Chapter 362 Endorsement Dispute
"A cross from Jiang Yuan after he went down the field!"

"Ibrahimovic header!"

"Hit one! The ball goes in!"

"The ball goes in! Thanks to the goal from center forward Ibrahimovic, Chelsea has extended their lead to 2 goals!"

"Zlatan, Ibrahimovic!"

Ibrahimovic gave Jiang Yuan a thumbs up. Although Jiang Yuan's pass was not very accurate, fortunately Ibrahimovic was tall enough and capable of snatching the ball in the confrontation with Shawcross.

After expanding the score, Mourinho was very rational. He took the notebook from Brown and wrote down a few words "Jiang, cross ball training".

But for some reason, Mourinho crossed out this sentence with a ballpoint pen after writing it.

Jiang Yuan has a strong ability to break through the bottom line of the wing. If he can practice accurate crosses, he can cooperate with Ibrahimovic's header and scoring ability to do something.

But there is also a problem. Ibrahimovic can easily become weak when facing strong teams. If Chelsea wants to win the Premier League, it must have the ability to defeat strong teams.

In Chelsea's team positioning, Ibrahimovic is a wingman used to attract defensive attention. There is no need to influence the real bomber in the team in order to activate Ibrahimovic's ability.

Mark Hughes had a serious expression on his face, but the Stoke City coach did not sit idly by. He actively discussed tactics against Chelsea with his assistant team.

Stoke City's 3421 has a very obvious feature, that is, when defending, the two wing midfielders return to defense and form a 5-defender system in a short time.

The wing defense of the 5-defender system is relatively solid, but Mourinho had already made competitive treatment for this 3421 formation when he transformed Hazard in the preseason.

Kante and Pogba press forward at the same time, and let Ivanovic or Azpilicueta pretend to be the defensive midfielder, thereby greatly reducing the number of people in the frontcourt and destroying the unbreakable 5-back defense.

In the final minutes of the first half, Chelsea created an opportunity through the cooperation between Kante and Jiang Yuan on the left. After getting the ball, Jiang Yuan passed the ball to Pogba in the face of multiple people, and formed an effective wing attack by exchanging positions with Pogba.

After finishing the job, Jiang Yuan came to the top of the arc and assisted Hazardka from behind. The latter received Pogba's inverted triangle pass, and after a simple stop, he volleyed the ball.

"Wow~!"

Unfortunately, Hazard's direct shot ended up hitting the target.

"oh my gosh"

Hazard shook his hands and almost laughed.

“Let’s go!”

"The first half is over, the score is still 2:0, Chelsea is leading at home."

"But we can see that after falling behind, Stoke City's response has been relatively positive, and they once took the lead. Coach Zhang, do you think the visiting team will still have a chance in today's game?"

Huang Jianxiang looked at Zhang Lu beside him.

"Opportunities? There are definitely opportunities, hehe. For most of the time, Stoke City did not pose any substantial threat to Chelsea's backcourt defense, but I think they can take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack."

"We all know that Pogba has an extreme personality. If you ask him to defend, he may not do it with all his strength. If Stoke City wants to score, they definitely have the best chance of scoring on a counterattack."

As Zhang Lu analyzed, if Stoke City wanted to break through Chelsea's defense in a regular attack without considering the cooperation of the three strikers Afellay, Shaqiri, and Crouch, it would be a fantasy.

But it’s different for counterattacks. If there is a great counterattack opportunity, let alone Crouch, even Wu Lei can score a goal.

During the half-time break, Mourinho did not make too many changes to the team's tactics. He just emphasized the discipline issue and then let the players rest on their own.

"N'Golo!"

Jiang Yuan called Kant over, and after the Frenchman sat down next to him, Jiang Yuan stretched out his left hand and hugged Kant's neck: "Can you still run?"

In the first half of the game, Kante kept running back and forth between the front and back courts. Jiang Yuan was amazed by his excellent endurance.

“That’s what I do.”

Kant showed the gap between his front teeth, and Jiang Yuan also laughed.

I have to say that Mourinho's idea of ​​recruiting players is really clear. Not only do the two frontcourt players Jiang Yuan and Hazard like Kante, but the two backcourt players Terry and Azpilicueta also like Kante very much.

