"How have you been lately?"
As soon as he entered, Maël saw Orto hastily stand up from his seat and approach him with a fawning smile. "It feels like it's been so long, we're almost strangers."
As his influence and fame grew, so did his wealth and say.
He had a clear feeling that some of his old friends' attitudes towards him had changed.
Orto was one of them, especially after not seeing each other for a long time, this change was even greater and more obvious.
"Steadily progressing." Maël smiled slightly, sitting opposite Orto. "As long as the team keeps winning, everything is generally good."
"Arsenal has been playing very well recently, I've been following."
Orto walked towards the water dispenser, looking back and smiling, "I remember you always drink tea when you come, I assume it's the same this time."
"Yes." Maël nodded, incidentally steering the topic back on track. "Mendes left after discussing the contract, so I'm the only one signing today."
"I know." Orto replied, soon walking over with a cup of tea.
After they sat down facing each other, Orto chuckled dryly, his expression shifting as he thought of something, and he happily said, "Mr. Maël, the sales of the Collaboration Shoes continue to rise, which is good news for all of us.
"We originally estimated that after the initial boom, sales would slowly decline and then gradually stabilize.
"Unexpectedly, even if there are occasional fluctuations, the overall trend is still upward when viewed over a longer period."
"Of course, it's good news." Maël nodded, glanced at Orto, and felt that the other party had something difficult to say.
Orto hesitated for a while, finally clasping his hands together and saying somewhat nervously, "Actually, there's another reason for mentioning this. I wanted to confirm, will you and your girlfriend's personal brands develop shoes?
"I discussed this with Mr. Mendes, but he said he wasn't too sure about your opinion and asked me to communicate with you about it."
This was one of his main concerns. Maël's brand making clothes and some other small categories would not have any real impact on a large international brand like Puma.
No matter how fast they develop, they won't become Puma's main competitors for at least several decades.
But shoes are different. If they choose to launch shoes quickly, Puma's 'lm7 Collaboration Shoes' will inevitably be impacted to some extent, and may even withdraw from the mainstream view.
This would be a bit painful because lm7's most important responsibility is not how much profit it makes, but to fire the first shot in seizing market share from Nike and Adidas, and to have more market share.
After listening, Maël understood Orto's meaning. He smiled faintly and confirmed, "I can say definitively that we won't in the short term.
"I know lm7 is in a period of growth. If we're greedy and develop a new model at this time, not only may the new brand not be able to operate, but lm7 may also be affected and become mediocre."
This was indeed very possible. Since Football consumers have already accepted a Collaboration Shoes related to him, there's no need to develop a new one.
It's better to deepen consumers' impression of lm7 and ensure lm7's sales; rather than dazzling them and making them accept new things, causing them a certain degree of fatigue.
Once consumers feel fatigued, everything will backfire.
"Honestly."
Orto's expression finally had some radiant feeling. "I'm very happy that you can think this way. I increasingly feel that our cooperation will become a timeless classic."
Although this was just a verbal promise, it depended on who the object was.
People like Maël naturally keep their promises, because he himself is very valuable, and he doesn't need to affect his reputation and credibility for that little bit of profit.
"Phew."
Orto exhaled and then smiled, "The UEFA Best Player award at the end of last month is a first-tier bonus weight in the bonus contract. 2 million pounds has already been credited. Have you checked it?"
"Of course." Maël nodded, smiling apologetically, "Actually, I saw Mr. Orto's congratulatory message at the time, but I was too busy and didn't have time to reply, and then I forgot."
"Small problem."
Orto waved his hand, indicating it was nothing, paused, and then said, "In this way, plus the accumulation in the European Cup, and the Community Shield Cup bonus, your accumulated bonus this season is 7 million pounds.
"This is simply incredible, this season has only just begun for more than a month.
"A basic bonus of 7 million pounds will trigger the highest tier of additional bonuses in the clause, which is 800,000 pounds for every 1 million pounds. You make money like it's a game."
Maël smiled and lowered his head, "Puma is also very generous, giving out bonuses like it's a game.
