Chapter 456: Chapter 456
"Marca": "10 goals and 1 assist, double victory home and away against Yellow Submarine, Kevin is truly the greatest torpedo in history!"
"AS Newspaper": "Pele, during an interview, said there’s no need to compare his and Kevin’s strengths and weaknesses. As football evolves, even stronger number 10s will emerge."
"World Sports News": "Ronaldo escaping Madrid with 7.5 million Euros proves that Real Madrid is beginning to decline. Capello is wholly reliant on Kevin, and even Kevin can’t shatter the iceberg to save this about-to-capsize ship. In contrast, Ronaldo, Li, and Messi’s strongest frontline will unite once they recover, marking the official launch of the Dream Three Dynasty."
"The Times": "According to a survey, Kevin is the world’s wealthiest football player. During his 2-year stint in Milan, his salary and bonuses exceeded 10 million Euros, and endorsement income was about 40 million Euros. The loyalty bonus of 20 million Euros paid by Milan upon his departure, along with a 10 million Euros transfer share, made his commercial income skyrocket after joining Real Madrid. This combined income now nearly matches his two-year earnings in Milan. Additionally, the e-commerce company he and Barbara co-own is now highly sought after. With Wall Street’s bullish outlook on Raven E-Commerce, once the company goes public, Kevin’s net worth could easily exceed 2 billion USD, far surpassing that of an average player."
Seeing this news on the computer,
Huang Kaiwen felt their estimates were quite accurate.
He, Huang Kai, was uniquely blessed.
The "Yellow Ball King" dominated the vast Asian market almost exclusively, and his acceptance in Europe and America was high. If not for the lady’s cautious choice of endorsements, earning a decade’s worth of salary in a single year from endorsements alone wouldn’t be a problem for him.
As for the e-commerce company, Huang Kaiwen wasn’t very familiar with it.
That was all managed by the lady and her secretary.
The company was initially set up for a public listing to cash out. Transnational e-commerce is not easy to run, plus the high labor costs in Europe and varying national policies create many complications. It’s not like an American company that can dominate Europe easily.
The strategy of Raven E-Commerce now resembles that of Luckin Coffee, with various subsidies and high employee distribution rewards burning money to build a reputation, just waiting for an opportunity to go public at a high and let Wall Street foot the bill.
Then Huang Kaiwen checked The Sun newspaper’s website.
Checking news without seeing The Sun newspaper makes almost no difference.
Their gossip was quite interesting; concerning their third edition, Huang Kaiwen generally just skimmed through it, as he, the "Yellow Ball King," had never been interested in fabricated people.
On the front page, Huang Kaiwen saw news about Beckham.
Several years ago, Beckham’s fired personal assistant Rebecca admitted to the media that she had an affair with Beckham, and he often sent her sexually suggestive messages.
This woman, by disclosing some of Beckham’s secrets, earned millions annually. Recently, probably short of money, she started divulging again.
Huang Kaiwen shook his head and closed the webpage.
It could only be said that Beckham’s entire life was ruined by women, surrounded by several money-burning flames.
After lunch, Huang Kaiwen and his teammates went to a new event held by a sponsor.
Even though it was a day off,
attendance was required for events by such sponsors as Audi.
Each star could choose a car from the sponsor, and they could swap it for a new one when not in use.
It was said there was a class system in choosing cars; players with lower team status were not allowed to pick the better cars. Huang Kaiwen read about this in the newspaper, but he had yet to see any teammate being refused a car.
This car sponsor also required that players use their cars for travel as much as possible.
An hour and a half later, the event ended.
"Take a picture for us."
Huang Kaiwen pulled the five tigers together and said to the photographer at the scene.
It would probably be hard to gather such a capable and powerful lineup again in the future.
Huang Kaiwen felt a photo was necessary.
From the photo pose, one could see the players’ off-field personalities.
Pepe was really quiet off the field, and De Jong, the educated butcher, was not flamboyant.
The North-South duo just stood silently; their powerful dominance on the field was hard to see.
Guti, hands in pockets, posed coolly, while Cassano on the side made faces to draw attention.
Ramos and Huang Kaiwen stood together in the middle.
Click—As the flash fired, the precious moment was forever captured.
"Let’s go play at Kevin’s house,"
He had recently hired some race-experienced people to modify his racing car.
Now he was eager to test it out.
"Sure, I’m free today anyway,"
Cassano shouted excitedly.
He was still the king of racing.
At least he could lead a few teammates while playing, regaining a bit of the face he lost as a substitute.
Huang Kaiwen said to the other teammates, "Let’s all head over. If your family is free, invite them over for dinner too."
Since dinner is late in Spain, there’s plenty of time to prepare by calling Albert.
"Okay, I’ll let my family know,"
"Wait a second, Kevin,"
Calderon approached and said, "Your popularity in Japan is very high. Our sponsor hopes you can find time to attend an event there next time you’re injured."
His popularity in Japan wasn’t surprising; they admired strength, and with his current status, it would be strange if he wasn’t popular there.
The "Yellow Ball King" thought it would be good to reap benefits there when he had time; staying active could help him continue to harvest fans after retirement.