Also French, the Blues' other French midfielder is in a bit of an awkward position.

The players in the frontcourt couldn't let go of Pogba, while the players in the backcourt started to get nervous when they saw Pogba running forward.

Kante will come back as soon as he runs forward.

But Pogba may never come back if he runs away!
The second half of the game started, and the two sides changed sides and the players began to play. As usual, because of the temporary lead in the first half, Chelsea began to actively slow down the offensive rhythm. Fabregas and Zouma were warming up outside the sideline.

"Clap clap clap!"

Seeing that Zouma, the hero of the championship, had recovered from his injury and was ready to return, the Blues fans at Stamford Bridge were the first to applaud.

Although Alonso is expensive and capable, the most suitable person for Chelsea's central defender position is still the little Kurt.

When playing in the Premier League, you may not be able to play if you have good football skills, but if you have good physical fitness, you will definitely be a starter.

"Over there, over there!"

Seeing that Pogba wanted to pass the ball to him, Jiang Yuan directly pointed to the right to indicate that it was Falcao. When the team was advancing just now, Jiang Yuan was the only one running. Now the lactic acid in his body has not been metabolized yet, so he can't run at all.

"?"

Pogba raised his eyebrows, a little confused, just as Ivanovic ran up to him. Pogba crossed the side and finally Ivanovic passed the ball to Falcao.

"Getting the ball on the sideline, facing Peters 1v1, let's see how Falcao handles it"

"After returning from injury, the Colombian is in a bit of a bad state. Compared with last season, especially the season before, Falcao's performance is not satisfactory. Chelsea fans at the scene must be hoping that he can get back his previous feeling of breaking through."

"That's right. Because modern football techniques and tactics are becoming more and more mature and perfect, if Chelsea only has one way to attack, then teams in the same league will soon develop targeted tactics."

"What Chelsea needs most now is... Hey, here it comes, look at Chelsea's cooperation on the right this time!"

"Peters was leaning towards Falcao. Falcao was a little hesitant. In the end, he did not choose to do it alone, but cooperated with Ivanovic!"

"The full-backs went down the right flank, which was a tactic Chelsea consistently used last season. But after the arrival of two strong defensive midfielders, Pogba and Kante, this season, we rarely see the two full-backs, Azpilicueta and Ivanovic, going down the flank."

"Come and see Ivanovich!"

The Serbian player was in a 1v1 situation with Indi at the baseline, and the fans in the south stand exclaimed in surprise. Unfortunately, Ivanovic was always hesitant in handling the ball, and he did not give the ball away in the first time. In the end, he could only confront the opponent's defensive players at the baseline.

Seeing this, Hazard made a gesture to Kante, then went to the right to support his trapped teammate. Kante understood and hurried up to stand at the top of the arc.

Jiang Yuan continued to stay on the left looking for opportunities. Kante's wide coverage ability can help Jiang Yuan save physical energy during attack. This is a good thing, but Jiang Yuan also knows in his heart that Mourinho asked Kante to come up to help just to make good use of his finishing ability.

Even if he doesn't have to run around, Jiang Yuan still has to stay focused at all times.

However, just as Jiang Yuan was preparing to score in the penalty area, Hazard, who had the ball, was suddenly tackled by Charlie Adam and lay on the ground wailing.

"This is a clear foul!"

Slow motion showed that Charlie Adam stepped directly on Hazard's ankle, which scared Mourinho so much that he stood up from his chair: "Wdf! What's this!"

Before Mourinho could complain to the fourth official, referee Jones showed Charlie Adam a yellow card and asked about Hazard's injury: "Do you need medical help?"

"Beep!"

Jones waved to the Chelsea bench, and Clarkson, with his assistant, two people, four hands and four medical kits, immediately rushed to the court.

Chelsea players came over, Pogba took out two bottles of mineral water from the medical box and handed one to Jiang Yuan.

咕噜 咕噜
Jiang Yuan drank water while observing Hazard who was receiving treatment. The situation was not good.

"Give me some drink"

Stoke City players ran off the field to get some water, and in order to save time, Indi simply asked Jiang Yuan for some.

"Here"

Jiang Yuan handed the bottle over. After Indi finished drinking it, he washed his hands with the remaining mineral water and finally put it back into the medical box.

