Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 908 Chinese Football Reaps World Acclaim
FIFA Club World Cup

[Semi-final]

Manchester United (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: De Gea
Defenders: Wan-Bissaka, De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Dalot
Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Tang Ye, De Jong

Forwards: Dembele, Kane, Ziyech
Head Coach: Ten Hag

"Manchester United's lineup is still incredibly strong, guys. If I were a Nacional fan, I'd be trembling with fear right now."

"..."

"Beautiful, Ziyech!"

"It's been sent!"

"Kane! Kane!"

Kane received the ball just outside the penalty area and, with Tang Ye providing cover, easily pushed the ball into the box.

Maitvali tried to defend, but it was clearly futile.

Snapped!
"GOOOO-AAA-LLLL!!!"

"The ball is in!"

"Brothers! Harry Kane has scored!"

"1-0! Manchester United take the lead!"

"Nice!"

"It seems like Manchester United were holding back a bit today, only taking a one-goal lead after 30 minutes."

"Kane will never win a championship... Haha, don't be ridiculous. Kane not winning championships was back when he was at Tottenham. Can Manchester United and Tottenham be considered the same level of teams?"

As the Champions League winners, Manchester United are undoubtedly the biggest favorites to win this World Cup.

The only question is about Kane.

Because of the "no title" attribute of this English center forward, Manchester United faced a lot of pressure when they wanted to buy Kane.

But it doesn’t matter!
The title race hasn't started yet, but judging from his performance over the past half-season, Kane is a truly solid player.

"..."

"B, bring this over to Tang Ye."

"Tang Ye, do it again!"

"Awesome, that was a great play!"

"Break the door!"

"B fee!!!"

"The ball is in!"

"2:0!"

"2:0!!!"

"..."

"Beep, beep beep—!!!"

After a 2-0 shutout victory against Cairo Nacional, Tang Ye, who had been substituted early in the game, applauded from the bench and celebrated the win with his teammates after the final whistle.

Manchester United faced virtually no pressure against Al Nación, an Egyptian team. Ten Hag commented, "In my memory, almost every Club World Cup winner has been the previous season's Champions League winner. Europe has the most developed football industry in the world, so I think it's only natural for the Champions League winner to win the Club World Cup; there won't be any surprises."

That's absolutely true. Teams in the top five leagues can easily beat other teams, let alone a fully revitalized Manchester United.

According to this English journalist, Manchester United is more formidable than ever before. As long as most of the players are in good form and Ten Hag's tactics are sound, Manchester United can be said to have virtually no chance of losing in this Club World Cup.

"Your opponent in the final will be Al-Hilal, Tom. What are your thoughts on this team?"

The reporter squinted, his eyes gleaming with a cunning look, seemingly trying to extract information from Tang Ye.

Al-Hilal's interest in Tang Ye has been brewing for quite some time, reminiscent of Barcelona's relentless pursuit of him despite their unsuccessful attempts.

"They are very strong. Although the team's total value is not high, Crescent Moon is the AFC Champions League champion last season, and they have the potential to beat us. But I am still quite confident in winning the Club World Cup. Crescent Moon will have a hard time having that chance."

"Ah."

The reporter nodded: "This winter transfer window, Mohamed bought Mitrovic from Fulham for a transfer fee of 55 million euros, which is considered to be the beginning of the Saudi Arabian era of big-spending football, following Al-Nassr's victory. According to our understanding, Mohamed has a total transfer budget of more than $600 million over the next three years, not including player salaries."

Are you one of the people involved in this $6 million plan?

"Ha ha!"

Tang Ye shook his head: "They will buy a lot of very strong players, but that shouldn't include me. I never said I would transfer to Crescent Moon."

……

Dongqiudi Match Report: Kane scores, Tang Ye assists and is quickly substituted, Manchester United easily defeats Nacional 2-0 to advance to the Club World Cup final, where they will face AFC Champions League winners Al-Hilal (569346 comments)

Al-Hilal coach: Saudi football is just getting started, and we will value the opportunity to play against Manchester United; I really hope that TY can join Al-Hilal, but I know that some things are impossible, and I am a person who knows how to be content.

[Physical confrontation: 92→93]

[Defense: 85→86]

Tang Ye (23 years old)
[Ball possession: 94; Passing: 98]

[Shots: 94; Headers: 62; Set pieces: 95]

Speed: 87; Endurance: 88; Physical Strength: 93

[Defense: 85; Vision: 100]

Overall rating: 98
With three days to go until the final against Al-Hilal, the Manchester United players have been having a very comfortable time.

