Jorge Mendes.

A controversial name in European football.

On April 19, 2004, 40 kilometres north of Porto, four people ate in an extremely low-key manner at the Lo restaurant, but the restaurant was even closed.

The four men were Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, chief executive Kenyon, then Porto boss Jose Mourinho and Jose Mendes, Mourinho's agent, and Mendes Mendes, the man who formed the game.

Jose Mourinho originally wanted to coach Liverpool, who were his dream team, but Mendes convinced Mourinho that London had more resources and freedom.

After successfully sending Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United in 2004, Mendes sent a number of players and Mourinho to Chelsea, earning Porto the biggest ever income and his first career breakout.

From then on, the whole of Europe knew Mendes' name.

Europe has mixed reviews.

In the football agent industry, Mendes is a guiding light for success.

In the professional football industry, many people want to sign Mendes, which means that 'maybe you can become a star in the future' and 'you can be operated into a big club'.

The impression of Mendes at club level is one of polarisation.

Most of the club owners and managers who are in poor financial condition have negative evaluations of Mendes, because Mendes represents the interests of the players and always tries his best to fight for the players' income, bonuses, etc., which will definitely damage the interests of the club, they call the agent a 'vampire', Mendes is the vampire of the vampires, the 'cancer of football'.

The big clubs with the money have the opposite impression of Mendes, who see him as a 'friend who must be friends', and Mendes has a lot of good players at his disposal, and many top clubs want to get them.

Newcastle United is not a big club, they have a barely glorious history, but the past is gone, in the eyes of most fans, they are just the second tier of the Premier League, and Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, less competitive than the Premier League four Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

It's hard for such a team to welcome Mendes.

But it's hard to say.

This year's Newcastle United is a little different, with the club's stake being bought and new owner Michael Ashley taking over, leaving Newcastle United fans with some anticipation.

Michael Ashley runs a huge sporting goods company with over £100 million in annual revenue and over £3 billion in total assets.

What this level of richness can bring to Newcastle United is indeed worth looking forward to.

Many Newcastle United fans have already looked up to the rising Chelsea.

They're kind of overthinking.

Michael Ashley is a pure businessman, not a football lover, buying Newcastle United only because he saw the earning power of Premier League clubs.

That's all.

In terms of investing in sports clubs, Michael Ashley still has experience, he knows that he must invest first to generate a steady stream of output, after officially taking over the club, Ashley also has a plan to use funds, the most important job is to pay off past debts, and the second point is the summer transfer.

Summer transfers are important.

When a new owner takes over and wants to get the support of the fans, he has to invest a certain amount in the transfer market, and Ashley has about £40 million on the board.

Ashley's statement on Allardyce was: "You have the control in the recruitment process and you can decide to sign any player, but you can't spend more than £30 million on transfers. ”

He left room for ten million pounds.

In fact, before Allardyce took office, Newcastle United began to compete for Zhen Shaolong, and the manager of the transfer department also recommended Zhen Shaolong to Ashley.

After witnessing the League Cup final, Allardyce immediately decided to sign Zhen Shaolong, Ashley also agreed, whether Zhen Shaolong can adapt to the Premier League and what his future performance will be, it is not Ashley's professional job, he has handed it over to Allardyce and other professionals to evaluate, he only needs to consider the money involved-

How much is the transfer fee?

What is the salary?

So it was Ashley himself who negotiated with Mendes, who was also a cunning businessman who had been dealing with Mendes for several days.

The focus of the negotiations between the two sides is not on the transfer fee.

Mendes knew the situation of St. Pauli Club and Zhen Shaolong, and the transfer fee was basically set at 25 million euros.

This price will please St. Pauli.

The dispute between the two sides is only over the salary contract, with Mendes emphasizing Zhen's strength, performance, and commercial value on Zhen.

Zhen Shaolong's signing of Pepsi Cola and Cindani brands is also Mendes' confidence, and both signings show that the world brand company is looking at him.

Mendes asked for £12 million a year.

"Zhen Shaolong scored 41 league goals and is this year's European Golden Boot winner, and he also scored 33 goals in the UEFA Cup."

"A striker who is the best in the world, the most efficient, and recognized as the number one in footwork, deserves the highest salary!"

Ashley is completely unacceptable, his bottom line is around eight million pounds, Michael Owen, who plays for Newcastle United, has an annual salary of only six million pounds, and the annual salary of eight million pounds is quite amazing, which can be compared with Ballack, who signed for Chelsea. (Ballack is free to move to Chelsea, and his annual salary after tax is 'said' to be £6.2 million, which translates to nearly £10 million before tax)

Ashley still takes into account that Zhen Shaolong's transfer fee is 'discounted', if it is purchased at a normal price, the club will have to pay more, and it is naturally impossible to give such a high salary.

