Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 373: The No. wage earner in football?
A weekly salary of $260,000 sounds like a lot, and it actually is.

This is double the 130,000 weekly salary that Ling Feng currently receives!
And it is the second highest salary in the entire Premier League after Rooney!

However, this did not meet Mendes' psychological expectations.

In Mendes' view, Ling Feng is Manchester United's savior and a superstar who has the ability to compete for the Golden Ball!
Comparing with Ibrahimovic who Manchester United just signed for free, although Ling Feng’s transfer fee is expensive, he is definitely more cost-effective!
The 34-year-old Ibrahimovic is already in the twilight of his career and his strength is declining;

The 21-year-old Ling Feng is rising, with unlimited possibilities and huge room for improvement!

The difference between the two is like that between an old man in his twilight years and a young man in his prime.

For Manchester United, Ibrahimovic is a short-term combat force and will be used for two years at most.

But Ling Feng is not only a combat force, but also the cornerstone of the team for the next ten years!
A superstar like this only gets a weekly salary of 10,000 higher than Ibrahimovic, which does not match his identity and positioning!
"My client is the best player in the Premier League! Therefore, he must get the best weekly salary!"

So, Mendes directly offered a staggering figure of three hundred and fifty thousand!

As for Mendes's big mouth, Woodward showed no shock or anger at all, but smiled faintly:

"If Ling Feng had won the Ballon d'Or, I would be very willing to pay him that kind of salary. But he hasn't won it yet, has he?"

This sentence is somewhat direct and somewhat offensive.

Ling Feng couldn't help but complain in his heart:
Damn, if I already have the Ballon d'Or, why would I transfer to Manchester United?!

Do you think your management is stupid? Or do you think you have traffic?!

Of course, negotiation.

Isn't it just a game where you give me a price that is hard for me to accept, and then I offer you a price that is hard for you to accept, and finally both parties reach a price that is acceptable to both of us?
After a heated debate, the two sides reached a preliminary consensus on a weekly salary of 290,000 yuan.

A weekly salary of £290,000 is the second highest salary at Manchester United and also the second highest salary in the entire Premier League!

Firstly, as a new player who has just joined the team, even if Manchester United regards him as the cornerstone of the team's revival, it is impossible for his weekly salary to exceed that of Rooney, the veteran and captain who has played for the team for many years.

If you are a newcomer who has not brought anything to the team, but you are given the highest salary on the team, it will definitely have a huge impact on the locker room.

However, as the most famous and strongest player in the team, Ling Feng's value cannot be ignored!
Therefore, a weekly salary of £290,000, second only to Rooney, is a very reasonable figure.

290,000 per week, 52 weeks per year
This means that after Ling Feng transfers to Manchester United, he will receive an annual salary of 15 million pounds (18 million euros) before tax!

This annual salary is enough for him to surpass Neymar and become the highest-paid player in today's football world after Messi, Ronaldo and Rooney!

Moreover, in order to make compensation, Woodward proposed bonus clauses such as goal bonuses and assist bonuses, helping the team win the Premier League or Champions League, being selected into the best team of the year, being shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or, etc.

If all the bonus clauses in the contract are fulfilled, Ling Feng's weekly salary can even reach an astonishing $500,000 per week!
Directly surpassing Messi and Ronaldo to become the number one wage earner in football!
It is worth mentioning that Woodward did not want to include a penalty clause in Ling Feng’s contract.

From the club's perspective, he certainly hopes that Ling Feng will stay in Manchester United.

However, Mendes believes that leaving a way out in everything may give both parties some wiggle room.

After negotiations between the two parties, Ling Feng’s penalty for breach of contract was initially set at 5 million euros!
This penalty figure is actually equivalent to nothing.

Because both sides believe that no football club would pay 500 million euros just to buy a player!
Even if this player is the strongest in football.
After discussing the weekly salary, the two sides conducted a second round of preliminary negotiations on image rights.

Image rights are a very important part of players’ income.

What are players’ image rights?
This includes the player's appearance, name, signature, nickname, voice and even iconic celebration methods, etc. As long as it is related to the player, it is generally covered by portrait rights.

Just like Ling Feng’s iconic “King of the World” celebration, if any company or individual wants to use it, they must obtain the consent of the owner of the portrait rights, Ling Feng, and pay a fee.