"At the beginning of this season, I told Mr. Mendes that next season, I will make Puma pay me 20 million pounds per season. Now it seems that I am about to do it."
"Still a few million short, indeed very soon." A look of envy flashed in the depths of Orto's eyes. He had some options from Puma's branch, but he never had such income.
However, he was not jealous. In his industry, he could only be considered a top elite, while in Maël's industry, Maël was at the top of the pyramid.
The two stopped talking. Orto took out the contract at the right time. After they shook hands silently with a smile, they officially signed a new non-compete agreement.
"Happy cooperation."
"Happy cooperation!"
When Maël stood up and shook hands with Orto, a feeling of exhilaration rose in his heart, along with a slight sense of guilt towards Orto.
In any case, this was him now relying on his super influence and voice, 'pressing' Puma to make concessions.
Logically, when a person becomes more and more powerful, bringing more and more things to others, he should indeed get more benefits, and everyone on the entire chain of interests should give him more rights.
This is also a law. If someone tries to escape this law, it will inevitably lead to conflict.
But emotionally, Puma signed him when he was not yet famous, treated him as a future prospect, and gave him a very generous contract, allowing him to hold one of the biggest contracts in football now.
He should remember Puma's kindness.
The end of cooperation also depends on conscience. If his relationship with Mendes is purely based on interests, and so is his relationship with Puma, then this cooperation will not go too far.
"Mr. Orto has been busy, thank you for your hard work. Call me if you need anything in the future."
Maël didn't let go of Orto's hand, and smiled gently, "I don't think 6 shooting tasks a year is the limit. If there are good opportunities that require me to shoot more promotional videos, please feel free to contact me.
"When I do extra promotion for Primacy, I will try to bring Puma along as much as possible."
The hand that Orto was shaking with Maël suddenly stiffened, and some special emotions appeared on his face.
After reacting, he immediately nodded heavily and shook hands heavily, saying, "We never feel that you owe Puma anything. What you bring to us is the same as what we give you.
"But I still want to thank you for your kindness, because we may really need you to help us more."
Five minutes later, the two parted downstairs, with Orto insisting on seeing Maël off.
"Buzz buzz!"
It wasn't until the roar disappeared all the way at the end of the road that he took a deep breath and turned around tremblingly, then grinned and roared a few times in a low voice, and then trotted quickly towards the office.
"The UK mainly consists of five important cities: London, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Leeds."
...
In the villa not long after, Isabella, wearing black-rimmed glasses, was in front of a computer, discussing her plans with Maël, "Among them, London will have more brand stores; it's our base of operations.
"The rest are major cities in countries like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, where we also plan to establish brand stores.
"As for other continents, we're not in a hurry for now. We'll use these as a base and decide the speed of outward expansion based on brand influence and sales growth.
"The main sales channel will definitely still be online stores. Offline brand stores are more for promoting the brand image and creating a high-end, excellent concept."
Maël understood her basic ideas and nodded, "It's good that you're here; you're a professional in this area."
"Hehe."
Isabella smiled and moved closer to Maël, wrapping her arms around his neck, "This is a 1-year plan, and I might need your help then.
"For example, the opening of brand stores in important cities like London, Paris, and Milan will definitely require you to go and promote them in person."
"Of course, no problem." Maël agreed. Since he had invested money, he had to do it well. He couldn't be too blindly confident, thinking that just lending his name would allow it to develop.
After discussing these matters, he took advantage of the free time and stepped onto the training ground to train.
After formulating a new training plan, he not only practiced those lv4 skills and fancy additional skills but also explored comprehensive additional skills for shooting and passing.
However, these two seemed different from the skills he had practiced before, and it was extremely difficult to even bring up the panel.
If he didn't have an increasingly strong feeling for shooting additional skills and could vaguely sense the shadow of passing additional skills, he would have stopped wasting time on them long ago.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The sound of touching the ball rang out. Maël, who had been mentally exhausted for a long time, also began to be physically exhausted. He had been living this kind of life for a long time.
