"Oh! My dearest Gu! Welcome!"
Old Lais rushed up in one stride, gave Gu Ran a big hug, and kissed both sides of Gu Ran's cheeks.
This intimate act made Gu Ran, who was already a bit social, even more social.
Gu Ran said quickly: "Hello, Mr. Rice, long time no see! Thank you and the gentlemen at the club for applying for a labor certificate for me. Looking at the entire English football world, I am afraid that only you and the Southampton Club can do this. .”
Old Laisi was almost praised to the sky by Gu Ran's few words, "Hahaha! Gu! We are all a family, so there is no need to say thank you! Besides, you are so handsome in the suit today!"
Gu Ran smiled awkwardly, "Oh, this suit is not mine, it was borrowed temporarily."
Laisi said with even more admiration: "Gu, you have such a good sense!"
Gu Ran said: "Actually, Rick helped me pick it up on the road..."
Old Laisi took Gu Ran's hand and said, "Gu, if you keep talking like this, I really don't know how else to praise you. Come on, let me introduce you to the important figures in our club first - "
Old Rice pointed to a tall man with a somewhat stout figure and said: "This is our CEO, Mark Frye."
The CEO is the chief executive officer of the club, that is, the manager of the club. He is the decision-maker for all major projects such as transfers and contract extensions. He is also responsible for managing the daily operations of the club and communicating with the team management, coaching staff and other departments. Coordinate to ensure the normal functioning of the club.
Mark Frye can also be regarded as a hero after the Southampton club was penalized and relegated. Mark Frye relied on his own ability to put together this mess that was almost collapsed and about to be disbanded.
He is not proficient in football business, but professional managers do not need to be particularly proficient in football - Mark Frye is indeed a good hand in managing clubs, especially in dealing with club crises.
On this issue of labor certification, he also stood very firmly on Laisi's side and supported Laisi's work.
Mark Frye smiled and held Gu Ran's hand, "Welcome, dear Gu. I know that several Premier League clubs have been eyeing you recently, but please believe that Southampton is your home, and others can give you Southampton will try its best to give you everything you have, and Southampton will continue to try its best to give you everything others cannot give you."
Damn it, the person who said these words felt warm in his heart.
If I hadn't been a reborn person, I would have been really moved.
Gu Ran held Mark Frye's hand with real emotion, "Thank you, manager, and thank you to Southampton Club. I will try my best to fight for the Saints!"
——Come on, isn’t it just business politeness? come! I know it all!
Mark Frye praised: "Great, Gu! You are such a good player! With you, the strength of our Southampton club will definitely reach a big level! I am very much looking forward to your performance in the new season." !”
Gu Ran quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Mr. Fry!"
Old Rice pointed to a gentle man wearing glasses and said: "This is our financial director, Nicola Cortez."
The Finance Director is the senior executive responsible for the club's financial management, budget planning, financial reporting and finance-related matters.
If the team can play well, the budget planning and bonuses will naturally be high.
Of course, the financial director may also deposit money in the bank to earn interest...
Nicola Cortez shook hands with Gu Ran and said, "Gu, welcome to you as a member of the Saints. I hope you will have a wonderful and brilliant career start here."
Gu Ran responded politely: "Hello, Mr. Cortez, thank you for your blessing. I will definitely work hard."
Old Rice pointed to another old man with silver hair and said: "This is our sports director Mark Watt."
The sporting director is the truly powerful senior executive responsible for a specific team's transfer policy, player recruitment, and working with the coaching staff to achieve the team's tactical and competitive goals.
Although the terms of Gu Ran's contract and the application for a labor certificate were handled by Lais, in fact most of the backstage work was completed by Mark Walker.
Old Rice's achievement was to use his own status to get through key links.
Mark Walker smiled and patted Gu Ran's shoulder, "Gu, I'm very optimistic about you. I believe you will succeed."
Gu Ran said quickly: "Thank you, Mr. Walker, thank you very much for everything you have done for me."
Mark Walker was stunned for a moment, then nodded towards Gu Ran with a smile.
He thought that Gu Ran would probably just deal with him, but he didn't expect that Gu Ran understood everything he was doing behind the scenes.
——Mark Walker already liked Gu Ran very much, but he likes her even more now.
Old Rice pointed to a relatively short middle-aged man with an excited face and said, "This is our marketing director, Woodhouse Ingham."
The Marketing Director is responsible for club branding, marketing strategy, commercial partnerships and various marketing activities.
Woodhouse England said excitedly: "Gu, I am very happy that you can become a member of our Saints. You are also very famous now, especially when the scandal between you, Linda and Sister NO came out, our Nan'an The attention of Southampton Club has skyrocketed. According to statistics, search engine searches for the keywords of you, Linda and Sister NO are rising in a straight line. As a result, the search volume of our Southampton Club has also increased. This season’s investment promotion Activities are already fully booked!”
Damn it...
Don't read "The Sun"...
Gu Ran said dumbfounded: "Thank you, Mr. England, but I must clarify that I don't know Ms. Linda and Sister NO at all. Nothing happened between me and them, really."