"How about it?"

Terry squatted down and looked at Clarkson who was treating Hazard. The latter said it was nothing serious and that it would be fine after spraying some ethyl chloride under the Belgian's ankle.

"call……"

Mourinho outside the field breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, nothing happened. When he saw Charlie Adam's studs stepping on Hazard's ankle, Mourinho was scared to death.

Fortunately, Chelsea's medical team was smart enough to know that Hazard was vulnerable to attack by opponents, so they put a protective bandage on his ankle.

The protective ankle bandage will affect the flexibility of the athlete's ankle, but it can enhance safety during the game. Whether to wear a bandage depends on the individual. Some players, such as Jiang Yuan and Pogba, do not like to have anything on their ankles. If there is no injury, Jiang Yuan will not let Clarkson put those white tapes on his ankles.

Hazard temporarily left the court with the help of the team doctor, while Jiang Yuan put the ball on the arc drawn by the referee.

"Chelsea has a direct free kick opportunity in the frontcourt. Jiang Yuan and Kante are standing behind the free kick spot. They both have very good long-range shooting ability."

"The referee blew the whistle!"

"Kante took a run-up and missed the ball. This ball should be given to Jiang Yuan."

"Jiang Yuan, just shoot!"

"GOOOOOO-AAAAAAA-LLLLLLLLLL!!!"

"What a goal!"

"What a sensational goal for Jiang!"

In the camera, Jiang Yuan played his best elevator shot, the ball passed over the heads of Pogba and Shawcross, and finally went into the net.

Because his view was blocked by Kante and Ibrahimovic, goalkeeper Grant did not react to the ball.

Hazard had just received permission from the fourth official to go on the pitch when his teammates on the pitch began to celebrate. Hazard stopped and gave a thumbs up to Mourinho beside him: "This is my assist."

[Familiar taste, this is the feeling, the king of elevator ball! ]

[It has to be Xiao Jiang. Jiang Yuan should be the best free kick player in the Premier League right now. His direct free kick goal rate is simply outrageous.]

[However, the ratings of the Premier League in China were boosted by Jiang Yuan. The Premier League is already interesting to watch, and with the addition of Jiang Yuan, wouldn’t it be easy to beat La Liga? ]

[Haven’t you noticed that in the past year, there have been many new users wearing Chelsea logos in the football app. They have all registered for less than a few months and are obviously new fans.]

[Stoke City's No. 16 scared me to death. I almost thought Chelsea was going to lose another player. Chelsea can't afford injuries right now. William, my William, when can you come back...]

[It's said that the season is over. You might as well hope that Falcao will return to his Monaco days instead of hoping for a medical miracle from William]

[Last season I thought Ibrahimovic was a good fit for Chelsea, but this season I don’t think so. Ibrahimovic is a terminator, not a wingman]

[The person above, I have a question for you, can Ibrahimovic stand out like Jiang Yuan and Hazard when playing against strong teams? Chelsea can easily beat the teams at the bottom of the league with their current level. The key is still the top 8 teams. Whether they can win the championship depends on the matches against the top teams.]

[Hurry up and sell Fabregas in the winter window. Spend some money to get a right winger worth 5000 million+, and Chelsea will take off immediately! ]

[The question is where to find a right winger worth 5000 million+? ]

Chelsea's players formed a circle under the stands, and Mark Hughes gathered his players together. At this time, the visiting coach was already blushing.

"Defense line, retreat to the defense line. Do you know why we keep conceding goals? Because you've been treated like puppies by your opponents, walking around on the grass!"

"We have five defenders, pull the defense back to the penalty area, and defend tightly! Use your tight defense! Chelsea players are flexible, you have to find the advantage in numbers to defend!"

Mark Hughes spread his hands and pointed at Chelsea's goal. In order to prevent injury, Courtois hung on the crossbar and did two pull-ups as a warm-up: "If our defense line shrinks back, their defense line will run outward. Counterattack is our opportunity. Don't think about playing against Chelsea on the wing."

"defense and..."

"Counterattack!"

……

After the speech, Mark Hughes made a substitution, with Afellay and Shaqiri, who performed poorly, both leaving the field. Mourinho responded by replacing John Terry with Zouma and Hazard with Fabregas.

