What is a corporation?
A corporation is an organized economic unit with the purpose of acquiring profit.
In short, a corporation is a group that exists to make money, which means it will do anything that makes money and won’t do anything that doesn’t.
They never do anything that loses money.
The same was true when sports brands sponsored sports stars.
They don’t sponsor for no reason, purely out of goodwill.
Of course, even if some goodwill is mixed in, the ultimate goal can only be the corporation’s profit.
In other words, they sponsor when they judge that sponsoring a player can raise brand value.
In that sense, they don’t sponsor just anybody.
Needless to say, those global mega-corporations whose names everyone knows are even more so.
They select stars to sponsor based on very thorough criteria. It’s only natural. Because this, too, is a type of investment.
Opportunities for sponsorship obviously don’t go to players who seem unable to bring profit to the company, or who carry the risk of causing damage.
But those picky corporations… were busily moving over one player.
They were lining up, begging for the chance to sponsor him.
“We have to get him no matter what. No matter what…”
Nina Trisenna, Global Marketing Director of Puma, said while reviewing documents.
It was about a player named I Jian.
“He can play for another fifteen years or more at his age… and yet he’s already performing at a top-class level. His play style is also one that children can’t help but admire. On top of that, his looks are overflowing with star quality… and he even has the right story. Plus, his reputation among the people around him is good. How can a player like this even exist?”
He was so perfect it drew a hollow laugh. She even felt fortunate that he had risen to fame in such a short time. Thanks to that, they had been able to get in line before it was too late.
There are several criteria for selecting sponsored athletes.
First, skill.
This goes without saying.
Next is star quality.
Since sports are, after all, a form of entertainment, it’s good to be with popular players.
However, this thing called star quality has aspects that cannot be filled by skill alone.
Because occasionally there are players who are very skilled but lack star quality.
There are various factors that create this star quality: appearance can be one, as can play style, personality, and the story the individual possesses.
I Jian was a player who possessed all of those elements.
Play style?
He is a player called a fantasy star. The moment he touches the ball, the stands erupt—what more is there to say?
Story?
It wasn’t that everything was perfect from the start; he has a moving story of overcoming many hardships and finally standing tall, one that would inspire anyone.
Appearance?
“He’s cute.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ah, no.”
At the words that had slipped out without her realizing, Nina cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses.
She didn’t want to evaluate the appearance of a player who wasn’t even sixteen yet, but through the eyes of a marketing director who had to analyze market value—
Decently tall with long limbs, and a face that aroused maternal instincts, he was an obvious pass without needing a second look.
And that appearance suited his play style so well. When he was on the field, he was elegant.
But what she wanted to give the biggest bonus points for was his personality.
“To have this level of skill and this kind of star quality… I think this is the first time I’ve seen a player so… harmless.”
A player’s personality is more important than anything else.
No matter how good their skill or outstanding their looks, if there are unstable elements in their personality, they are difficult to sign.
In other words, it’s about their private life.
Image is more important for a sports brand than for any other company. Because the very motto of sports is purity, passion, and so on.
Thinking about all that, I Jian was the ideal player.
“He is a player who could become a main model in the future. This player.”
Nina Trisenna nodded and closed the documents. That was the conclusion. He might not be now, but someday, I Jian was a player who could be put forward as the brand’s main model without shame.
The player who could currently be called Puma’s main face was Brazil’s Neymar.
A star among stars. It was hard to find a player with this level of star quality anywhere in the world.
Such a star was Puma’s main model.
I Jian had more than enough qualifications to succeed a Neymar like that.
“That’s why we have to win him over somehow.”
“Of course.”
“We must.”
She had heard that Nike and Adidas were also moving.
The industry’s top two.
They were enormous rivals.
But they couldn’t lose.
Therefore, they had to promise a groundbreaking offer that would surprise them.
Only then would it be a fight.
“This player… we must have him.”
The conference room began bustling over what that groundbreaking offer might be.
...
The opponent we met after AC Milan was UC Sampdoria.
Sampdoria was the second team I had faced since debuting for the first team. It had also been my first away game back then, which was why it was a fairly memorable team.
Especially, it was also more memorable because I had been afraid so many times during the match.
The Sampdoria players had all been big and rough enough to be scary just to look at.
I remembered that a fight had actually broken out in the middle of that match. Because the opponents came out so rough, the seniors had been furious.
I had just watched quietly from behind.
But this time, the feeling was a little different.
I didn’t know if it was because we were welcoming the opponent at our home, but when facing them, I didn’t feel fear first.
Whether I had grown taller, or whether the height of my heart had grown.
The Sampdoria players who had looked so big back then… didn’t look so big anymore.
So, I was able to play a little more freely.
“Get him!”
“Press him!”
I had changed, but in truth, the opponent hadn’t changed at all.
They came out just as rough as back then.
When I didn’t have the ball, they bumped and nudged me; when I had the ball, they shoved me in the back or grabbed my uniform.
And I, too, suffered from those rough plays—falling, hurting.
But I didn’t feel fear.
That was the difference.
I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t scared.
Even when shoved and knocked down, even when opponents with fierce faces looked down at me, I simply thought, so what.
Of course, if I had met such people on the street, I would have been terrified, but inside the stadium, I wasn’t scared.
Perhaps it was because I thought we were better at soccer.
