The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 143 - 51: High-Quality New Idol! A Metamorphic Upgrade! I Want to Become the Strongest Player in the World

Chapter 143: Chapter 51: High-Quality New Idol! A Metamorphic Upgrade! I Want to Become the Strongest Player in the World

Wang Shuo had originally thought that signing a contract with a Fortune 500 company would be a complicated affair.

It turned out not to be.

The two parties reviewed the contract. On Wang Shuo’s end, Thomas Essien had a professional lawyer look it over.

With everything in order, they signed the preliminary draft.

The entire process was surprisingly quick.

By the day before Mainz was set to travel to Berlin for their away match against Hertha Berlin, all the contracts had been finalized.

So, the signing ceremony was scheduled to take place in Frankfurt.

There was no helping it; Mainz was just a small town.

Besides, when the press release went out, the name "Frankfurt" carried more weight and seemed more impressive.

This time, Thomas Essien had targeted KFC and Coca-Cola.

And he had actually managed to land deals with both.

At first, Wang Shuo was left wondering, ’When did Thomas Essien get so damn good?’

As a former German national player, Thomas Tuchel told Wang Shuo that this was a standard move.

It was like how Barça’s jersey sponsor was Nike, so Adidas scrambled to sign Messi to a boot deal. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

It’s the same principle.

But for Mainz, this was truly unprecedented!

A small team like this usually struggled to even find a shirt sponsor, so how could one of its players possibly land an endorsement from a major brand?

They were lucky to get occasional invitations to commercial events.

But this time, Wang Shuo didn’t just sign one deal; he signed two new ones and renewed another, all at once.

And the Adidas deal was a global one!

"It’s simple. This proves they’re very optimistic about your future prospects. They must also think you have a strong chance of winning the European Golden Boy Award this time," Thomas Tuchel analyzed.

"How so?" Wang Shuo was quite curious.

Thomas Tuchel looked at the young man before him. He didn’t know much about the world of European professional football, but his potential was truly immense.

At the very least, he had extremely high hopes for Wang Shuo.

Crucially, he was humble and eager to learn.

"Wang, you grew up in China, so your perspective is likely different from ours. I can’t imagine how you view all this, but I want you to understand that behemoth brands like Adidas and Nike wield enormous influence in the world of sports."

"This is especially true for Adidas. In Europe, and particularly in football, their influence is immense—from the top echelons of FIFA and UEFA all the way down to the major leagues and even the lower divisions."

"So naturally, they have access to more inside information than anyone else."

Wang Shuo nodded repeatedly.

’So, if what Tuchel is saying is true, it means Adidas has information suggesting I have a real shot at the European Golden Boy Award.’

Wang Shuo couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

"Don’t get complacent, Wang. With these kinds of awards, anything can happen before the official announcement."

Tuchel hesitated for a moment, then decided to delve a little deeper.

"We live in a world where capital is king. Everything has its price."

"It’s like when Bayern wanted to sign you. Mainz wasn’t willing to sell, but that wasn’t because they didn’t *want* to sell. It was because Bayern’s offer wasn’t high enough."

"And it works the other way, too. Bayern has no untouchable players. They’d sell Ribery, they’d sell Thomas Müller. For a powerhouse club like them, no one is indispensable. Everyone has a price."

Tuchel lowered his voice as he continued, "It’s the same for the European Golden Boy Award from *Torino Sports Daily*. The votes held by the media outlets... they all have a price."

"When these media outlets cast their votes, they’re definitely thinking about their own angles and interests."

"For example, will the media in the United Kingdom vote for you?"

"The answer is yes."

"And why is that? Because they have to consider this: if they *don’t* vote for you, will their readers and advertisers think they lack credibility? And would that, in turn, affect their circulation and commercial value?"

It suddenly dawned on Wang Shuo. This was why Thomas Essien had told him he needed to give it his all on the field.

Perhaps Tuchel felt it was inappropriate to be explaining such deep, cynical truths about the world to an 18-year-old kid who was just starting out.

He quickly changed his tone, forcing a smile. "In any case, you don’t need to worry about all that right now. Just relax, focus on giving it your all, and put up better performances. That will make your case more convincing."

"Later on, you’ll realize that the European Golden Boy Award is actually quite fair. At least if you perform well, you have a chance of winning."

"There are some awards where, no matter how well you play, you’ll never even get shortlisted. Those are the exclusive property of the powerhouse clubs!"

Wang Shuo had seen the news back in China. He knew Tuchel was talking about the European Golden Ball Award and the World Footballer of the Year.

The European Golden Ball Award was actually considered one of the better ones, but it was still rife with controversy.

Some even suspected backroom deals were involved.

And it was even more blatant with the World Footballer of the Year award.

But what could you do?

It had FIFA’s backing.

That’s just part of the game!

...

It just goes to show, the paparazzi get into everything.

No sooner had Wang Shuo signed sponsorship deals with KFC and Coca-Cola and renewed his global endorsement contract with Adidas than the German media was there to break the story.

Wang Shuo’s sponsorship fee from KFC was a staggering 1 million euros.

The Coca-Cola deal was also for 1 million euros.

This immediately ignited a frenzy in the German media, and the news spread like wildfire.

Many media outlets started making comparisons to Barça’s Messi.