Although Clarkson's examination showed that Hazard was not seriously injured, confrontational injuries should never be treated carelessly. Now that the team is leading 3:0, Mourinho feels that he still has to be conservative.

In the 76th minute, Stoke City really launched a counterattack, taking advantage of Pogba's half-point shot. Indy's long pass from the backcourt accurately found Crouch on the offside line. "The ball goes in, from center forward Crouch!"

"Stoke City defeated Chelsea with their best defensive counterattack. It was a wonderful transition from offense to defense!"

Crouch ran to Chelsea's goal to pick up the ball, and there was a burst of boos against the visiting players on the field. The camera was given to Mark Hughes and Mourinho respectively, and the expressions of the two coaches were not very good.

Mark Hughes frowned because the team was now two goals behind.

Mourinho frowned because he found the problem of the team's defense. And it was not an easy problem to solve.

As soon as Chelsea loses the ball, Pogba will become passive on the field, whether it is pressing or defending. The previous goal was caused by Pogba's failure to create pressure on Indi in time.

In the final minutes of the game, Stoke City increased its offensive. Mourinho was very smart. Relying on his side's two-goal lead, he directly replaced Jiang Yuan with Cahill and temporarily formed a five-defender formation, which successfully resisted Stoke City's counterattack.

“Beep, beep, beep—!!!”

"At the end of the game, the home team Chelsea was still better. From the course and results of the game, we can see that Chelsea is better than Stoke City in terms of absolute strength and form. This is also the reason why the Blues have been ranked in the top three in the league in recent rounds."

"Stoke City fans in front of the screen should not be discouraged. Although they lost today's game, Stoke City successfully defeated Chelsea in the home games in the first half of the season."

"Yeah, haha, Stoke City is one of the few teams that have beaten Chelsea so far this season"

In the footage, players from both teams who knew each other were chatting on the court, while players who had nothing to talk about returned to the player tunnel with their teammates.

"Golden boy!"

Mourinho gave Jiang Yuan a hug, and the latter also hugged his coach very enthusiastically.

Putting aside the special significance of the last game of 2016, winning 3:1 is always a happy thing. Therefore, Mourinho did not blame Pogba in the locker room, but chose to put the matter aside for the subsequent training.

At Stamford Bridge, as the Most Valuable Player of the game, Jiang Yuan was interviewed by ESPN reporter Corona: "Congratulations, Mr. Jiiang! We won the last game of 2016 and scored two goals in this game. The Chelsea fans at the scene are very happy."

Corona spread his arms, and most of the Blues fans in the stands were in no hurry to leave.

If you spend more than 100 pounds on the ticket and don’t watch the live interview, wouldn’t it be a huge loss?

“I remember there is a saying in China that goes like this.”

Corona glanced down at the cheat sheet in her hand: "Say goodbye to the old... Welcome to the new! If we win the game on the last day of the new year, it means we will win the game all the time in the next year, right?"

"well..."

Jiang Yuan pinched his nose and wiped the sweat from his eyes: "Strictly speaking, the New Year hasn't arrived yet, but... um, thank you, I like this sentence very much, and I also hope that the team can keep winning games. This is the ideal situation."

"Soon after the second half, Hazard was tackled by Adam. Although he chose to continue playing, he was substituted soon after. Jiang, can you tell us about Hazard's injury?"

'He is healthy'

Jiang Yuan answered very decisively. He had just danced with Hazard in the locker room.

Thanks to Clarkson's bandage, Hazard had support from the bandage at the moment he was tackled, so several veins were not broken.

Jiang Yuan had encountered this kind of tackle many times in the game. As long as the opposing player held back at the last moment, the person being tackled would basically not be in any danger.

Although professional players often get injured, they are still more resilient than you think.

"Since joining the team last season, your cooperation with Hazard has always been very good and has successfully helped the team win many games. But recently there have been reporters reporting on the news between him and Real Madrid. Is it possible for Hazard to leave Chelsea after the end of this season?"

“I don’t know”

Just as he was decisive when answering the question about Hazard's injury, Jiang Yuan chose to avoid the question directly: "He (Hazard) has not told us about leaving, and as far as I know, the club will renew his contract with him."

"But I'm not Eden, and I don't know what the future will be like."

