The Coach's Thoughts

After a few days of brief negotiations, Dejan Lu and Suzuki reached an agreement.

The basic endorsement contract was $200,000 per year, for a single year, with Suzuki having the right of first refusal under equal conditions.

He would receive a fee of $20,000 for each appearance in mainstream newspapers and magazines, $50,000 for mainstream television broadcasts, and a share of sales based on event impact, with a minimum of $100,000.

If he appeared more than 20 times and won at least one championship at the end of the season, he would receive $200,000.

Simultaneously, the Suzuki Group would be responsible for his promotion in Japan, as well as the promotion of his works, and had already contacted Shonen Sunday, a magazine under Shogakukan.

The other party was very optimistic about Pokémon, and it made sense that Pikachu could conquer the world.

Moreover, Dejan Lu's story was more plausible than the original, with added depth.

This contract was already something the Suzuki Group had reluctantly offered.

The main reason was that player commercial value wasn't as exaggerated these days, and Dejan Lu was too young.

Players like Mancini who made it at 17 were rare; 22 was still considered young. Even a genius like Beckham at 20 was still on loan to a third-tier league.

Interestingly, the person coaching that Preston team was David Moyes.

Chiesa, Sampdoria's young forward, was facing a similar situation now.

The Suzuki Group worried that Sampdoria's coach, Boskov, wouldn't give Dejan Lu many opportunities.

After all, this was the common practice in football at the time.

Being a starter in a top league at 18, besides talent, required being in the right place at the right time, or having a starting player injured. Otherwise, even Totti would only get sporadic chances, sitting on the bench and waiting.

"I've sold off the properties in Reggio, about $420,000."

Dejan Lu said.

"I didn't expect Uncle to be so rich!" Monica exclaimed.

Italian housing prices were at a low point, with an income-to-price ratio of 8.0. In big cities, it would take a middle-class family eight years of combined income, without spending anything, to buy a house, which was around $100,000.

However, Italian housing prices had always been stable, peaking at just over 12. Even so, many young people didn't like buying houses, forcing the Italian government to continuously introduce various policies to subsidize home purchases.

It seemed Italians weren't very keen on property ownership. Even later, Milan's housing prices were only a little over 3,000 euros per square meter, meaning a couple working for a month could afford one square meter.

With this money, even in Milan or Rome, one could buy a very impressive villa.

"After all, he's been in business for many years, and he's very frugal," Dejan Lu said.

Chinese people have a habit of saving.

"When I have time, I'll ask my dad to chip in, and we'll buy a new house!" Monica said excitedly.

Although their current apartment was nice and the rent was cheap.

But decorating someone else's house always felt a bit off.

Dejan Lu gave a thumbs-up!

This was good news; he had always heard that his father-in-law was well-off.

Having run a trucking company for so many years, and with only this one beloved daughter, he would surely give a decent dowry, right?

There was only one place in the world where parents didn't worry about their children being mistreated for lacking a dowry, as that place truly played favorites.

"I have to go out with my teammates tomorrow to get familiar with them beforehand."

Dejan Lu said.

Another teammate had returned to Genoa.

Back then, the difference between superstars and ordinary people wasn't that significant. Even if they earned more, they didn't travel abroad frequently.

A trip would mean bringing back souvenirs for their teammates.

"You might be the first person to build good relationships with the entire team before the season even starts," Monica laughed.

Dejan Lu nodded.

Yesterday, he heard the team had signed Lombardo.

When training started, Lombardo would be surprised to find that while everyone else was new, the situation was completely different.

After dinner, they each went to their studies.

Dejan Lu continued drawing manga, planning to find a ghostwriter once things stabilized.

The biggest issue with this was the difference in Eastern and Western aesthetics.

Monica was good at drawing, but even her manga leaned towards the Marvel style.

Dejan Lu wasn't accustomed to overly realistic manga styles.

So, finding a ghostwriter would have to wait for later.

The story had reached a point where Ogawa was on a small boat crossing a river with a strange girl. The girl falsely accused Ogawa of touching her. After being unable to prove his innocence, he finally learned that sometimes one had to directly use force to protect oneself.

He figured Japanese men would deeply empathize with such a plot.

Next year, there would be the "work email harassment incidents," and Japanese feminism would reach its peak, leading Japanese men to refuse contact with them at work to prevent legal trouble.

When they were constantly looking for fault, the other party simply ignored you and competed with you. You couldn't compete with them as your physical and mental energy levels were not on the same plane. This was why Japanese women became housewives.

The establishment of the General Affairs Department later was merely to meet the legally mandated number of female employees.

Ultimately, it was about giving them some errand-running jobs to avoid public scrutiny, while not daring to let them take responsibility for important tasks to prevent issues with "data workers" or false accusations. It was a way to find a place to settle them.

The trend of women returning to the home, which would later become popular in Europe and America, was a similar situation.

Others had too many buffs; they couldn't win in a fight and work was too tiring and competitive.

Monica showed no reaction to the new plot.

This was the advantage of Italy.

The next morning, Dejan Lu took Mancini with him to Verchowod's house again.

Vialli was already playing Dungeons & Dragons with young Verchowod and a few others.

Mancini teased their host, "Gianluca, you look like a pervert playing such childish things, and you like those swinging movie costumes too."

"Aren't you enjoying it just as much?" Vialli retorted.

Dejan Lu laughed and said, "There's nothing wrong with liking movie and game merchandise. Roberto is just too conservative. Maybe in a few days, we'll see him dragging women into the streets to burn them."

The group slapped their thighs and burst into laughter.

Verchowod's mother played along, joking, "We don't have any witches in our family, so don't arrest me."

Mancini rolled his eyes fiercely.

He realized he couldn't win an argument with Dejan Lu at all, which resulted in his sharp tongue always backfiring.

It was best not to say too much at times like these.

Young Verchowod, who had just returned from football summer camp, waved and said, "Come play with us."

It was his first time meeting Dejan Lu, but he acted very familiar.

Verchowod liked to invite his teammates over to eat the meals his mother cooked.

"Are you scared, Roberto?"

Vialli taunted.

"Who's scared? I'm coming," Mancini sat down and started learning the rules.

Dejan Lu had played before, but he didn't know their specific rules.

Many board games had house rules that players added themselves.

After playing for over an hour, Mancini complained, "This is so boring, I'm not playing anymore."

"You're clearly not playing it well,"

Vialli said.

"Then how do we make it interesting?" Dejan Lu asked back. "Should we randomly pick a player to play Louis XVI?"

While he was frequently gathering with his teammates, Boskov was also racking his brain over Dejan Lu.

It was the first time he had seen a player become so popular before even playing.

The Yugoslavian coach had several English newspapers on his desk.

His English wasn't very good, but he could look at the pictures.

The front pages of newspapers like The Sun, The Times, and Corriere della Sera were all filled with photos of Dejan Lu.

He had also heard that Dejan Lu had received a large sum of endorsement fees.

He was unsure how to handle such a flamboyant young man.

Even Mancini had been a bit reserved in his youth.

But Dejan Lu's confidence was overflowing.

He turned to his assistant and asked, "How should we treat Dejan?"

"Limit his actions within a certain scope and give him enough freedom?" the assistant coach Narciso Pezzotti said uncertainly.

Not many players in Serie A had endorsement contracts.

He had never dealt with such a situation before.

"No!"

Boskov shook his head. "I think Dejan is still too young. I'm afraid he'll get lost in the praise from the media and fans, so we need to temper his mentality as much as possible this season."