The team flew from Madrid to Tokyo, racing toward the FIFA Club World Cup title that was already within reach, but Real Madrid's management, which had remained in Madrid, was anything but idle.
In fact, Head of Commerce José Sánchez had already flown to Tokyo twice in the past month. He was mainly handling Real Madrid's commercial operations and promotional campaigns in Japan during the FIFA Club World Cup, while also finalizing partnerships with several companies.
This was also thanks to Yang Yang. None of his personal sponsors were Japanese companies. Sony, Toyota, Honda, and other Japanese corporations had all offered Yang Yang astronomical contracts, but he had rejected them. Yet Yang Yang's popularity in Japan was simply too immense, so many Japanese companies had adopted an indirect strategy: sponsoring Real Madrid.
Combined with Real Madrid's results in European and world football over the past few years, this had made the club extraordinarily successful commercially. Its revenue had grown by double digits year after year, repeatedly reaching new highs.
According to José Sánchez's preliminary estimate, barring any surprises, Real Madrid's revenue this season would reach another historic high. This was precisely thanks to the club's surging results and the coaching partnership between Zidane and Yang Yang.
Real Madrid now had big-name stars from the coaching bench to the substitutes' bench. It was equally unstoppable in the commercial market, and its only hidden danger was Yang Yang's contract renewal.
As a club with a mature and rigorous management system, Real Madrid had a complete set of procedures for evaluating players.
Everyone in the world knew that Yang Yang was vital to Real Madrid, but only the club's commercial department knew that his financial contribution to Real Madrid far exceeded outside estimates. Behind Yang Yang stood the enormous Chinese and Asian markets,