the team lacked a true flagship star. Over time, this goal had faded in the hearts of the fans.

Now, those two words, clearly uttered by the young Chinese singer, have reignited the burning desire that fans have been longing for.

"Promotion Play-offs!"

Fans inside the pub: ...

The tavern owner coughed and said, "The promotion playoffs, that's right. It's already quite an achievement for our lineup to make it into the top six. We shouldn't put too much pressure on them."

Liu Yi didn't dare to mention the upgrade because he was afraid of setting a flag.

In his past life, he borrowed two hundred yuan from a friend.

My friend asked when I would return.

Liu Yi replied: "I'll repay you when Italy makes it to the World Cup, and I'll repay you double when Italy makes it to the finals."

And then... there was no more.

Furthermore, Leicester City has too many points to close behind the top two, so they will most likely have to play in the playoffs.

Entering the playoff stage, it's still uncertain who will win and who will lose. In previous years, teams ranked third to sixth could all break through and secure the last ticket to the top league.

※※※

The next morning.

Liu Yi received a message from Raiola as soon as he woke up.

When analyzing Leicester City's sales data, team sponsor Puma made an unexpected discovery: the best-selling jersey number was 39.

Logically speaking, this is not a number that a main player should have.

John Adamson, the sneaker manager at Puma, keenly sensed that this was a sign of the beginning of a supernova's rise.

After reviewing Liu Yi's information, John Adamson felt even more strongly that signing him was imperative.

Hua Zi is the chosen one!

Manchester United account!

This is absolutely guaranteed to sell out!

"They offered 300,000 euros a year? Humph, that's too low! I told them nothing less than 500,000 euros!"

On the other end of the phone, Raiola appeared very assertive.

"What did they say?"

Liu Yi was vaguely worried.

Although he comes from Manchester United, raising prices is part of the Red Devils' DNA.

But you're raising it so high, aren't you afraid of scaring customers away?

"They said, 500,000 euros it is, three-year contract... Later I negotiated with them down to 600,000 euros, and they'll even give you a hefty signing bonus!"

Puma's quick agreement made the cunning and treacherous Raiola realize that he still wanted too little.

It's like buying something on Xianyu (a Chinese online marketplace). The original price is 200, and you immediately cut it in half, saying, "I'm a student, can I sell it for 100?"

The seller then said they'd sell it for 100, and even throw in a bag and free shipping...

After a moment of silence, Raiola asked, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"I have no objection."

"Okay, I'll go to Leicester in the next couple of days and we'll finalize the shoe endorsement deal!"

Liu Yi naturally had no objections.

Six hundred thousand euros a year!

That's more than his weekly wage!

Signing date.

John Adamson arrived at the Belvoir training facility with a thick stack of documents.

It tells the ancient epic stories of Pelé and Maradona in a captivating way.

Raiola remained outwardly calm, but his mind was actually preoccupied with figuring out how to negotiate the signing fee later.

After all, he also gets a cut; the more he talks, the more he gets.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Liu Yi standing to the side.

They also ignored Adamson's wildly imaginative talk.

Instead, he pulled out a piece of paper from the stack of documents and began to examine it carefully.

It turned out to be a contract clause.

Raiola sighed inwardly.

Balotelli's first shoe contract was with Nike.

Back then, the director of Hook also made similar grand promises.

As a result, Balotelli tricked him into signing the contract in a moment of impulse.

There aren't many smart kids like Liu Yi who know to read the contract first.

Raiola asked in a low voice, "Liu, how's it going?"

Liu Yi pointed to the contract: "Actually, there are a lot of words I don't understand..."

Liu Yi's English is indeed quite good, and he's also somewhat proficient in other languages ​​(for the badge's purpose), but he really can't understand some of the complex legal clauses!

Raiola was unaware of the joke about "James only reading the title page," otherwise he would surely be smiling knowingly at this moment.

"No problem, we have a professional legal team that will take care of everything for you."

"OK, no problem."

Regarding money, Liu Yi still trusted Raiola a lot.

An hour of long and tense negotiations passed.

Liu Yi and Raiola left the room satisfied with the 200,000 euro signing fee.

Liu Yi already had some ideas about how to use the signing fee.

You could buy a car and then make some other investments.

So... if I invest some cryptocurrency now, will I make a fortune later?!

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