From the perspective of Manchester United players, they couldn't feel the pressure from Al-Hilal at all. The Club World Cup, which was sandwiched between the Premier League and the Champions League, was no different from a short vacation for the players.

"Be serious, or we'll pull off an upset!"

Van der Gach is dissatisfied with the players' current form.

"You know this is impossible."

Dembele responded, "I will show them what cruelty is."

"Hahaha!"

Dembele's words drew laughter from Tang Ye and Kane: "So, Osman, what is cruelty?"

“可能是5:0吧，或者6:0。半决赛放了一场球迷真以为我们只能打2:0了，真是搞笑。”

"Okay, okay, we'll see then." Tang Ye threw his bottled water in Dembele's direction, which hit the French striker right in the stomach.

"Wow, that's accurate!"

"I hope you're just as accurate during the game, Tom."

"Haha, you'll see when the finals start."

While Tang Ye was bragging to Dembele, his phone rang soon after.

It was a call from Boer, who wanted to have a detailed discussion with Tang Ye about the business contract.

As one of Tangye's long-term partners, PepsiCo quickly expressed its understanding after learning about Tangye's request and proposed a solution that they believed was appropriate after discussion.

Originally, Tang Ye's basic endorsement fee from PepsiCo in non-World Cup years was 15 million euros (only the endorsement fee, image fee and promotional video shooting fee are calculated separately). However, PepsiCo's new proposal is to provide Tang Ye with a basic endorsement fee of 18 million euros per year starting in June of this year, while the Chinese national team will receive an endorsement fee of 10 million euros, which will continue until the end of the 2026 USA-Mexico World Cup.

PepsiCo clearly values ​​the Chinese market highly and recognizes the influence of the Asian Cup, believing that the Chinese team can achieve good results on home soil.

Of course, the total endorsement fee of 2800 million euros is extremely high, and PepsiCo has also made its demands regarding this:

1. The contract shall last at least until the end of the 2026 USA-Mexico World Cup and shall not be terminated early.

2. If the Chinese team fails to reach the Asian Cup final or qualify for the USA-Canadian Cup finals, the amount allocated to the Chinese national team that year will be reduced by 30%.

3. Pepsi has the right to renew the contract with the Chinese team first after the event, unless other companies (such as Coca-Cola) offer endorsement fees that exceed 120% of the endorsement fees promised by Pepsi.

4. The sole beverage partner must have their trademark appear on the Chinese team's training uniforms and related outerwear.

5. Establish a long-term partnership with Pop Bond, allowing PepsiCo to issue "Tangye Coca-Cola Dolls" and Pop Bond to issue "Pepsi Coca-Cola Dolls".

It seems like there are a lot of requirements, but most of them are actually quite reasonable.

Compared to sponsoring Tang Ye alone, sponsoring both Tang Ye personally and the Chinese national team is also a good business deal for Pepsi.

As for the Chinese team, they don't really care about Pepsi's so-called "priority renewal right" at all, since they need money now if they really want to restart the era of big spending.

Four years later?
Four years later, Tang Ye was 27 years old.

Too late!
……

The front page headline of the Football News reads: The Chinese Football Association officially announced that Pepsi has become the official partner of the national team, with the partnership lasting from June 2022 to August 2026.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that PepsiCo's sponsorship of the Chinese national football team may have been driven by Tang Ye.

"Pepsi's sponsorship of the Chinese national football team may be a 'task' that they have to complete in order to renew their contract with Tang Ye. Regardless of whether it is a task or not, the annual sponsorship fee of 1000 million euros is definitely a 'Tang Ye premium' for the Chinese men's football team, because the amount of this endorsement fee is even close to the offer of some strong European teams."

"Furthermore, according to reliable sources, the Chinese Football Association will carefully consider all the sponsorship fees it receives going forward. More money may flow into clubs in the Chinese Super League and the China League Two, rather than the national team itself."

"The honor of the World Cup has reduced the pressure on the Chinese Football Association, which is currently working to lift the salary cap for players in the Chinese Super League."

[Tang the King of Football is about to do something big! First, he'll help China advance to the Club World Cup final, then he'll take charge of Chinese football.]

[I suggest Tang Qiuwang be the interim president of the Football Association. Although my idea might not be right, he's really willing to spend money, sob sob, I'm crying, brothers.]

[Reopening money-driven football? But it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. So many foreign players are only strong in the Chinese Super League, what does that have to do with the national team? It's basically no help.]

