Chapter 1 The Beginning

Zhou Yi had finished his almost two-month special training. Before reporting to the team for the new season, he had five days to rest.

But that didn't mean Zhou Yi could just sleep at home every day for the next five days and not worry about anything.

In fact, he had many things to do.

These things had accumulated during the special training in the past month.

Early the next morning, Zhou Yi sent a text message to his agent, Tino Schulze: "I'm free, Tino!"

Five minutes later, he received a call from Schulze.

"Congratulations on surviving hell, Zhou Yi!" Schulze sounded very happy. "So, can we talk about work..."

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes: "I feel like I've entered another hell..."

"Don't say that, Zhou Yi. Have you ever seen a hell full of banknotes?" Schulze laughed.

"Ah, that's heaven!"

"Yes, I'm here to send you money!"

Borussia Dortmund and Schulze had concluded the contract renewal negotiations for Zhou Yi. Although the process was tortuous, it was finally concluded, and it was on the terms Schulze wanted.

It must be said that although Schulze lacked connections and experience, his ability was unquestionable. In addition, he was good at badgering, so he was very difficult to deal with during negotiations, causing Zorc a headache.

Schulze made the right decision on the timing of the negotiations. He had Zhou Yi wait until Sahin's transfer was confirmed before negotiating. After Borussia Dortmund bought Sahin, they had to pay attention to Zhou Yi, so no matter whether they could accept the conditions Zhou Yi proposed, they had to accept them.

Of course, Schulze also made some concessions, that is, he allowed Borussia Dortmund to increase the amount of the liquidated damages clause to ten million euros. This is why Schulze proposed the image rights issue before the liquidated damages were even settled—he had this idea in mind. It seemed that he cared a lot about the liquidated damages, but in fact, he cared most about the image rights.

The liquidated damages clause became a step for Borussia Dortmund to step down, so that both parties could accept it. Schulze used the liquidated damages to fight for more favorable conditions for himself and Zhou Yi.

It looked like a concession from Schulze, but it was a big step forward in the negotiation process.

In the new terms, Borussia Dortmund would have to pay Zhou Yi a certain percentage if they wanted to use Zhou Yi's image rights. They would also have to give Zhou Yi a share of the sales of jerseys printed with Zhou Yi's number and name.

As long as Zhou Yi's jerseys sold well, he could earn more than one million euros a year from this item alone.

So now it was Zhou Yi who was making money while lying down, not the club...

When they finally reached an agreement, Zorc said to Schulze through gritted teeth: "If you weren't Zhou Yi's agent, I would have had the security guards throw you out long ago! And not let you set foot in the Brackel training base again!"

Faced with the angry Zorc, Schulze was not angry, but said with a smile: "I am also very glad that I can be Zhou Yi's agent, Mr. Zorc."

Faced with Schulze, who was super motivated in negotiations and had a face as thick as a city wall, Zorc was speechless...

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"The specific terms of the contract have been negotiated. I will send a contract file to your email. Take a look at it. You can call me at any time if you have any questions. If there are no problems, we can make an appointment to sign the contract." Schulze said on the phone.

"Okay, Tino. Thank you for your hard work."

"Hey, you're welcome. I have to share your income, so serving you is also making money for me. You're welcome, Zhou Yi."

"By the way, speaking of sharing, do I need to take money out of my salary to give to you?" Zhou Yi asked.

"No need, ha!" Schulze laughed. "Your money is your money, my commission is paid by the club."

"The club?" Zhou Yi was a little surprised. He had always thought that the so-called agents taking a commission from the players' salaries meant that the players themselves took money to give to the agents. He didn't expect it to be paid by the club.

"Yes, my commission is eight percent of your salary, which is not much. This money is not taken from your salary, but Borussia Dortmund club takes out another sum of money to give to me based on your salary." Schulze explained.

Zhou Yi thought for a while, no wonder Zorc was very unhappy with Schulze—such a troublesome and annoying person, in the end, the club had to pay to support him, year after year, who would be happy?

He didn't know why there was such a regulation, but he didn't care if he didn't have to pay for it himself.

After hanging up the phone, he started receiving emails and then read them.

Schulze didn't dare to make decisions on the most critical annual salary and salary issues. He had to ask Zhou Yi's opinion. If Zhou Yi was not satisfied, he would keep pestering Zorc. Schulze didn't care if Zorc collapsed, as long as Zhou Yi nodded. After all, he was Zhou Yi's agent, so naturally he didn't need to consider Zorc's mood.

The contract term was six years, two years less than the previous eight-year contract. It was also a suitable term. Four years was too short for a young player like Zhou Yi, and Borussia Dortmund Club would not accept it anyway.

Eight years was too long, and neither Zhou Yi nor Schulze could accept it.

The annual salary was 1.5 million euros before tax, ten times more than Zhou Yi's first contract, which matched Zhou Yi's performance on the field. Converted into RMB, it was nearly 15 million. Zhou Yi was already a millionaire at the age of nineteen. This may be the most obvious change in his destiny brought about by professional football.

In fact, Zhou Yi initially thought the money was a bit small, but Schulze told him that 1.5 million was already a top salary in many Bundesliga clubs, or even more than a top salary. The entire Bundesliga was emphasizing the concept of healthy operation, so the players' salaries were strictly controlled. Except for Bayern Munich, a wealthy club, the players' salaries in other clubs were not high. Due to the financial crisis that had always existed before, the salaries of the players in Borussia Dortmund were generally not very high. The annual salary expenditure of the entire team could not even rank in the top three in the entire Bundesliga.

