Become A Football Legend

Markus, sitting at the other end of the table, looked keenly at Lukas, who was still flipping through the slides, and then Javi, who was doing the same. Finally, his eyes landed on Marco, who seemed to be in deep thought, and immediately his eyebrow furrowed.

He knew they needed convincing. He couldn't afford to not spark their interest in this meeting because, no matter how secretive they'd tried to be in setting it up, it was inevitable that someone at Adidas had already found out about it.

"I guess there's no other choice."

"Lukas. We are ready to make you the face of our brand for the next generation," Markus started speaking, drawing the attention of the group. "I'm sure you already know how good you are, and definitely by the end of this season, Adidas and Nike will be rushing to get your signatures... What am I even talking about? After your last two performances, they're probably putting together a proposal as we speak. But there's something they currently cannot offer you.

Nike and Adidas have incredible rosters, but that also means you can get lost in the shuffle.

At Puma, you won't be one of a hundred athletes on a spreadsheet — you'll have a seat at the table when we design your boots and campaigns."

Lukas stared at Markus for a few seconds

after the man had finished his monologue.

"He sounds sincere and the arrangement wouldn't hurt. But I'm not that naive to think that's not all for the profit. If I fell off tomorrow and get demoted to the reserve team, I doubt an executive would be coming all the way to discuss anything with me. Let's discuss the financial package first and see where we go from there," he whispered to Marco beside him.

Marco smiled when he heard his what client was thinking. "I'm glad he understands what this means," he thought.

"We see your vision and we like it. But first we need to know, what're the proposed terms of the deal?" Marco asked as he sat up, placed both elbows on the table and supported his jaws with his fingers.

"Yes, of course. That is the important part of the meeting. These are the proposed terms." Lena said as she opened a folder and handed the copies of the proposed contract to the three of them. "As you can see, Lukas will be properly remunerated."

Lukas looked through the contract.

Length: 4 years with optional 2-year extension triggered by performance milestones.

Annual Review: Bonuses and media commitments reviewed yearly, with opportunity for renegotiation based on career trajectory.

Base Salary / Stipend (Guaranteed): €6,000,000 for the first year

Paid quarterly as Puma's guaranteed ambassador stipend

Covers on-field and off-field representation

Signing Bonus: €1,500,000 upfront upon contract execution

Performance Bonuses:

€25,000 per first-team appearance

€12,500 per goal or assist

€75,000 bonus for monthly awards

€250,000 bonus for major international recognition or top global awards (Golden Boy/Balon d'Or nominations)

Other forms of compensation included royalties from sales on signature personal-branded lines, full insurance for career-impacting injuries.

His obligations were also listed:

Maximum 8 brand appearances per year.

Up to 10 social media posts per year.

Inclusion in seasonal campaigns limited to 2 per year during the first 2 years.

Than finally an estimate of the contracts worth:

Total Potential Year 1 Value: ~ €9–9.5 million.

Renegotiation Opportunity: Expected to more than double base and bonuses if performance milestones continue.

"I guess they really are serious. It's not at the level of top end superstars yet, but it's definitely above what someone would get for their first brand deal," Marco thought as he looked through the contract.

"As you can see, we are not skimping on compensation. And I believe by next year, you will be looking at double this amount if not even more. We made the renegotiation yearly so it grows with your worth instead of tying you down to a fee that would no longer represent your worth after a year or two," Markus added, trying to give the last push.

"Yeah but the opposite is also true. If I fall off by next year, they will most likely slash the amount to pennies compared to this."

[*Good thing that's never gonna happen, yeah?*]

"Indeed," Lukas thought as he smiled.

"I see he likes the financial package. Well it's understandable, he's still so young," Markus thought as he watched Lukas smile.

"By the way, the media appearances and campaigns, I hope they won't hinder my training? I can't have that," Lukas pointed out.

"Of course not. We will monitor your schedule closely and plan everything around it. Your football career is the basis of this partnership so it will be detrimental to us if we turn out to be the ones who hinder your growth," Lena responded.

Lukas and Javi nodded, satisfied with the response.

"We like what we see here, we will go through it carefully and communicate any proposed adjustments as soon as possible," Marco said as he stood up and extended his hand to Markus. "Expect our call some time during the week."

"I will be hoping to hear from you. We are really looking forward to this partnership and joining Lukas on his journey through the future," Markus replied as he took Marco's hand.

The farewells were said, and Lukas's group were the first to leave the private hotel room.

"So what do you think? Do you think they'll sign? Or make outrageous demands?" Lena asked after making sure Lukas's group was out of sight.

"We'll never know... We have to get his signature, though. I have a feeling that signing him will be a real coup for us.

Nike has Mbappe, Haaland, Vinicius Junior, among others leading the future. Adidas has Bellingham and more recently Lamine Yamal to carry them into the future. I believe this is our own future icon.

We have to get him whatever it takes."

"I know. But still, isn't €9 million a bit on the higher end for a player that has less than three months of professional football?"

" He has had 20 goal contributions in 9 games in that three months, though.

That is unheard of for players at the peak of their powers.

You saw the game yesterday. And we watched last week's own together, too.

He's a 16-year-old player capable of carrying his team on his back and winning games on his own.

How much do you think his commercial value will be when he inevitably moves to a super club in a season or two?

You think Adidas won't offer him 20 by next season? Or you think Nike will blink before offering him 25 when he moves to a super club and wins the Balon d'Or?

I believe we're about to secure the face of our sports brand for the next decade or two with this deal. I feel it in my gut."

Lena didn't respond as she just soaked in the words of her superior. His decisions were final in this situation, anyway, so it wouldn't make any sense to oppose him and get on his bad side.

Meanwhile, Lukas, Javi, and Marco entered the room where Javi had spent the night with Anne.

The meeting was held at the same hotel where they had stayed the previous night and João and Joanna had headed back to Darmstadt that morning.

"So what do you think, Luke?" Javi asked as he sat down on the side of the bed in the room.

"We should sign it," Lukas responded, his expression deadpan.