Woodhouse England waved his hands indifferently, "Of course I know this, but from another perspective, if someone uses you to create a scandal, it means that you are popular! What is a star? Only when you are popular, you are called a star! Gu, Even though you haven’t played a single professional game yet, your popularity is already at star level!”
Gu Ran couldn't help but secretly take a breath of cold air.
This marketing director really hit home!
If you want to become popular, if you don't have something controversial, it's impossible to become popular.
Of course, from a long-term perspective, if you only rely on scandals and controversial topics without real materials, you will become outdated quickly and suffer miserably.
Therefore, you have to be strong, have convincing achievements and awards, and have appropriate topicality, so that you can become a top star step by step.
"Thank you Mr. Ingram for your guidance. I will work hard to move towards becoming a real big star."
"Haha, Gu, I like you, I like you so much! Come on! When necessary, our marketing department will help you hype it up to ensure that you can stay popular!"
Damn it...
I don’t want this kind of heat anymore, right?
When I saw Linda and Sister NO later, how could I be embarrassed to face them!
Old Les pointed at another middle-aged man with a bald Mediterranean head and a smooth face and said: "This is our commercial director Philip Butz."
The commercial director is different from the marketing director. The marketing director focuses on marketing and improving the club's brand image, while the commercial director is responsible for more specific matters, such as negotiating sponsorship cooperation, ticket sales, commercial contracts, and purchasing necessary supplies. Arrange business receptions, club stores and other related matters.
Therefore, this can be regarded as a very lucrative position.
Philip Butz grinned and said: "Gu, did you know that before the new season has started, our season ticket pre-sales have already increased by 8.2% compared to last year! This is all your credit! You are in Southampton The local influence of Dun is great! There are also many fans calling to ask when your jerseys for the new season will go on sale!"
There is a commission for selling jerseys!
The more you sell, the more you will naturally get.
Gu Ran smiled and said, "Mr. Butz, this is all up to you."
Old Rice on the side smiled and said: "This requires determining the jersey number. This requires our new coach Nigel Adkins to submit a declaration. I have urged him to determine the player number for the new season within today. As long as Submit your number to Adkins and we will be able to place an order for Ambo’s factory in no time.”
Philip Butz laughed: "I can't wait."
——The so-called UMBRO, also called Umbro, its trademark is a classic graphic of a large rhombus within a small rhombus.
Anbo is also the current equipment sponsor of Southampton Club. From jerseys, shoes and socks, training clothes, training vests to training obstacle cones, wall signs, resistance bands, etc., all are sponsored by Anbo.
Old Rice pointed to another middle-aged man with gray hair and said: "This is the executive director of the board of directors, Andre Kuwin."
The executive director is generally the spokesperson of the chairman in the club and represents the interests of the Liebherr Group.
Andre Kuwen smiled and shook Gu Ran's hand, "Gu, our chairman, Miss Katarina Liebherr, is very busy recently and cannot spare the time to attend your welcome ceremony, but she She specifically asked me to express congratulations to you, and she hopes you will have a good time at Southampton Club. If you have any questions, you can come to me directly or through Rick, and I will do my best to help you solve it."
Gu Ran also said politely: "Thank you, Mr. Kuwen, and please thank Miss Katarina for me."
Immediately afterwards, Laisi introduced several other major shareholders and sports consultants to Gu Ran.
Rice himself is one of the club's sports advisers.
Of course, Old Rice has great power as a consultant. Even if he is not the general manager, sports director, or executive director, he can still make key decisions.
Gu Ran could also see that the senior officials in this office were secretly divided into two factions. On one side were the veterans of the Southampton Club, and on the other side were the newcomers to the Liebherr Group.
The CEO, sports director, and most shareholders all belong to the Lao Chen faction.
Executive directors, financial directors, commercial directors, etc. belong to the Xinchen group.
And old Rice is the only one who can balance the forces of the old and new factions.
Especially the matter of obtaining a labor certificate has made Lao Rice's status in the Southampton Club even higher.
Currently, Southampton Club does not have a data analysis director, only data analysts and scouts, but obviously data analysts and scouts are not qualified to stand here to greet Gu Ran.
Even Gu Ran himself didn't expect that today's high-level welcome ceremony would be so grand.
As a young player with a grassroots background, no professional youth training, and never played in a professional league, such standards are indeed a bit excessive.
Gu Ran couldn't help but secretly ponder: Laisi might have something else going on.
After all the introductions, everyone sat down one after another.
Old Les said with a smile on his face: "Gu, in addition to introducing you to the top management of our club today, there is actually a small matter."
really!
Gu Ran smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Rice, please speak."
Old Les smiled relaxedly and said: "We are all our own people, so I won't beat around the bush - we, the senior management, have decided to upgrade your contract after unanimous consultation."
Damn it?
Gu Ran couldn't help being slightly startled.
It stands to reason that the contract has already been confirmed and signed, and it only needs to pass the physical examination to activate it. There is no need to change it at all.