Hearing Zhou Yi repeatedly clicking his tongue at the Bundesliga's efforts to tighten its belt and engage in healthy finances, he couldn't ask for more.

However, Schulze also assured him that when the time was right, he would continue to negotiate a new contract with the club. At that time, as long as Zhou Yi performed well, doubling his salary would not be a problem. It was impossible for this six-year contract to really be executed for six years.

Moreover, there was a clause that the annual salary of 1.5 million euros would increase by 10% every year, so Zhou Yi's salary would still rise.

In addition to salary, bonuses are also an important part of a player's annual income at the club.

European clubs, unlike Chinese clubs, have a single-game winning bonus. Instead, they have a target bonus before the season, such as a league championship bonus. If the team finally wins the league championship, then all players can share different amounts of bonuses according to different proportions. Generally, the more important the player, the bigger the name, the more bonuses they get.

So the bonus distribution ratio also needs to be negotiated by the agent with the club in the contract.

Zhou Yi's bonus distribution ratio is not too prominent, but it is not bad, belonging to the upper-middle level. Considering that Zhou Yi is not yet twenty years old, he is the number one young player in Borussia Dortmund at his age.

Zhou Yi already knew the amount of various bonuses, and he had nodded in satisfaction before they appeared on the contract.

The liquidated damages are 10 million euros, and it is stipulated that the liquidated damages can only be activated when there is only one year left on the contract, and cannot be activated before that.

This is to prevent the contract from being signed in the second year, and then a team will dig up Zhou Yi for a price of 10 million.

You must know that for Bundesliga teams, a transfer fee of 10 million euros is considered huge, but for those giants in La Liga and the Premier League, 10 million is simply not money.

So adding a time limit is very necessary.

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Zhou Yi looked at the terms of the contract, and there were no problems, so he called Schulze and told him to make an appointment with the club to sign the contract.

In addition to signing a contract with the club, there is also signing endorsement contracts.

Because of Zhou Yi's outstanding performance in his first season in the Bundesliga, coupled with the huge Chinese market behind him, Zhou Yi has become the target of many second-tier, quasi-first-tier, and even first-tier brands.

It is really not an exaggeration to use "queuing up to send money", and these companies that queue up to send money do not necessarily all want Zhou Yi. He also has to screen them and eliminate those with too low a profile and too low a price.

Although Zhou Yi is a newcomer who has only played in the professional league for one season, Schulze has not treated Zhou Yi as a newcomer at all, which makes his requirements for selecting endorsement brands much stricter.

If it is just a company with some local popularity in Dortmund, it will not be considered at all. At the very least, it must have huge popularity in Europe.

In addition, the Chinese market is also a big cake that Schulze will definitely not give up, but this does not mean that he will relax his requirements for Chinese companies that come to him. He still requires those companies to be well-known in China and also have a certain degree of international recognition. At the very least, they cannot be companies after the world's top 500, right?

Even in China, the image he created for Zhou Yi is that of an international superstar, and his image value will not drop in China.

Because there are too many companies looking for Zhou Yi, screening and eliminating them has cost Schulze a lot of time and energy.

This has led to the signing and negotiation work in this area not being carried out very quickly.

So far, Schulze has only confirmed one endorsement brand, which is the famous American brand CK, the youth clothing brand CK_jeans.

This company's search for Zhou Yi is naturally also because of Zhou Yi's amazing performance in German football last season, coupled with his huge appeal in the Chinese market. In addition, Zhou Yi's personal image and the brand image of CK_jeans are also very consistent. CK_jeans promotes a naive and pure soul, confident and positive, full of vitality, which is simply tailor-made for Zhou Yi.

Because Zhou Yi's image and brand characteristics are so consistent, CK_jeans is very firm in their attitude towards signing Zhou Yi.

In the end, the two parties filled out a three-year contract. Within three years, the American fashion brand will pay Zhou Yi 800,000 euros per year, and three years will be 2.4 million euros. The two parties negotiated an exclusive and unique endorsement contract in the field of denim clothing.

That is to say, Zhou Yi cannot sign endorsement contracts with other companies that produce denim clothing brands within these three years. In any public occasion, if Zhou Yi wants to wear denim clothing, he must wear CK_jeans, otherwise it will be a breach of contract and he will have to pay compensation.

But there are also benefits, that is, Zhou Yi does not have to buy denim clothes and jeans in the future. These are all sponsored by the American fashion brand.

In addition, in order to reasonably avoid taxes, Schulze also suggested that Zhou Yi set up a company, and the company is registered in the Cayman Islands. The money from endorsement sponsorship contracts can be directly transferred to the registered company's account, so that the terrible German personal income tax can be avoided.

This is not Schulze's original idea. Many players and stars take this approach to avoid taxes.

However, Zhou Yi was a little worried at first, afraid that he would be found out and become his stain.

In this regard, Schulze explained to Zhou Yi that tax evasion and reasonable tax avoidance are different. Tax evasion is a crime, but reasonable tax avoidance is not. Otherwise, why is there the word "reasonable" in front?

"...The salary and bonus that the club gives you must be declared and taxed. If you don't declare it, you are evading taxes. And the sponsorship and your endorsement contract are not signed with you, but with the company you set up, and you sign the contract as the legal representative of the company, which means that the endorsement contract takes place between your company and the other company..."

Schulze patiently explained to Zhou Yi that this set of practices is legal and reasonable. Many stars do this. Otherwise, how do small countries like the Cayman Islands survive? It's financial services.

In the end, Zhou Yi was persuaded by Schulze. He asked Schulze to do these things. Anyway, he only had to attend the signing ceremony.