Transfer (2)
Transfer (2)
088
Seeing my women getting along makes me feel naturally pleased.
"What are you smiling at!!"
"Why are you acting like that to a kid? Are you angry?"
"...As if. Just hurry up and finish the explanation."
Look at this.
With the two of them together, the sparks that were supposed to fly at me are directed at each other instead. As expected, you need rivals.
"Since time is short, I've only gathered known information. If you choose the EPL, I recommend Tottenham or Arsenal. Both have similar contract conditions, and it's expected that entering the First Team Roster will be easy, so the choice is yours."
Kya. As expected of the smart Yoon Da-ye, she hits the nail on the head.
I nodded satisfactorily and chose the next preferred league.
"Then, La Liga?"
"If you're from South America, or an African or Turkic nationality that signed the Cotonou Agreement, it's surprisingly loose, but for Asian nationalities like us, it's tight. Just like the EPL, the First Team Roster size is 25, and since there's a limit of 3 foreign players on the First Team Roster, it could be tighter in some aspects."
"3 people... I knew it, but that's really tight."
"But the fortunate thing is that most foreign players in La Liga are South American. Since you can acquire Spanish citizenship just by fulfilling the 2-year residency requirement, the 3-foreign-player rule is surprisingly loose. Maybe that's why quite a few clubs in La Liga are aggressive about you."
At the top of the proposal list Yoon Da-ye chose, there were plenty of familiar logos that any soccer player would know.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, AT Madrid, Valencia, Malaga, Getafe, Sevilla... What is this? Why are there so many? The lineup of clubs is incredibly flashy.
"T-there are too many?"
"There's no transfer fee, and since it's your first professional contract, the salary is low. Plus, you're an Asian superstar. I found out while coordinating with the clubs regarding the contract that they care a lot about image rights and rights regarding Japan and China. It seems your popularity in Japan and China is higher than we thought."
"Ha, this popularity of mine, seriously."
I shrugged my shoulders playfully, but Yoon Da-ye snorted.
"Don't be happy. They might be trying to recruit you for marketing purposes rather than your skills."
"...That won't do."
"Anyway, looking at the results, almost every club jumped in. Even second-division teams showed interest. They said they'd treat you as a key player. Of course, we cut them off."
"Still, there are quite a lot."
"This is also after picking and choosing. Only clubs with decent contract conditions among those participating in European competitions, whether it's the Champions League or Europa League."
As expected, a player needs to be good at something, whether it's skill or popularity.
To think such famous clubs are clamoring for me to join... Ha, what a man I am, truly amazing.
"Stop talking nonsense. La Liga clubs are particularly interested in your commercial value. The essential contract conditions they demand always include the right to freely use image rights for the club's commercial use."
Image rights.
In dictionary terms, it refers to 'the right not to have one's likeness produced, published, or used for profit by others arbitrarily,' but when expanded to a commercial meaning, it includes everything up to 'using one's own likeness to engage in commercial activities.'
Naturally, as it's a right that encompasses everything like advertisements or characters, if you sign a contract incorrectly, you might not be able to shoot even if you get a commercial offer, and even if you do, you'll end up on a disastrous path where most of the income goes to the club.
In the case of popular famous players, the income from utilizing image rights is often much larger than the salary, so in my case, I had to be especially careful about image rights.
"It's not that other leagues aren't active in utilizing image rights, but La Liga is too much. There are cases where they demand utilization conditions or ratios at an absurd level."
"Just exclude those teams."
Yoon Da-ye quietly crumpled up a few sheets of paper and threw them away.
"Ah. For your information, even if it meant lowering the salary and bonuses, I focused on shortening the contract period as much as possible and adding a starting appearance option. Is that okay?"
"Is that okay, you ask!"
"What's the matter? If it's money, here, the rich boss is supporting you generously. You don't spend much money anyway, right?"
Yoon Da-ye points her chin at Oh Ha-rin.
...Now that I think about it, that's true.
Even if the salary was lowered, there's no way it's a pittance when playing in a top European league, and in the first place, I... don't really spend much money.
They say people who have spent money know how to spend it well, but with a monotonous daily routine of training-home-sex-training-home-sex, there's nowhere to spend money anyway.
"So, roughly how much is my salary?"
"In La Liga, it's between 550,000 and 700,000 Euros. There's no big difference in other leagues either."
Hmm... How much is that? I can't get a feel for it.
As if she expected that, Yoon Da-ye kindly calculates it with today's exchange rate and lets me know.
"In Korean Won, it's between 730 million and 930 million. If you include options or bonuses, it'll be roughly 1 billion. It fluctuates depending on the exchange rate, so this is just an approximation, just keep it in mind."
"...How much? 1 billion?"
Holy... If it's this much after lowering it, how much would it be if I maxed it out?
"In Europe, especially soccer players are classified as high-income earners, so taxes are high, so think of it as 40~50% less."
"Ah, crazy! They take that much in taxes?"
Suddenly, I'm in a bad mood.
