232. Negotiation (2) (Content Supplement)
“Of course.”
“Then, could you please leave for AC Milan for half a season for the sake of the club?”
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”
Calderon spoke directly.
“You are the star of our club. I am very sorry and sorry to say this to you, but the club’s financial condition has not been good recently. “You probably know it too… Please think about the state of the club.”
“So you’re telling me to leave the team for a while for the sake of the club?”
“I won’t deny it. But you also have a good point. “Let me hear the conditions first.”
The first condition is that some of the advertising models held by world sports giants such as Italian fashion, automobiles, perfume, and telecommunications will be released.
A proposal to make her the main model for a sponsor beyond Adidas, rather than the low-end brands that come in every day.
Even if converted into value, it was close to tens of billions of won.
In addition, because of the FIFA transfer clause, there was even a condition that if one of the parents moved to Italy, they would provide maximum support no matter what job they had.
For example, fashion.
“No matter what you imagine, I promised to support you with everything you want during the rental period and to pay you more than five times the weekly salary than here.”
“Were the same conditions applied to Ronaldo?”
“That’s not it. Actually, aren’t the levels different? “This is an unprecedented precedent in the history of soccer.”
“okay.”
but.
“no.”
Hoyoung’s answer was sharp when he came back.
“I don’t want to be a political victim of AC Milan.”
AC Milan is a hot potato now and in the future.
Serie A is no longer as popular as it used to be, and AC Milan in particular has long since lost its former glory.
It was expected to get even worse in the future.
According to Hoyoung’s knowledge of the future, it was like that.
‘This is a club with too many problems.’
Shevchenko, Ronaldinho, Inzaghi, Kaka, Beckham, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso and Pirlo.
It was clear that they were all players whose talent was not worth missing out on.
But that didn’t mean he could go to hell.
First of all, the club owner, Berlusconi, was the biggest problem.
For him, AC Milan was nothing more or less than a political tool.
Berlusconi led Milan’s revival, but he was also the one who caused its collapse.
When there was a political threat, he released transfer funds to recruit star players, and when not, he was a person who siphoned money from the club and used it as political funds.
If I went in there, I didn’t know when or how I would be sacrificed.
Moreover, there was also a racial discrimination problem.
So Hoyoung clearly conveyed his thoughts.
This is because it seemed like if he hesitated for no reason, he would leave room for Calderon.
“I have absolutely no desire to go to that place. There is nothing better than Real Madrid. “I like our team better than any other team in the world.”
“I understand. But how can a soccer player only play in favorable places?”
“I think if you have the ability, you can play wherever you want. “Isn’t the reason soccer players work hard to get to the club they want?”
“But we are not in a position to match your skills. We’ll have to freeze weekly wages until next year, but does that mean that’s okay? However, Milan decided to give him four times more money than now. For more details, please talk to Vice President Galliani…”
“No. “I’m not going.”
Adriano Galliani.
Hoyoung got goosebumps all over his body just thinking about that guy’s face.
Although his business skills were not yet widely known to the world, Hoyoung knew them very well.
He is a thorough businessman.
Excellent negotiation skills based on outstanding eloquence and improvisation.
Appropriately timed media play and outstanding persuasiveness.
There is no negotiator in European soccer who can surpass him.
Because of such abilities, future Koreans would call him this.
‘Maneman.’
It is a combination of Galliani and conman, and was a reference to Galliani’s negotiation skills that bordered on fraud.
6 month buyback clause?
‘No, never. ‘He must be planning all sorts of things to avoid sending me back to Real Madrid.’
Perhaps the behind-the-scenes work has already been underway since last year.
He was the best as an ally, but when he was an enemy, he was one of those people who always had to be careful.
Hoyoung spoke clearly.
“And I must tell you this, I have no intention of leaving the team yet. I like it here. The fans and colleagues are good, and Madrid is also good. “But why do you say I have to leave?”
I liked it now.
Right now, I’m wearing a white uniform.
Although he has already achieved a great feat of winning the Champions League, there is still a lot he wants to achieve at Real Madrid in the future.
