Contract negotiations could not be completed in a single day, especially when they involved detailed clauses. To avoid hidden traps in the contract, professionals had to examine it carefully, clause by clause.
Lin Feng's older brother, Lin Feng, happened to have connections in this field. He used his network to invite a legal expert to help Lin Feng review it.
After studying it carefully, the expert found no major issues and basically ruled out the possibility of hidden landmines in the contract.
"From what I can see, the contract Inter Milan offered has no major problems, but there are several details that require special attention!"
Hearing his brother's analysis, Lin Feng sat up straight and listened attentively.
"First, the contract term is too long. This contract lasts five years.
"A large part of why Inter Milan offered you such a high salary is because of the long contract period."
"Second, Inter Milan will own all of your Portrait Rights. That will be unfavorable for your commercial development. After all, behind you is a massive market with 1.3 billion people!"
"So my suggestion is to shorten the contract term and fight for all or at least part of the Portrait Rights."
Because of his profession, he had long tracked commodity price trends as well as fluctuations in everyday consumer goods.
So he knew better than anyone just how severe inflation had been in Europe and America over the past few years.
And that inflation was bound to spill over into football.
The evidence was the constantly soaring transfer fees in the Football World over recent years.
Before the millennium, the highest transfer record in football was still Inter Milan's purchase of Vieri from Lazio for 50 million dollars, equivalent to 42.5 million Euros.
But in just two years, nine players had broken that record.
Zidane, in particular, raised the transfer record by nearly double with an astronomical fee of 76 million Euros!
Matching the roller-coaster-like rise in transfer fees were the players' annual salaries.
Before 2000, there were very few players in the entire Football World earning more than 5 million Euros a year.
But by now, football's highest annual salary had long surpassed 10 million Euros, and even the average annual salary at some elite clubs exceeded 5 million Euros.
From today's standpoint, the 3 million Euro annual salary Inter Milan offered was indeed very high.
But what about five years from now?
Such salaries might become commonplace, and even young players with a bit of ability could receive that kind of pay.
Lin Feng had never doubted his brother's professional abilities. He always followed one principle: leave professional matters to professionals.
As a Reborn person, he naturally knew that player values and salaries would skyrocket a few years later.
Yet his brother had keenly noticed this simply from commodity futures price trends.
As expected of a top student from Cambridge University. Impressive!
Following his brother's advice, Lin Feng informed Inter Milan of his conditions.
He mainly made two demands:
1. He could accept a slightly lower annual salary, but the contract term had to be reduced to three years.
2. He demanded one hundred percent of his Portrait Rights!
Facchetti was furious when he saw Lin Feng's two conditions.
"Who does this guy think he is? Raul is the only person in the entire Football World with one hundred percent of his Portrait Rights! He's Real Madrid's standard-bearer. Not just anyone can receive Raul's treatment!"
The main reason Facchetti flew into such a rage was Lin Feng's second condition.
Inter Milan had chosen to sign Lin Feng for a high price not only because of his ability, but also because of the enormous market behind him.
Many European clubs brought in Chinese players with the intention of developing the Chinese market.
Inter Milan naturally wanted a piece of that pie as well!
Under such circumstances, of course they were unwilling to hand over Lin Feng's Portrait Rights.
If they gave away all the Portrait Rights, how were they supposed to develop the Chinese market?
But the other side had made concessions on the annual salary. If Inter Milan made no concessions at all, the negotiations could not continue.
Seeing Facchetti lose his temper, Branca and Oliari exchanged glances, both looking helpless.
Chairman Moratti had specifically ordered them to sign Lin Feng. They had come carrying out Moratti's assignment and did not have much authority to decide matters themselves.
Facchetti could throw a tantrum all he wanted, but it would not help solve the problem in the slightest.
If they ruined the negotiations, they would not be able to answer for it when they returned.
So, after Facchetti had calmed down a little, Branca cautiously asked:
"Chairman, if you feel this matter is too difficult and beyond your authority, perhaps you could call Chairman Moratti and ask for his opinion."
Italy, Milan City.
Inside a luxurious villa by Lake Como, Inter Milan's Leader, Moratti, was hosting a guest—a legendary veteran, Siniša Mihajlović!
"Have you really made up your mind?"
Moratti looked solemnly at Mihajlović and asked for confirmation again and again.
"Yes. I'm old. I can't play anymore. The era of old men like us is over. It's time to make way for the young."
Mihajlović nodded seriously, his eyes filled with endless nostalgia, as though he were reminiscing over the fifteen years he had spent in Serie A.
Moratti sighed and did not try to persuade him to stay.
Born in 1969, Mihajlović was already thirty-six this year. It was indeed time for him to retire.
There was still some fuel left in his tank, and he could have held on for another year or two.
But just as Mihajlović himself had said, he wanted to leave the pitch as a great player, rather than linger until he was too old to play another match.
Although Moratti deeply regretted it, he did not ask him to stay. He could not bear to ruin the other man's final dignity.
Still, the departure of another veteran player left him deeply emotional.
With Mihajlović's retirement, players born in the 1960s would completely leave the stage of history.
Those once-familiar names were gradually being forgotten amid generation after generation of replacement.
The continual fading of veterans like Mihajlović made Moratti even more eager to bring fresh blood into the team.
So after receiving Facchetti's call, Moratti quickly gave his answer:
"Keep the annual salary unchanged. Agree to their request to shorten the contract, but add a release clause.
"Give them a fifty percent concession on Portrait Rights. If he is willing to hand over all his Portrait Rights, we can raise his salary."
After hanging up, Moratti thought of the conditions the other side had proposed and curled his lips into a smile.
Instead of wanting a tangible annual salary, he insisted on those elusive Portrait Rights.
After all, many players' Portrait Rights were not worth that much. Not everyone could have enormous commercial value like Beckham.
Yet the other side had insisted on it. There could only be one explanation:
He was extremely confident in his own ability and believed commercial development could earn him far more than his annual salary.
"What an ambitious fellow. He's becoming more and more interesting."
After receiving Moratti's approval, Facchetti finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With the latest terms in hand, the two sides began a new round of negotiations.
After some back-and-forth bargaining, they finally reached an agreement.
Inter Milan shortened Lin Feng's contract to three years. His annual salary remained unchanged at 3 million Euros per year, but the contract included an 80 million Euro release clause.
As compensation, Inter Milan would also pay the player an additional signing bonus totaling around 1.5 million Euros.
In addition, the club and player would each hold fifty percent of Lin Feng's personal Portrait Rights, and Inter Milan promised to give Lin Feng certain preferential treatment in commercial development.
Once the terms were settled, Lin Feng readily signed the contract and officially became a member of the Nerazzurri.
Before you continue