After my conversation with Marco that day, a week had passed, and it was only now that I was truly on vacation.
During this time, the hottest topic was naturally Real Madrid and Zidane. In fact, if I remember correctly, the famous napkin story would take place next month.
According to legend, during a dinner in Monaco in June 2001, at a UEFA event, Florentino Pérez, then president of Real Madrid, wrote a simple question on a paper napkin addressed to Zidane: "Do you want to play for Real Madrid?"
Zidane, sitting at the same table, reportedly read the question, smiled, and wrote a simple "Yes" in response.
Although this story has been widely told and romanticized, Zidane himself has confirmed it in several interviews, though some details remain unclear.
To be honest, I'm not really against Zidane's arrival because, in fact, I can play multiple positions. It's just that I know his arrival signifies something else: the beginning of the Galácticos era and the decline of Real Madrid.
In the future, in 2025, Florentino may have managed to redeem himself, but right now, this is the period when he made the most mistakes.
He would criticize Del Bosque as the biggest scam of the century, calling him a tactically outdated coach. It's important to note that Del Bosque won two Champions Leagues, two Spanish leagues, a UEFA Super Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, and a Spanish Super Cup, all between 1999 and 2003.
In his final season, Real Madrid won the Spanish league and reached the Champions League semifinals. After his departure, Real only reached one quarterfinal in seven years and suffered six consecutive round-of-16 eliminations (2005–2010). It took almost a decade to repair the damage caused by Del Bosque's departure!
If Real had kept Del Bosque, I might have stayed, but unfortunately, it's nearly impossible due to the escalating conflict between him and Florentino.
[Ladies and gentlemen, we now invite passengers of flight AF176 bound for the United States of America to proceed to gate 32 for boarding. Please have your passport and boarding pass ready. Thank you for your cooperation.]
The boarding announcement snapped me out of my thoughts. I was about to board a flight to the United States, whether for vacation or my future, I was planning to make. It was time to go.
I stood up, grabbed my bag, and headed toward the boarding gate. My flight to the U.S. was a necessary step, both to relax and to start laying the groundwork for my future.
My current fortune is 7 million euros, which Guti has saved since the start of his career in 1995 through his team contract, endorsements, and other deals.
By 2025, this amount is nowhere near the annual salary of a superstar, but considering the houses, cars, watches, and other things Guti has bought over the years, keeping 7 million euros is already impressive.
The best idea would be to invest 6 million euros in Apple, which would be worth billions in the future. But to be honest, that's not really my goal.
What I'd like is to be a player while also building my own business, dominating multiple sectors, and becoming independent sooner rather than relying on someone else.
It's only 2001, and coming from 2025, I know the enormous potential of the internet. If I can execute my plans, it would be amazing. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, I'm a footballer first and foremost, and I have various ways to earn money.
I want to leave Real Madrid. In fact, I've already informed Marco of my plan, but in reality, I have another idea, though it seems more like a fantasy.
I'm not a fan of players who change teams like clothes if possible. I'd like to play for one team my entire career, but that seems impossible at Real Madrid.
But what guarantees that if I leave Real and join another team, I won't end up in a conflict that forces me to leave? History repeats itself, after all. Even Messi was forced to leave Barcelona in the future, something that seemed absolutely impossible.
So the best idea I've come up with is to buy a team. Thanks to my knowledge of the future, I could buy future superstars before they make it big and gradually transform the team. But this is easier said than done.
I'd like to leave Real after this season, but where will I find enough money to buy a team in a year?
Even if I decide not to leave and wait for my contract to expire, I'll only have two years to earn that amount.
Moreover, it's not just buying a team that's difficult but also having the funds to invest in players, renovate the stadium, pay salaries, and much more.
Being ambitious, I can't afford to waste time buying a second or third-division club and progressing slowly.
To be honest, I'm still hesitating about which path to take. I approached the boarding gate, deep in thought, before entering and sitting on the plane. I looked out the window as passengers settled around me.
My current idea to make money as quickly as possible is to start my own business, specifically an internet-based company.
I want to create YouTube, Spotify, and more, but for now, my focus is on creating an online marketplace.
Amazon is still in crisis and hasn't yet dominated this sector. As for me, thanks to my connections, I can easily secure exclusive online sales rights for the jerseys of many teams—a sector that's still highly underestimated.
With my connections, I'll get the exclusive online sales rights for Real Madrid jerseys, as well as clubs that will succeed in the future, like Chelsea, Porto, Monaco, and many others.
In 2001, Nike, Adidas, Puma, and other major brands don't yet control the online sales of jerseys directly. They leave this responsibility to the clubs or third-party retailers.
This means I can negotiate directly with the clubs, as the sportswear brands aren't yet seeking to monopolize online jersey sales.
Starting with selling jerseys online, I'll use my image to convince Raúl, Carlos, and many of my friends to appear in advertisements for my platform. This would add credibility and encourage other teams to follow suit.
Once this step is achieved, I could add other products like balls, scarves, merchandise, and VIP services with exclusive perks, create an app, and much more, maybe Amazon before Amazon.
Right now, I'm in America to recruit competent people, plan logistics, inventory, and delivery, and figure out how to secure exclusive online sales rights for many teams' jerseys before Nike or Adidas can react and enter the market.
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Don't think of the protagonist as someone who comes up with perfect plans in every situation. He's just an ordinary person from 2025 who has been reincarnated in the past. He may have many better options to make money, but he doesn't know how because he's never invested and only occasionally reads Wikipedia—that's all.
Don't forget to vote for me.