Of course, if Ling Feng himself agrees, it can be used for free.

With Mendes' extremely professional agent, Ling Feng established his own image rights company two years ago.

However, compared to La Liga, which likes to take the image rights of players and share the profits, the Premier League is much more relaxed about the image rights of players.

Most Premier League clubs have the right to use players' image rights for free.

However, for some superstars with higher commercial value, the club will generally pay a usage fee.

And this money will be handed over to the players in the form of salary.

And considering that Ling Feng will inevitably become a world-famous superstar like Beckham in the future under Manchester United's brand promotion, Woodward naturally also hopes to get a share of Ling Feng's face.

Therefore, he hopes to take away 50% of Ling Feng's image rights.

This means that Manchester United Club can obtain 50% of Ling Feng’s image rights income!
However, this proposal was rejected very firmly by Mendes!
Most Premier League teams only have the right to use the image rights of players in the game, and do not have the right to share in the profits of the players' image rights.

What's more, with Ling Feng's current popularity in British football and even world football, the royalties from his image rights alone can bring Ling Feng an income of more than 10 million pounds a year!
Manchester United offers an annual salary of more than 10 million pounds, and then takes 50% of the income from image rights, which is equivalent to a share of more than 5 million pounds!
This is definitely unacceptable to Ling Feng and Mendes!

Woodward's attitude is also very firm.

The reason why these senior executives chose Ling Feng was because of his outstanding image and huge commercial value, which could bring considerable commercial income to Manchester United.

You know, when Beckham and Manchester United fell out, in addition to the much-rumored "flying shoes gate", it was also partly due to image rights.
One can imagine the importance of portrait rights.

In addition to the issue of image rights, Ling Feng, as the most commercially valuable player in British football today, has more than a dozen sponsors!
Since Ling Feng's personal sponsor and Manchester United's official commercial partner have brand competition in areas such as automobiles and watches, the two sides have a lot of details to finalize.

For example, Manchester United signed a seven-year contract worth £7 million with the American car manufacturer Chevrolet, while Ling Feng is the spokesperson for Land Rover;
In terms of watch endorsements, Manchester United's official spokesperson is Bulova, while Ling Feng endorses Hublot watches.

There are many more examples like this.

These are important details that require careful negotiation between Mendes and Manchester United.

Of course, this was only the first meeting between the two sides.

As long as a preliminary joining agreement is reached, the remaining negotiations can be completely handed over to Ling Feng's agency team and the club's negotiation team.

Finally, this meeting, which would be called the "great meeting" by fans in the future, ended successfully after an hour!

. . .

"I hope our next meeting will be at Carrington Base"

"hope so."

Just as Ling Feng and Mendes escorted Woodward and Mourinho out of the villa, at the same time.
On a private speedboat on the sea about 500 meters away from the coastline.

"Finally I caught you!"

Boris, the chief reporter of The Sun, was wearing an orange life jacket, and his sparse hair was flying in the wind. In his hands, he was holding a camera with a scary-looking lens, pointing it in the direction of the holiday villa on the island.

This guy can definitely be called Ling Feng's "loyal fan"
But he is different from ordinary fans.

Ordinary fans regard Ling Feng as an idol and role model, but he regards Ling Feng as a cash cow!

Two years ago, it was by following the scandal between Ling Feng and Kendall in the United States that Boris made his first fortune from being a small reporter for The Sun.

Over the next two years, he continued to follow Ling Feng, and photos of him and his girlfriend, as well as photos of him attending various private events, became the main source of gossip reports for The Sun.

As Ling Feng became more and more famous in British football and even in world football, the photos he took became more and more valuable. He was even valued by the Sun and became the chief reporter!
As the chief reporter of The Sun, his purpose of appearing here this time is different from that of other paparazzi.

He didn't come here to take some intimate photos of Ling Feng and his supermodel girlfriend.

But it was to take precious photos of Ling Feng having intimate contact with women other than his girlfriend!

Of course, if it’s a man, it would be even better!
However, security is tight around the holiday villa.

It was impossible for outsiders to get close or sneak in, let alone him, a paparazzi with a camera.

Therefore, in order to capture Ling Feng's exclusive and explosive news, he spent a lot of money to rent a speedboat and disguised himself as a tourist viewing the scenery on the sea.