[I didn't know how to play before, but now that I have experience, I definitely won't spend money on foreign players. After all, having money is always better than not having money. Anyway, I bought PPBD stock and support my Tang King with the money I spend on a bottle of lemonade every day. GGBond's greatness needs no further explanation.]

……

The Chinese national football team is in a very deep and complex situation, and the problems it faces cannot be solved overnight. Interfering in the revival of football is a completely reckless move, tantamount to gambling with one's own wealth.

The good thing is that Tang Ye is a hothead; he does what he wants to do, regardless of how complicated the situation he is facing.

With Boll's help, Tang Ye was quite confident, because the Tom + Boll combination had never truly failed before.

All they experienced were challenges, and all they achieved were successes!

Dongqiudi pinned post: With the Asian Cup approaching, Tang Ye posted on Weibo to solicit sponsorships for the Chinese team.

Chinese domestic companies can simply sponsor the national team and directly benefit from the Asian Cup. After all, if it's just Chinese companies, sponsoring the national team is enough, and there's no need to spend so much money to force sponsoring Tangye.

Foreign companies are different. Sponsoring the Chinese national team alone is not a worthwhile thing for them, because they also need part of the European market behind Tangye. Therefore, they need to cooperate with both Tangye and the Chinese team at the same time.

Pepsi is one example.

Many people thought PepsiCo was a maverick, but little did they know that this was just the beginning.

Hupu Community: Adidas has offered 4 million RMB annually in hopes of establishing a comprehensive partnership with the Chinese Football Association. Nike may be under pressure to raise prices.

"Adidas has signed a long-term contract with Tang Ye, and the Chinese national team may be Nike's only opportunity to cooperate with Tang Ye. Currently, Nike is considering increasing its annual sponsorship fee to the Chinese Football Association from the original 1 million RMB to 3 million RMB, but this still does not exceed Adidas's 'interception offer'."

On Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform), it's hotly debated that Red Bull Group has signed Tang Ye to a €1500 million annual contract and an additional 4000 million RMB to sign him with the Chinese national team.

Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform) is buzzing with discussion: Panasonic has announced a €1200 million annual contract with Tangye and a RMB2500 million sponsorship of the Chinese Super League.

Dongqiudi (a sports betting platform) is buzzing with discussion: Budweiser plans to sign Tang Ye to a 4-year, €5000 million contract and will also sponsor the Chinese national team.

Among the many billionaires, Tang Ye had relatively few sponsors, with almost none from Chinese companies.

Things suddenly changed drastically after the World Cup ended.

This guy is crazy.

Companies from various countries were thrilled to see Tang Ye suddenly agree to film an endorsement advertisement, feeling that they had seized the opportunity to dominate the Chinese market and at least defeat their competitors in China.

When they also learned that their competitors had definitely contacted Tang Ye, they realized that if they really wanted an exclusive contract, they would have to pay a price: they would have to sponsor Chinese football at the same time—that is, pay the so-called "tariff".

Tang Ye is disgusting; he actually wants to impose taxes on the entire world!
Of course, this is quite different from a regular tax.

With regular taxes, once you pay them, you can't get them back, but if you sponsor the Chinese team, you can get at least a full return.

The biggest dark horse of the Qatar World Cup, the host of the 2023 Asian Cup... and the upcoming USA-Canadian-Mexican World Cup.

From this perspective, paying a "tariff" is a worthwhile deal.

Well, a one-year tax payment isn't worthwhile. A four-year contract would cover the next World Cup, so signing a four-year contract at once is the most cost-effective option!

……

The Sun's front-page headline – "King of Football Tax?" All companies that have signed with TY have paid a certain amount to sponsor the Chinese Football Association or related industries in China.

"Undoubtedly, TY's practice of imposing taxes globally is highly unreasonable and does not conform to the fundamental logic of industrial globalization. But sadly, major companies seem to be enthusiastic about it, and they are pleasantly surprised by TY's sudden willingness to accept the offer."

"Some companies in Europe and the United States seem to have lost their heads. They may need to calm down and rethink the value of the Chinese football market, and then they will find..."

"They made a very good deal!"

Attached is data from a Sun newspaper investigation: Since the Chinese team successfully advanced to the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the number of Chinese football fans has more than tripled in four and a half years, and there is still great potential for growth.

The head of Coca-Cola China criticized the "King of Football Tax," saying it was unreasonable and hoped that Tang Ye and related personnel would realize their mistake as soon as possible. He argued that arbitrarily "collecting taxes" could affect the long-term development of Chinese football.

……

(End of this chapter)