However, Calderon did not give up his will.
“It’s only half a season, no more. Just until January. “If you give me six months, I can bring you back right away.”
“If not, is there no way at all? “It is difficult to understand that our club would sell a key player just because of debt.”
That was also correct.
Real Madrid is not a club that is fundamentally afraid of debt.
But the current financial situation was not good.
Calderon needed to quickly stabilize his finances and then hold next year’s budget deliberation as soon as possible to get a satisfactory amount approved.
And the plan was to quickly repay the debt with the club’s profits and immediately bring in Hoyoung.
“I also have no intention of completely transferring you. “What kind of madman in the world would sell a talented person like you?”
Of course, I wouldn’t know if I was offered a huge amount of money, but it was a reasonable amount.
Hoyoung had a certain value and rarity.
His skills are as great as that of Pele and Maradona combined, and he has the symbolism to succeed Raul González and the star quality to surpass David Beckham. Who would send such a player to?
That is why it was necessary to include a buyback clause.
Then everything would be resolved.
“So, in the end, you’re saying you’re going to do business with me. “For my own approval rating.”
“Your words are a bit disturbing. It’s all for the good of the club. “If the club’s financial condition had been good, the Middle East project would have already proceeded without a hitch.”
“It’s not the chairman’s fault, is it? “Why are you forcing me to sacrifice that?”
“That is an internal matter of the club.”
“Is it because you don’t have enough budget to spend this year right now? “Can’t we ask the bank for help?”
“Stop. This is not a matter for the player to argue about. “It is a matter for our management to resolve.”
“It only takes a moment for the captain to turn the bow wrongly and something goes wrong.”
“You’re looking at me now…”
It was Hoyoung, not Calderon, who couldn’t bear it.
With an expression of resentment on his face, he continued to speak steadily.
“Then is it because you are afraid of being compared to former President Perez?”
“what!”
Doljikgu.
As Calderon narrowed his eyes, Hoyoung swallowed a bitter smile.
Even after such great performances this season, I never dreamed that I would have this conversation with the president.
Just having this conversation made me feel betrayed.
Last 6 years.
What on earth did you work so hard for here at Real Madrid?
In fact, this financial problem was a problem that could be easily solved.
Isn’t it Real Madrid, whose annual revenue is at least close to 800 billion won?
However, Calderon was only forcing Hoyoung to make sacrifices in order to avoid losing small things.
Yes, that’s right.
A sports world driven by capital.
And it was a frequent occurrence in modern soccer, where the craze was overheating.
In the end, this happened because I had no money and mismanaged my money.
‘I’m devastated.’
At this point, I started to miss Chairman Perez.
Both Calderon and Perez knew nothing but approval ratings and money, but Perez was not capable of sending Hoyoung out because of these issues.
It wasn’t that Calderon wasn’t capable.
Because he was also a person who was recognized for his ability and became chairman.
but.
“I propose again. If you don’t like AC Milan, there are still many other clubs. It will also neatly resolve the issue regarding the FIFA transfer clause. And I promise you this. Me and Real Madrid will be with you forever. Still, there’s nothing I can do if you really don’t like it.”
I couldn’t believe that it would be okay to continue like this with him.
A question of trust.
Hoyoung said just one word and stood up.
“Please respect the players. I don’t know what would have happened if Raoul had heard this. They immediately called the reporters and there was an uproar. “I’m serious.”
Although Calderon’s pride was extremely damaged, he was unable to answer hastily.
A single player may not be able to throw a sharp ball at the team owner, but no matter how high you think of him, the president of a citizen club is nothing more than a salaried worker who lives off of votes.
Therefore, he was in a position where he could not treat Hoyoung carelessly, as he had a very strong influence in the club.
It was from then on that a mysterious energy began to flow between the two.
That evening.
Hoyoung had a conversation with Lucci about it.
“I don’t understand. “If I leave the club for a few months, the approval rating will definitely drop.”
