Now that Laporta had just been elected president of Barca, he immediately called Braida and told him to raise Li Mingyu's release clause.
Li Mingyu's release clause was currently only 50 million.
At Li Mingyu's current rate of progress, plenty of clubs would surely be willing to pay that much to sign him by this summer.
Li Mingyu might have been developed by Barca, but surely the club couldn't count on his affection for them!
So raising Li Mingyu's release clause had become an absolute necessity.
But raising the release clause meant increasing Li Mingyu's salary.
A salary of five million was nothing in Barca's eyes, but how much would they have to raise it for Li Mingyu to accept such a high release clause?
Three hundred million!
That was right: Laporta had set the release clause at 300 million.
Messi's release clause at Barca was currently 300 million. Another player had the same clause: their starting center back, Lenglet.
However, the Frenchman Lenglet had been playing so poorly that Barca was about ready to vomit blood. For half a year last year, his performances had been mediocre. He repeatedly gave away penalties and threw away the team's advantage.
Now, the 300-million release clause had become a laughingstock.
Still, Laporta was willing to take a gamble on Li Mingyu's talent.
However, Lenglet's salary was only 5.7 million, and there was no way Li Mingyu would accept the same. Even if he did, his agent certainly wouldn't.
"Hello, Mr. Andrew!"
"Hello, Mr. Braida!"
Andrew sat across from Braida in his office.
Li Mingyu's outstanding performances had left Andrew in high spirits.
"Mr. Braida, may I ask why you wanted me to come here today?"
Andrew wasn't famous, but he had a sharp instinct for these things. He'd already heard rumors, so he pretended not to know what was going on.
Braida smiled faintly. "First of all, we'd like to thank Li for his tremendous contribution to Barca."
Andrew smiled modestly and nodded.
Braida picked up a contract from beside him and slid it across to Andrew. "Our president personally said that the previous contract no longer reflected Li's performances. So I've drawn up a new one. Please take a look."
Andrew picked up the contract without showing any reaction. The terms at the beginning were mostly the same. He glanced over them and looked further down.
Contract term: 5 years.
Annual salary: 8 million euros.
Andrew's eyes lit up. Barca was certainly generous.
Three goals, and each one was worth a million euros!
A satisfied smile appeared on Andrew's face, but it vanished as soon as he looked further down.
Andrew put the contract down, his expression darkening. "Mr. Braida, please tell me this release clause is a joke."
Braida smiled faintly. "What's the problem?"
Andrew sat up straight, his expression serious. "The release clause is far too high. It's not appropriate. If I remember correctly, only Messi and Lenglet have a clause this high at Barca, right?"
Braida nodded. "That's right. It also shows how sincere we are. Li is a good player, and an outstanding graduate of our La Masia Youth Academy. We hope he'll stay at Barca for a long time. The clause is high, but it shows that we're willing to regard him as a pillar of the team, just like Messi."
Andrew shook his head. "No, no, those are two different things. My player likes Barca, and he came through Barca's La Masia Youth Academy, but that doesn't mean he has to stay at Barca for the rest of his life. A release clause this high would hurt my player, not protect him."
The two engaged in a heated debate in the office.
Andrew would never accept such a high release clause.
For an agent, a player's transfer fee was one of the biggest sources of income. If Li Mingyu signed this contract, he would effectively be unable to leave Barca for the next five years.
That would mean Andrew losing out on the commission from a transfer.
Li Mingyu might never transfer, but if Andrew couldn't keep that freedom in his own hands, what kind of agent would he be?
Normally, a release clause was ten times a player's annual salary. Of course, there was no official rule about it; it was simply customary.
So Andrew kept insisting that if Li Mingyu's salary was set at eight million euros, his release clause couldn't exceed 80 million.
In today's money-driven football market, an 80-million-euro release clause was nothing special. If Li Mingyu really proved as dominant as Messi, 80 million euros would be a joke.
Though they couldn't reach an agreement, they eventually parted on friendly terms, deciding to wait and see.
Laporta received a call from Braida. After a long silence, he said, "Then let's watch a few more matches. Tell Koeman I want to see Li's potential."
Andrew sought out Li Mingyu and told him what had happened.
Li Mingyu had deep feelings for Barca, but he wasn't a saint who would willingly take a loss, so he fully agreed with Andrew's approach.
Li Mingyu had no intention of leaving Barca. Playing for the club and partnering with Messi had been his childhood dream. Now that the dream had come true, he still hadn't won enough honors alongside Messi. How could he leave so easily?
If Barca's executives knew what Li Mingyu was thinking, they probably wouldn't be in such a hurry to renew his contract.
After all, if a player didn't want to leave, a release clause was just empty words.
Li Mingyu hadn't forgotten his earlier promise, either. After the team's big win that day, he invited his teammates to his family's restaurant to let them try a real Chinese feast.
As die-hard Barca fans, Li Mingyu's family were overjoyed to have the team visit.
Li Zhenfei pulled out all the stops, preparing a whole table of delicious Shandong dishes. The foreigners had never tasted authentic Chinese food before, and they ate until their mouths were greasy, praising it nonstop.
That did it: Li Family Restaurant became a sensation.
The new darling of Camp Nou, the restaurant owned by Li Mingyu's family, had become a must-visit spot for Barca fans!
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