"Well……"

Corona said to the camera: "From Jiang's reaction, we can see that the Chelsea players are also in a state of confusion about whether Hazard will stay or go. Maybe even Hazard himself is not sure whether he will stay or not."

"It has been confirmed that Real Madrid wants Hazard, but we are not clear about the attitude of Chelsea and Hazard himself at the moment."

“Next question”

Corona's gaze returned to Jiang Yuan: "It is said that Adidas and Nike are discussing an endorsement contract with you. Before this, you were already the spokesperson for Adidas in Asia, so will you still choose Adidas?"

“The two contracts are different.”

Jiang Yuan answered like this, and the sensitive fans could already hear the hidden meaning in his words. Jiang Yuan would sign a contract with adidas 90%.

"My endorsement in Asia is just a portrait endorsement, but with the new contract... I can get more money, but I also need to do more for them (Adidas),"

"I will be participating in a commercial shoot in January, that's all I can reveal for now."

Jiang Yuan nodded to the camera lens and then left the interview area.

……

Premier League Top Scorcer List:

1. Jiang, Chelsea – 16 goals

2. Harry Kane, The Spur – 14 goals

3. Lukaku, Everton – 12 goals

4. Alexis Sánchez, Arsenal - 12 goals

5. Sergio Agüero, Man City – 11 goals

Deutsche Sky Sport: The adidas representative negotiated with Jiang's new agent, Biko. Adidas is willing to pay Jiang 1900 million euros per year as an endorsement fee, but Jiang wants 2800 million euros per year plus a share of sales (more than Messi's 2000 million euros). The negotiations between the two sides are currently deadlocked. Adidas believes that Jiang's asking price is too exaggerated, but the fact is that they cannot resist the temptation brought by the Chinese market.

RMC SPORT's front page headline: A reporter photographed Biko's Bentley GT parked next to a convenience store in Bavaria, Germany. Biko bought a bottle of Red Bull in the convenience store and then went to Herzogen, the headquarters of Puma in Germany. One year ago, Puma and Brazilian star Neymar signed a one-year endorsement contract worth 1 million pounds, surpassing Messi and Ronaldo to rank first.

"Süddeutsche Zeitung" - Puma's current influence in European football is far less than that of adidas and Nike, so they are willing to provide huge endorsement fees to top athletes in order to compete with the two giants adidas and Nike.

The newspaper's editor-in-chief Sebastian said that if Puma succeeds in signing Jiang, they will take the initiative in the markets of China, Asia, and the UK.

……

In fact, there were 17 sportswear companies that approached agent Biko for negotiations, but only adidas, Puma, and Nike could offer annual endorsement fees of more than 1700 million euros, so only these three companies were taken into consideration by Biko.

While discussing with the company, Biko also contacted Jiang Yuan once by phone because a company from China also wanted to sign Jiang Yuan.

The endorsement fee they offered was not much, but considering that like Jiang Yuan, Biko was from China, he did not rush to refuse, but decided to contact Jiang Yuan first.

"Li Ning is also willing to customize the brand for you, but the person in charge there told me that they hope you can provide some...um, convenience to Chinese companies."

“It makes sense”

Jiang Yuan nodded. If a domestic company approached him, it would not be a problem to ask for less endorsement fee. After all, Jiang Yuan was not determined to get 2000 million euros, so a few million less would not be a problem.

So I asked, “How much are they willing to give?”

"300 euros"

"A month? That's great..."

“This is the year”

"..."

After just a few words, Jiang Yuan was silenced.

How can I put it... Li Ning does have some talent. When he saw Puma's offer of 2400 million euros, Li Ning responded with another 2400 million, but in RMB instead of Euros.

……

The fact that the three giants were competing for Jiang Yuan caused quite a stir in European football and even global football, among which La Liga fans and Chinese fans were the most concerned about this matter.

There is no need to say much about the concern of Chinese fans. After all, Jiang Yuan is the only Chinese star who can reach the world stage, so he will naturally receive some special care from the fans.

What La Liga fans said is all about Messi. The only issue Messi fans are worried about is whether the endorsement fee Jiang Yuan gets from adidas will exceed that of Messi?