Fortunately, he had not forgotten his roots and was still persisting in training, striving for the 3 lv5 skills.
In fact, as many people said, he might not need to train so hard now. Maintaining a good state would allow him to compete for some important honors.
But besides these, he had other pursuits.
For example, to see what kind of state he could reach when all his skills were lv5, reaching the limit of human standards, and what kind of dominance he could display in the most competitive matches!
No matter what others did, as long as Maël could see the limit, he would definitely work hard towards that limit.
It could be said that this was a kind of curiosity, or it could be said that this was a desire to pursue a truly perfect Football God.
"Bang!!"
Maël trained until the sky gradually darkened. He stopped to stretch after blasting out the last shot, preparing to rest. At the same time, he looked at the improvement of the various skills he was practicing in the proficiency panel.
[Skill: Sprint lv4]
[Proficiency: (3249/5000)]
[Skill: Godly Strength lv4]
[Proficiency: (2598/5000)]
[Skill: Arc Blade lv4]
[Proficiency: (1773/2000)]
[Skill: Arc Guiding lv4]
[Proficiency: (1734/2000)]
[Additional Skill: Fancy Footwork lv3]
[Proficiency: (673/1500)]
It could be noticed that Arc Blade lv4 and Arc Guiding lv4 had truly reached the final moment of upgrading.
Maintaining this progress, it will definitely level up next month!
At that time, he will be equipped with 3 lv5 skills, and his dominance over the league and the Champions League will probably reach a terrifying level!
Returning to the room at night, holding Isabella, Maël suddenly felt that her emotions were somewhat different from usual.
"Leon."
Isabella hesitated for a long time before turning her head, her face showing worry and curiosity about his reaction, "It seems like I haven't had that for two months, do you think it was because of that time..."
Maël's pupils shrank slightly, and he didn't know what to say for a while, and finally said: "When you are not busy, go to the hospital for a check-up."
"Okay."
September 29th, the last game of September arrived.
Arsenal traveled to Manchester City, welcoming the 6th round of the Premier League against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
At the pre-match press conference for this game, a reporter asked Wenger the question that everyone asks at every press conference, "Bale has been on the list for a long time, will he play today?"
Everyone under the stage looked at Wenger, and many people noticed that a few gleams of unprecedented smugness flashed across the old Professor's face.
Even if it appeared very briefly, even if it was difficult to detect, many experienced media people still noticed it.
"I can't answer this question, everyone will know when we get to the field later."
Wenger's answer was still ambiguous, "If a player integrates well and is in good condition, then he has a chance to play at any time."
"Thank you...!"
Soon, with a thank you, Wenger walked out of the Media Room, and the scene became noisy, with reporters talking about Bale's news.
The media on social media also began to speculate whether Bale would have a chance to appear in today's starting lineup.
Until 30 minutes before the game, Arsenal and Manchester City announced their starting lineups together, and European football was instantly dominated by a piece of news.
"Bale welcomes his Arsenal debut! Will partner with Maël and Van Persie on the front line, Giroud temporarily on the bench!" - The Guardian
"Luxurious lineup! Arsenal chose a 4-3-3 formation today! Goalkeeper Lloris, left back Kyle Walker, center back Thiago Silva partnered with Mertesacker, right back Sagna.
"Defensive midfielder Arteta, the attacking midfielders in front of him are Cazorla partnered with Ramsey.
"Left winger Maël, center forward Van Persie, right winger Bale!
"This is a starting lineup with a value of 494 million euros, a starting lineup that is enough to compete for the championship on any front!" - London Evening Standard
"…"
15 minutes later, the Etihad Stadium was crowded with people, and shouts resounded through the clouds.
"AaahhOhhh!!"
Maël, hand in hand with a young ball boy, led a brand new Arsenal onto the pitch, with that robust debutant not far behind him.
The MFB Trio had finally stepped onto the field together.
MSN and BBC could score so many goals together, hopefully they can too, and score even more, becoming an even more talked-about trio!
Today, the trio's first battle, hopefully they will end it with a victory!
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