Then, look for the most suitable time and angle, and quietly wait for the overwhelming wealth to fall upon you.
Just an hour ago, when he found that Ling Feng had left the beach and returned to the villa alone after receiving a phone call, he realized that

He originally thought that Ling Feng was going to have a secret meeting with a woman, or even a man.

But he didn't expect that the person Ling Feng met was the CEO of Manchester United Club and the famous Mourinho!

Although it is not the kind of gossip that people like to hear.

However, Boris's keen sense of news made him realize how valuable the news of Ling Feng's meeting with Manchester United's CEO and head coach was!

"Now I'm rich!"

However, just as he was absorbed in taking photos of Ling Feng, Woodward and Mourinho, his identity was exposed by his overly professional camera equipment!

Some security guards on the beach saw this man holding a "cannon" towards them and immediately realized that something was wrong.

Several security guards immediately started the motorboat on the beach and headed towards the speedboat.

At this time, Boris, who was reminded by the speedboat captain, finally reacted.

He quickly put down the camera and immediately shouted:

"Hurry up and start the boat, let's retreat!"

As a veteran paparazzi, Boris was naturally fully prepared to be discovered by the subject's bodyguards and security.

He disassembled the camera and lens and put them into the box, while sitting tightly in his seat, letting the speedboat man drive the boat.

The guy on the speedboat may often take people out to sea, so his driving skills are very good.

In addition, he was very familiar with the local waters and quickly shook off the security guards chasing him with a graceful tailspin on the sea.

After a chase on the sea, Ling Feng learned from his bodyguard that a paparazzi was taking pictures on the sea with a huge lens.

The first reaction when Ling Feng heard the news was that damn paparazzi who had been secretly taking pictures of him for two years!
"Damn it, it must be that Boris guy again!"

And he was not wrong.

The next day.

The Sun broke the explosive news of Ling Feng's private meeting with Manchester United's CEO and coach before all other media outlets did!
The photo of Ling Feng with Woodward and Mourinho immediately caused an earthquake in the British football world!
The source of the photo is Ling Feng’s exclusive photographer and chief reporter of The Sun—David Boris!

The Foxes fans were naturally heartbroken about the fact that Ling Feng met with Manchester United executives in private.

It was hard for them to imagine and accept the cruel fact that "losing Ling Feng" was about to become a reality.

Manchester United fans, on the other hand, were confused and puzzled:
"What? My demon has come into contact with Ling Feng?!"

"What the hell! Mourinho plus Lingfeng? Am I dreaming?!"

"Let's all go, we are just a tool for them to raise prices."

Fans of other giants rushed to the club's official website and social media and began to flood the screen with messages:
"What are the club's top brass doing? Are they playing golf? Manchester United has taken action, what about you?!"

"Where's my car? Abu, come out and grab it!"

On the other side, Ling Feng, who was far away in Sardinia, was also browsing social media and reading news like an ordinary fan.

At the beginning, he was afraid that the news of his transfer application and rumors with other giants would make the Foxes fans very angry with him.

Just go to his social media account and curse him, or be more radical and burn your own jersey on live broadcast.

However, the reaction of the Foxes fans to his transfer application and the rumored affair with Manchester United made Ling Feng feel relieved.

Fortunately, he did not listen to Mendes' advice and left the team last summer, but left after helping Leicester City win the Premier League and Europa League titles this year.

If I leave when the team has just achieved results and needs me the most, I will definitely be regarded as a traitor;
But leaving after helping the team to the top of the league is called retiring with honor!

As the first team he played for and the team his mother supported since childhood, Ling Feng has a special feeling for Leicester City.

Even if he were to join a bigger club, he didn't want to fall out with Leicester City.

Of course, Ling Feng is still very grateful to Mendes.

Because there is a reason why the media guide public opinion and let the public know that Ling Feng is very loyal to Leicester City.

And that reason is Mendes!
In order to prevent Ling Feng's personal image and reputation from being affected by the transfer, Mendes used his own connections and relationships to get major media newspapers and magazines to write articles and manipulate public opinion to speak well of Ling Feng.

Therefore, the Foxes fans do not think that Ling Feng, who is about to leave, is a traitor at all.

Instead, they gave him a thumbs up and praised him for his "loyalty and righteousness"

After all, except Ling Feng himself, no one would have known that Leicester City would be able to create the biggest miracle in the history of the Premier League a year ago!

(End of this chapter)