However, it doesn't matter if it really needs to be changed before it officially takes effect.
But why?
oh……
Gu Ran suddenly realized:
It must be the recent offers from Liverpool and Manchester City, coupled with Manchester United's disruption and Chelsea's eyeing, that have made the Southampton club feel invisible pressure.
Gu Ran then smiled and said, "Mr. Rice, if you are worried about those Premier League clubs poaching me with offers, then there is no need for you. I only obtained the labor certificate through the efforts of you and other gentlemen. I will not betray you." My work ethic. I’ve decided to start my career at Southampton and I won’t change that.”
"That being said, we also believe in your loyalty, but..." Old Rice smiled dryly, "We are all professionals, so it is safer to implement it in the contract."
Mark Walker, the sports director next to him, interrupted at the right time: "Gu, just agree! If you don't agree to upgrade the contract, old Les won't be able to sleep well at night!"
Old Laisi smiled and said: "That's right, not only I can't sleep well, but also the senior management present can't sleep well. Gu, we tried our best to help you apply for a labor certificate. We upgraded the contract. To be honest, I just want to lose peace of mind, can you understand?"
What he said was sincere enough.
Gu Ran then smiled and said: "Of course, Mr. Rice, you tell me and I will listen."
"Stable enough!" Old Les nodded sincerely, and then took out a changed list:
"First of all, we will increase your weekly salary. The weekly salary we gave you before now seems obviously insufficient, and you deserve a higher weekly salary. Specifically, we plan to increase your weekly salary from the original 2,600 pounds. , increased to £3,000.”
Damn it?
So generous?
Although it is only an extra 400 pounds per week, this is already a main-level weekly salary!
Moreover, it is higher than the weekly salary of the other two promising stars Chamberlain and Luke Shaw!
Before Gu Ran could speak, Old Rice said again: "In addition, we have also discussed with Coach Adkins about your playing time. He promised to give you more playing opportunities, especially in cup games." Time, as long as you perform well enough, you may even have a chance to start in the cup and play the full game."
First release! Kick the whole game!
This condition is really too tempting!
Lao Les, you are so kind to me, you must not only want to win over me through these benefits, right?
——Gu Ran continued to listen calmly.
Listen to Laisi continue: "Also, we are also planning to add a signing fee of 100,000 pounds to you. As long as you pass the physical examination in the morning, our financial director will immediately transfer the money to your account. .”
"Also, we will also provide you with free legal support and tax settlement services, so you don't have to worry about legal and tax issues in the future."
"Also, we will also add an exclusive personal assistant for you-that is, Rick. I believe you are already familiar with it."
"Also, we will add a loyalty bonus to you. The base price of this loyalty bonus is 500,000 pounds, and it will increase every season. For example, this season it is 500,000 pounds, and next season it is 1 million pounds. The next season it will be 2 million pounds, and the next season it will be 4 million pounds - of course, this loyalty award clause can only be activated if you stay in the team for at least 3 years and complete the minimum attendance quota."
Damn it...
This contract upgrade is really full of sincerity!
There’s actually a signing fee and loyalty bonus?
Old Les, you must have something up your sleeve!
Gu Ran smiled calmly, "Mr. Rice, if my estimate is correct, the restrictions should be increased, right?"
"Hahaha!" Les laughed and said, "Gu, you can't say that. Of course, we do have a small change - that is your minimum termination clause. With your weekly salary and other With the increase in salary, the total price of your contract has also increased, so the minimum termination bonus of 5 million pounds is definitely not enough. After unanimous discussion, our senior leaders decided to upgrade you to a new termination bonus amount: 8 million pounds."
Damn it!
I haven't even played a game yet, and I'm worth £8 million? !
Gu Ran couldn't help but secretly take a deep breath, feeling a little dizzy and his head was buzzing.
Seeing that Gu Ran pursed his lips and didn't speak for a long time, Laisi was also very upset.
Not only Laisi, but also the senior executives in the entire office held their breath and waited anxiously.
This is the most critical moment. If Gu Ran is unwilling to increase the minimum termination fee, the club has no way of forcing him.
Because legally speaking, Gu Ran is still free! And he is still free with a labor certificate!
Gu Ran could choose not to sign with Southampton and directly turn around and join other clubs.
Of course, this approach is very unprofessional, but there are many unprofessional players in football...
Not long after, I heard Gu Ran say calmly: "Southampton Club has given me so many benefits, and I can accept the 8 million termination fee."
The senior executives in the entire office breathed a sigh of relief!
"but……"
With just one sentence, the senior executives took a deep breath of relief that they had just released!
Gu Ran smiled faintly, "I also have a condition."
Old Laisi said cautiously: "Gu, just ask for any conditions you have!"
Of course he hoped that Gu Ran would put forward conditions, which was better than refusing to sign directly, but at the same time he was also worried that Gu Ran would use the offers from Liverpool and Manchester City to deliberately make a big deal.
…
(End of chapter)