The two sides were at a stalemate for a long time.

In the end, Mendes consulted Alice and persuaded Ashley to grit his teeth and agree to a multi-million pound contract with a "one-year underperforming pay cut clause".

The meaning of the "one-year poor performance pay cut clause" is already obvious, that is, if you do not perform well in a season, the salary will drop by a percentage, and the salary will be cut by 20% every year.

This clause details the description of poor performance, which roughly means that Zhen Shaolong's average goal rate of 90 minutes, less than one goal in three games, and the total number of goals in a single season does not exceed 12, the automatic salary reduction clause will be activated.

Meantime.

Mendes also talked about the 'salary increase clause', similar to the 'salary reduction clause', Zhen Shaolong's total number of goals in a single season, more than 30, will automatically activate the salary increase clause, and the salary increase every year is also 20%.

The contract is for a period of four years.

Salary in the data --

Zhen Shaolong has performed well continuously, getting 10 million pounds in the first year, 12 million pounds in the second year, 14.4 million pounds in the third year, 17.28 million pounds in the fourth year, and 53.68 million pounds in the highest four years.

Zhen Shaolong has performed poorly in a row, with £10 million in the first year, £8 million in the second year, £6.4 million in the third year and only £5.12 million in the fourth year, with a total minimum salary of £29.52 million.

All of the above is before tax.

This contract is very satisfactory to both parties, and the next thing is to see if Zhen Shaolong decides to sign the contract.

————

After Zhen Shaolong heard the details of the new contract, he immediately felt extremely satisfied.

Anyone wants to make more money.

A heavyweight contract with an annual salary of tens of millions of pounds was unthinkable before, and the "salary increase clause" made him even more satisfied, and no one was more confident in his performance than him.

Thirty goals in a season?

If you only consider the 38 games in the Premier League, plus some games cannot be played, it seems that there is still a certain difficulty, but there are still two cups in the Premier League, and the team has better results, so you can participate in the Champions League and the League Cup.

"It can definitely be done!"

Zhen Shaolong had the heart to agree directly, but he still decided to think carefully, mainly waiting for the results of Arsenal's negotiations, Newcastle United and Arsenal made a choice, and he still preferred Arsenal.

This is not some kind of 'wealthy plot'.

Arsenal is the 'Premier League semi-final', and they will qualify for the Champions League next season, the Champions League is the big stage, and he also hopes to stand on the big stage quickly, in addition, he has talked carefully with Wenger himself, and feels that Wenger is a good coach.

The next day, the news came.

Arsenal were only willing to pay a weekly salary of 100,000 pounds, with a lot of promises of treatment, and manager Arsene Wenger personally received Mendes, and also showed that he would value Zhen Shaolong very much.

With the permission of Wenger himself, Mendes also made a special recording.

"He'll definitely be the core workhorse!"

"He's going to be the most important player in the tactical system and I'm going to build a strategy specifically for him!"

"He will be the backbone of the next ten years of Arsenal's attack!"

“……”

If it is an ordinary young player, who has received such an enthusiastic promise from a world-famous coach and has received the maximum salary of the Arsenal club, he will definitely decide to join the flames.

Zhen Shaolong only felt that Wenger was 'cheating' himself, mainly because of Newcastle United's treatment. Newcastle United are willing to pay a four-year, £50 million contract, and Arsenal more than double their salary.

Does this still need to be considered?

"It's Newcastle!"

After struggling for a whole night, Zhen Shaolong finally decided.

Alice's comment on this is, "Indeed, no one can refuse an annual salary of tens of millions, and the unit is still pounds, even before tax is very attractive." ”

"So...... I'm finally on the verge of buying a sports car! ”

Alice couldn't help but give Zhen Shaolong a warm kiss.

Zhen Shaolong enjoyed the gentleness for a while, then pursed the corners of his mouth disdainfully, and secretly discussed, "Women are money, money, money!" Buying a sports car? Buying a bag? Buy this and buy that, I chose Newcastle not because of money, but because of ...... To lead Newcastle United to glory! ”

"I'm a great player!"

"I'm a player with a dream!"

Of course.

Zhen Shaolong just thought about it, and he could only curse secretly, "Damn the system, you can't even pretend to be a B!" ”

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