“Yeeaaaah-!!”
“Dirty bastards, eat this!”
Around the fifteenth minute of the first half, we started pulling ahead with a header goal by Milenkovic, and around the thirty-fifth minute, I scored to grab a 2-0 lead.
In the ensuing second half, I assisted on Saponara’s goal to complete the 3-0.
And around the seventy-fifth minute, I was substituted for Rika Romero and left the pitch.
“A genius leaves, and a genius enters. What a meaningful substitution!”
“...”
Romero seemed to give meaning to it, calling it a substitution of geniuses, but unfortunately, the Coach had taken me out due to injury concerns and told me to rest.
…So does that mean it’s okay if Romero gets hurt?
Well, anyway.
Romero, who entered in my place, displayed that pesky personality against the opponent too and put in a fairly decent performance.
Thus, we continued our momentum with back-to-back 3-0 victories.
AC Milan and Inter, who were above us, both won, so our ranking didn’t rise, but regardless of the ranking.
We were continuously climbing upward.
...
“This is no joke! A fight has broken out! Over our player, global corporations are fighting! Hahaha!”
Hearing for the first time in a while that voice of his, which sounded like he’d swallowed a train whistle, I suddenly found myself imagining something pointless.
If this agent were a coach, I felt like there would never be a case in any stadium where the players couldn’t hear the coach’s instructions.
The agent who had helped with previous contracts said with a broad smile:
“The representatives of those amazing brands are briefing me so humbly, haha! My shoulders are going up for no reason! No, that’s not what’s important. First, let’s look at the conditions they’ve presented!”
The agent, who held out several documents, soon began explaining. Perhaps because the content was a bit complicated, he seemed to be trying to explain it simply at my level.
“Let’s hit the important points first! Adidas! They’re offering a lot of money! Nike! They’ve put forth the longest contract term! And Puma! A promise to launch a soccer cleat line with you as the main model!”
It was so simple it went in one ear and stuck.
Adidas, money.
Nike, contract length.
Puma… cleats?
“Um, by cleats…”
“Ah, yes! I mean, you’re currently wearing Puma cleats, right?”
“Yes.”
“Because of that, sales of that model have gone up quite a bit! Whether children or ordinary people, they’re buying the cleats you’re wearing!”
…It was hard to believe even after hearing it.
People were buying and wearing the cleats I wear just because I wear them?
“If you sign, they’ve promised to create a new model just for you! You become the model for that model! A cleat born solely for you!”
The following words were equally suspect to my ears.
The cleats I was wearing now were new ones I had acquired shortly after signing my pro contract.
I remembered buying them with a lot of determination. They were much more expensive than the cleats I had worn until then.
That was only a few months ago.
But now, that company was saying they’d make cleats just for me.
It wasn’t even that they’d give me existing cleats for free… they said they’d make a model for me.
I looked at the agent with slightly suspicious eyes.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Oh… it’s nothing. I’m just so surprised…”
With an agent whose appearance suggested he wouldn’t get scammed even when negotiating with the mafia, this probably wasn’t a scam.
It was just so unbelievable that a momentary doubt had crossed my mind.
The agent cackled and said:
“This is indeed a groundbreaking treatment that only stars receive! It means they value you highly! A portion of the sales revenue from that model will go to you, so you can’t ignore that either!”
I had been prepared, but… at this point, I couldn’t help feeling the pressure.
I found myself thinking:
Hmm… am I really that good?
What are they seeing in me to do this much?
If they’re going to sponsor me to this extent, how much better do I have to become to show a performance worthy of it?
Rather than happy, it felt like a weight was pressing down on both my shoulders.
“...”
But… now that I’ve made up my mind, I can’t run away.
Come to think of it, I had always thought I hated pressure… but perhaps the reason I was living these dreamlike days was thanks to that pressure.
If people hadn’t called me a genius, I wouldn’t have played soccer so hard.
And if I hadn’t lied to Jiu… would I have even been able to play for the first team?
I am a weak person.
That’s why—because of that—I had worked hard.
Coach Toni had once told us something.
He said there is a saying that every weakness can become a strength…
At the time, I hadn’t really understood what that meant.
How could a weakness become a strength?
But now I understand.
Because I am the proof.
I, who easily felt pressured over trivial things, had been able to hold a more desperate heart because of it.
So, the pressure I feel now… I shouldn’t just feel it as pressure.
Shouldn’t I accept it as nourishment that can make me grow more?
“Well, you don’t have to decide right here on the spot!”
When I was briefly silent, the agent spoke.
“We need to stoke the fight more! Don’t be fooled by the word ‘partnership’! You are Party A, and they are Party B! Because! You are a player of that much value!”
At those words from the agent, I looked at Dad and smiled.
Even at such happy news, Dad couldn’t show his happiness.
“Did you hear that? I’m on that level.”
“Huh? Ah… that’s right.”
I smiled again at Dad scratching his head.
The agent said we needed to stoke the fight more, but I didn’t think it was necessary.
Because I already had an idea of which way I was leaning.
A sudden thought came to mind.
Pretending to know nothing, going shopping with Jiu.
And at the store… finding my picture and saying nonchalantly:
Oh, it’s me.
“...”
Thinking about that, ugh. What’s wrong with me.
My shoulders keep trying to rise up to my ears…
< Please Don’t Fight -3 > End