For this reason, Spanish Channel 6 opened a special program, and the host jpedrerol expressed his opinion on this matter: "Adidas offers Jiang more endorsement fees than Leo, I think this is very reasonable"

Many of the Spanish Channel 6 reporters are loyal fans of Real Madrid. Jpedrerol and Jiang Yuan do not have a direct conflict of interest, but Jiang Yuan's endorsement fee may now exceed Messi's. This move will directly break the statement that "Messi has the highest commercial value."

Adidas' original intention in signing Jiang Yuan was to help Messi fight against Ronaldo, and everyone knows this.

But the perspective of the fans is different from that of ordinary fans.

Due to injuries and other reasons, Messi has fallen into a clear disadvantage in the competition for the Ballon d'Or in the past year. At this time, the Messi crystal began to show their unique perspective. Statements such as "Messi's commercial value is the highest in the world" and "Messi earns more money" directly silenced Ronaldo fans.

There is no way, Messi's weekly salary and endorsement fees are higher than Ronaldo's, this is a fact.

But now it’s different. Jiang Yuan signed a contract with adidas, and his endorsement fee exceeds that of Messi. Then the statement that "Messi has the highest commercial value in the world" has been broken by Messi’s own financial sponsor.

No matter whether Ronaldo's commercial value is the first or not, you Messi cannot be the first.

Li Laoba, a well-known Ronaldo fan, said in the live broadcast room: "Hiccup, in the eyes of people who really understand football, the king of adidas is not Leo Messi (Madrid accent), but Jiang Yuan!"

This also led to a very strange phenomenon. After adidas was likely to sign Jiang Yuan with a price exceeding Messi's endorsement fee, the players in the Real Madrid camp began to support Jiang Yuan.

Human addiction is really scary!
"Sir, whether it's the number of Ballon d'Or awards or the team achievements, Jiang is far inferior to Messi"

Show guest Clara points out the problem.

TV programs are like this, there are people for and against, and it’s best if both sides can fight, so that the ratings will be high.

"I admit that Messi's achievements are greater than Jiang's, but commercial value and a player's personal achievements are not completely equivalent. Neymar is not as good as Messi, but his commercial endorsements with Puma are greater than Messi, and that's the fact."

In order to suppress Messi, host jpedrerol used almost everything he could think of.

Jiang Yuan, attack Messi!

Neymar, use combo on Messi!
Real Madrid fans, listen to my command!
Portugal fans, line up!

“The Chinese market is only part of it”

Clara also has her own opinion: "Europe is the holy land of football. Adidas should not shift its focus to China. There are not many people playing football in the East. They prefer playing table tennis."

"Adidas has reached saturation in Europe. What they need is a breakthrough. China is the best place. There are a lot of people there. Unlike India, Chinese people use their economic foundation to consume sports goods. This is the most important thing."

jpedrerol smiled at the camera and said: "So, from this point of view, Messi is not the football player with the highest commercial value in the world, Jiang is"

"I think adidas will offer Jiang a contract worth more than 2200 million euros, at least not less than Messi's 2000 million euros, and it is very likely to be 2000 million euros."

jpedrerol said that as the financial sponsor, adidas will definitely not openly support one party to suppress the other. In this case, it is more reasonable to provide Jiang Yuan with an endorsement fee equivalent to Messi.

By then, Spanish Channel 6 will have news to report.

"In order not to embarrass Messi, adidas reduced the endorsement fee for Jiang!"

When it comes to fighting against Messi, Spanish Channel 6 is very professional. If nothing unexpected happens, jpedrerol's office already has a draft for the above news.

"NO, NO, this is impossible!"

Clara kept shaking her head: "The endorsement fee that adidas offers to Jiang will definitely not exceed that of Messi. They can't let their top star lose face."

"Hahaha!"

jpedrerol laughed: "Adidas is a listed company, they are not Messi's servants, their purpose is to make money, not to serve Messi, this is the truth!"

As he spoke, jpedrerol stood up, and under the gaze of the camera, he turned the whiteboard in the room around to show its contents.

In 2015, adidas' total revenue was 185 billion euros, with sales in more than 30 countries in Europe, and total revenue was 50 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 12%.
Greater China's revenue was 32 billion euros, accounting for 17%, an increase of 30% year-on-year (ranked first).

……

(End of this chapter)