From Arsenal to the Ball God

”But you should understand that all these are just small money, the big money is with Puma and in the bonus clauses.”

He wore a cunning expression, ”Take, for example, the upcoming Golden Boy Award. If you confirm the win, you’ll immediately receive a £2.6 million bonus.

”Puma is offering £1 million, and the two companies we just signed with are offering £800,000 each. After deducting taxes and fees, you’ll pocket around £1.33 million.”

Mendes looked up and said to Ma’el, ”Your savings must be nearing £5 million, right?”

”Not yet.”

Ma’el shook his head, calculated, and said, ”I spent a lot on buying equipment earlier, plus investment in the newspaper and other expenses... Once these endorsement fees come in, I’ll have about £3 million.

”Even if I win the Golden Boy Award, it’ll only be around £4.5 million. Still a long way to go.”

”That’s already great.” Mendes looked at Ma’el with envy in his eyes, ”When I was your age, I didn’t even have £10,000 in my pocket.

”And the money invested isn’t gone; that’s also considered your asset.”

Talking about this, he couldn’t help but sigh, ”Looking back, investing in Ins was incredibly worthwhile, it’s almost multiplied tenfold, hasn’t it?

”If I had known, I would’ve followed along and invested too. Unfortunately, I’m always cautious about industries I don’t understand, haha...”

He blew into his hands, then put an arm around Ma’el’s shoulder, ”Any way you count it, your assets are over £20 million now. What plans do you have with all this money?”

That was indeed a good question... Ma’el had never thought about it before. He looked up in thought.

He first examined what money represented to him internally.

He liked money, liked making money, for sure. He couldn’t say money was meaningless to him; money was very meaningful to him.

It’s a reflection of his social value. With money, he could do more things and fulfill most of his needs.

But when his money was enough to satisfy all his life’s desires, enough to buy private jets, yachts, and other big toys for men, enough to waste away a lifetime, what would he use his money for?

”Definitely to do something I want to do.”

He was sure of this, he wasn’t always interested in investing... and what he wanted to do was nothing other than the industry he was in now—football!

His love for sports was exceptional; it was a field that could bring extreme pleasure. Here, his spiritual realm was always full.

So, he might do as he once jokingly said, buy a football team for fun?

And then slowly expand into other sports, build a sports empire... flying around every week to watch his teams play, experiencing the joys of management and development, and the passion of various sports competitions?

He didn’t know, the future was uncertain; he’d just have to think about it for now.

”I want to buy a team.”

Ma’el expressed his idea to him, jokingly, ”If there’s a good lower-league team, Mr. Mendes, please let me know, keep an eye out for me.”

”Huh?” Mendes turned his head, raising an eyebrow, ”Are you serious?”

”Sort of, but not now.”

Ma’el smiled as he looked ahead, walking uphill, ”I love football. When I’ve earned all the honors as a player... if someday I don’t want to play anymore, being a club owner wouldn’t be bad.

”I might even coach... or even play again? Haha... just think of it as a wild dream.

”But those things are still too far away. For now, let’s focus on this Premier League season. Sometimes, planning too far ahead isn’t good.”

Mendes stared at Ma’el for a while, realizing he wasn’t joking, and then turned away, ”That’s a good idea. Though no one has done it, I’ll support you.

”Many lower-league teams aren’t too expensive. If you can bring Arsenal’s operational system back, find scouts who can spot ’Future Stars’, there’s still much potential.

”I always have a list of teams from investment banks. As you said, when you aren’t as inclined to play anymore, or when you want to be your boss, haha... forgive me, it’s indeed a bit absurd.

”Anyway, no matter what, when you have a plan, you can come to me. I’ll help you connect.”

Ma’el nodded and chatted casually for a while before seeing that it was getting late and preparing to return, ”See you tomorrow. Hopefully, this month’s Golden Boy Award will go smoothly.”

Right now, he was still focused on the player field, where everything still held a strong attraction for him.

He hoped his Grand Slam career would start from the Golden Boy Award at the end of the month, picking up the pace from there!

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