“If you don’t make a profit, there is a risk that your approval rating will fall further than that. And they will probably try to emphasize the inevitable situation through media play. Even if I’m gone for about 6 months, the important thing is the second half of the year anyway. It seems like they are calculating that if they bring Hoyoung back in January, everything will get back to normal. I used my head a lot. “It is a problem that can be solved simply by getting a loan from a bank, but they probably did not want the Middle East to know about the club’s accumulating debt.”
“It appears that you are considering a second term.”
“yes. And there will probably be limits to lending. Because of the UEFA FFP rules created last year. And the biggest thing of all was the fact that I failed my business one after another.”
UEFA FFP Rules (Financial Fair Play).
Simply put, it is a rule that prevents clubs from spending more than their profits.
Moreover, there has been a recent move to limit the club’s total debt, and if it fails to reduce the debt ratio suggested by UEFA, it may face a very large fine.
This season, Real Madrid repaid a portion of its profits as debt, but its debt still exceeded 1.2 trillion won, which was higher than that of Manchester United, so they could not rest assured.
This was a more serious issue than Manchester United’s Glazer family, which is currently shaken by a large amount of debt.
This was the first time that Real Madrid was in such a difficult situation, and this year alone the interest amounted to 80 billion won.
Moreover, the amount that must be unconditionally repaid this year is approximately 397 billion won.
For Calderon, bad news coincided at a very bad time.
“Calderon’s decision to stop marketing Galactico and start a stock business also had a huge impact on the club’s profits. “If we hadn’t won two gold medals this season, it would have been endlessly difficult.”
“There is a lot of bad news both internally and externally. “I didn’t want to get involved in the political situation.”
“It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do. “If things go wrong now, I’m ready to sell Ronaldo.”
“Is it that much?”
“But Real Madrid’s collapse won’t happen even if you wake up dead. Whether it is 5 years or 8 years, the debt must be repaid unconditionally. Last year, Valencia was on the verge of bankruptcy due to a series of failures in its real estate and stock businesses, but Real Madrid has a high asset value and very high profits, so that is unlikely to happen. However, Calderon is now….”
“I guess it’s because I’m afraid my head will be blown off.”
“yes. “It’s because I’m afraid we’ll end up like the Glazer family at Manchester United.”
Recently, Manchester United fans who were angry about the club’s debt were holding an ‘anti-club owner’ protest by throwing smoke bombs.
In the meantime, I couldn’t feel reassured that it was Real Madrid.
“If the details of the club’s serious situation are revealed to the outside world, Calderon’s position as president will be threatened. “He is not the owner of the team, but the president.”
Those words struck Hoyoung perfectly.
It is said that Real Madrid is a political club rather than a soccer club.
“For now, don’t worry about anything. “I’ll be moving from now on.”
After gathering his thoughts for a moment, Lucci asked Hoyoung.
“So what do you think now?”
“If I had to choose, England or Germany would be better. Munich or Manchester United. Or Chelsea…”
“What about Manchester City?”
“It’s a team that can’t make it to the Champions League… so I don’t know.”
I didn’t know that starting a new home anywhere would be better than staying at Real Madrid.
Because I coveted almost every talent available here.
If there’s anything left, it’s Alfredo Di Stefano’s talent.
‘I think we can achieve 100 official matches during the Supercopa tournament scheduled for August, and we can achieve 100 official matches after the World Cup.’
Given the timing, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave Real Madrid and experience a different league.
However, once I went, I didn’t think I would ever want to come back.
At least as long as Calderon is at Real Madrid.
“I’ll have to think about it gradually after the World Cup.”
right.
Now I had to forget everything for a moment and focus on the World Cup.
“The first schedule is Japan and then Belarus, right?”
“you’re right.”
“after!”
Hoyoung was planning to shake off the stress he received today through this evaluation match.
And the next day.
The plane carrying Hoyoung headed to Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
The game is just two days later.
The place where Park Ji-seok’s legendary walking ceremony took place.
It took place at Saitama Stadium, the mecca of Japanese soccer.