"Instead, I adjusted the contract period to a basic 3 years plus an additional 1 year. First Team squad registration is a given, and depending on the club, there are places that guarantee 5~10 starting appearances."
Still, the salary is in the hundreds of millions.
Even after taxes, it's 400~500 million.
Memories of the past, when I was running like a dog for no pay, let alone a hundred-million-won salary, come to mind, and tears... actually, they don't come.
'Come to think of it, I... except for the beginning of admission, I've been living in luxury thanks to Oh Ha-rin.'
The house is a [Penthouse] that uses the entire top floor of a newly built officetel.
The car is a [Mercedes CLS], which was my dream car. On top of that, the beautiful Oh Ha-rin cooks for me, does my laundry, cleans, drives me every morning, picks me up after training, and even has sex with me at night... Most of it is done by the housekeeper, but since that money comes from Oh Ha-rin, it's basically Oh Ha-rin doing it, right?
...What is this. Should I just not go abroad?
"Real Madrid and Barcelona actually have better conditions than other clubs."
"...Real? Barca?"
Ah, I can't resist this.
I have to go to Europe.
"These guys, they're competitively raising conditions because of a pride battle. These two teams have the best conditions in La Liga. The problem is whether you can play as a starter."
"Is the First Team Roster certain?"
"That's certain. We decided to specify First Team Roster registration in the contract from the start, and both clubs have a loose limit of 3 foreign players, so that won't be a problem. Barcelona has 4 Brazilian players, 2 Argentine, and 1 each from France and Germany, but except for the German player, all of them have acquired Spanish dual citizenship. Real is a bit more diverse, but they have a spot open because someone acquired dual citizenship this time."
Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It's Real and Barca, for crying out loud. Isn't that truly the dream club for a soccer player?
"I'm very happy, but... while entering the First Team might be easy, I can't guarantee you'll play as a starter."
"Don't worry. Jorge plays as a starter, right? I'm at that level, so why wouldn't I be able to play as a starter?"
Yoon Da-ye sighed at my display of confidence.
"Even if your skills are similar, Jorge is a player recruited for a transfer fee of 50 million Euros, which is over 66 billion in our money. And that's only because his contract period didn't have much left; if the contract period had been long, the transfer fee would have been more than double, right? Plus, he's a player whose salary is 10 times yours and he's the country's top prospect, so do you really think they'll treat you the same just based on skill?"
"That... is difficult."
"Right. Unless you show overwhelming skill, it's difficult."
The high I had worked so hard to build up quickly deflated.
Fuck... Reality is a gutter.
"Then how about Serie A?"
"Surprisingly, the regulations aren't as tight as the EPL or La Liga. The roster size is the same at 25, the homegrown condition is a bit better compared to the EPL, and while it's trickier than La Liga, the transfer itself is easy. You can only recruit 2 NON-EU players per season, but the atmosphere in Serie A is that they often don't fill the NON-EU recruitment quota anyway."
"Is it because of racism?"
"No. It's not particularly worse just because it's Serie A. It's just the image, other countries are similar. In Serie A, AC Milan and Inter are the ones most actively wanting you."
Hmm... Serie A.
The Italian stage has its own romance. Although it's not enough to surpass the EPL and the dream clubs Real and Barca.
"Lastly, the Bundesliga is the most comfortable. It's been over 10 years since Japanese players flowed in at cheap prices due to an agreement with the J-League, and since there's practically no foreign player quota, it's the place Korean players advancing to Europe consider most preferentially, so the preference and familiarity with Asian players are the highest."
Since it's a place where not only Korean but also many Japanese players have been active, the Bundesliga is the league I feel most familiar with emotionally.
It has an image of being a perennial 2nd or 3rd runner-up, overshadowed by the EPL or La Liga, but it's also a practical league that surprisingly produces the most consistent results in the Champions League.
"Actually, the place that wants you most strongly as a player is the Bundesliga. If the EPL, La Liga, and Serie A pay more attention to marketing than your skills, the Bundesliga clubs, which have the highest financial soundness and can operate the club solely with their own revenue, were interested in your skill as a player rather than marketing."
The Bundesliga, famous for having the highest average attendance in the world, is famous for being the league with the highest financial soundness, where club operation is possible solely with its own revenue, combined with its unique 50+1 Rule.
Perhaps that's why it's a place that wants me for my skill as a player rather than from an Asian marketing perspective.
"Actually, in other leagues, the General Manager or the board sent recruitment offers, but unusually, in Bundesliga clubs, the coaches sent the proposals directly. They emphasized your role in the team or tactical changes rather than contract conditions."
Yoon Da-ye, having finished her explanation, modestly covered her mouth with her hand and yawned.
Perhaps yawning is contagious, because even Oh Ha-rin, who was sitting next to me, yawned slightly and waits for my choice with eyes slightly welled up with tears.
"Hmm... Do I have to decide right now?"
"The sooner the better, of course. We have a rough estimate, but once we actually enter negotiations, we might argue over the details."
"Then... I'll go with here."
"...Of all places, here?"