Chapter 22 He even thanked me!
After the match against Roma, Fino's jersey sales soared to another peak, much to the delight of the business department staff.
When the complete sales figures for October were presented to Galliani's desk, he felt that renewing his contract with Fino was well worth it.
Despite having few opportunities to play last season, Fino's number 66 jersey still sold quite well, at least among the young players promoted from the youth academy and training with the team.
Generally speaking, the sales of youth training players' jerseys mainly come from die-hard fans' support for the team's youth training and some fans' collecting hobby. However, a large part of Fino's jersey sales come from fans who admire his looks. He has attracted some fans to buy his jerseys simply because of his appearance.
But a player's charm is always on the field. No matter how good-looking they are, if they don't play well, they're just a pretty face, and the fans' enthusiasm will soon fade.
Only those players who play well deserve the fervent adoration and love of fans. This is why, despite the abundance of scum in the sports world, fans still choose to forgive and indulge them time and time again.
With Fino consistently breaking his goal tally and delivering increasingly impressive performances this season, Fino's jerseys are selling better and better. In October's sales figures, Fino's jerseys ranked among the top sellers in the team.
Although only 19 years old, judging from Fino's current development trend, Galliani predicts that Fino will grow into an idol superstar with both competitive and commercial value in a few years, just like typical Milan superstars such as Maldini, Shevchenko, and Kaká.
Because Fino doesn't have an agent, AC Milan's kit sponsor, Adidas, has contacted the club multiple times, hoping the club can act as a go-between to reach a personal sponsorship agreement with Fino and secure this future superstar in advance.
Galliani readily agreed, but kept trying to delay the process.
In 2006, along with the "Calciopoli" scandal, a football agency called GEA was also exposed. This company had been hovering over Serie A for many years and was a well-known "shadow empire" in Italian football.
GEA's core members include Luciano Moggi Jr., son of former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi; Giuseppe Demita, son of former Italian prime minister Giuseppe Demita; and David, son of former Italian national team coach Marcello Lippi. GEA is deeply associated with clubs such as Juventus, Lazio, and Parma.
Through family power, financial control, and threats of violence, GEA has established a monopoly over Italian football, controlling not only the transfer market, balancing club accounting fraud, manipulating referees and matches, but also influencing national team selection.
Fioranelli, a once influential agent in Italian football, publicly stated: "Anyone who openly opposes the Juventus-GEA group will not be able to find work in Italy, because any club that wants to hire him will be threatened. Italian football is a mess; everything has to go through GEA, otherwise you can't get anywhere."
The Italian Football Federation, the Rome Prosecutor's Office, and other institutions have all launched investigations into GEA, but due to the powerful network of connections and complex interest chains behind GEA, judicial obstacles have been numerous, and each investigation has come to nothing.
Until the "phone gate" scandal broke in 2006.
According to investigation materials released by the Rome Carabinieri and the Naples Prosecutor's Office, GEA controlled 31 club executives, including presidents, sporting directors, and directors, as well as 29 coaches and more than 300 players in the Italian Serie A, Serie B, and Serie C leagues.
Of these 300-plus players, most are relatively unknown, with only a handful being big-name stars such as Cannavaro, Materazzi, and Nesta.
This is related to GEA's operating model. Having a few big-name stars is enough. GEA cares more about the number of players under its wing, because the more players it controls, the greater its ability to manipulate the market.
Furthermore, star players are not as easy to control as ordinary players. Nesta and others only transferred to GEA for very special reasons.
After the "Calciopoli" scandal broke out, Materazzi, Nesta, and others took the opportunity to break away from GEA's control, and GEA also temporarily went into hiding.
But even a centipede doesn't die easily; GEA still wields enormous influence in Serie A, only its methods have become more cunning and covert.
After losing its star players, GEA, needing a star player to represent the team, has turned its attention to promising young talents in Italian football.
After Fino's performance became increasingly outstanding, GEA set its sights on him and privately contacted Galliani, hoping to use Galliani's connections to sign Fino to GEA.
Because of the power behind GEA, even Galliani has to handle his relationship with GEA carefully; he can't get too close, but he also can't fall out with her.
After learning that GEA had its eye on Fino, Galliani accelerated the process of renewing Fino's contract with the club to avoid any unforeseen complications.
As for the personal sponsorship agreement between Adidas and Fino, Galliani will wait for the signing results between GEA and Fino before making a decision.
If GEA successfully signs Fino, Adidas will leave it to GEA to negotiate and boost sales.
By then, Adidas will have signed a future superstar, Fino will have received personal sponsorship, GEA will have received a share of the sponsorship revenue, and Adidas will have done GEA a favor – a win-win-win situation.
In early November, before Milan traveled to Ukraine for their fourth Champions League group stage match, GEA contacted Fino through Galliani's connections. The person who made the contact was an agent named Ettore Trossi, around 45 years old, who looked very shrewd.
Because of Milan's tight schedule, the players have had little vacation time recently, and all they do is train and play matches. So Trossi made a special trip to Milanello to meet with Fino.
Galliani gave GEA a lot of face, setting aside a meeting room in Milanello for Trossi and Fino to meet. As for whether they can successfully sign a contract, that depends on Trossi's own abilities.
GEA and Fino's talks have fallen through.
To be more precise, Fino never wanted to sign with GEA from the beginning; he only met with GEA representatives out of consideration for Galliani.
After shaking hands and taking their seats, Fino got straight to the point and explained his thoughts.
“Mr. Trossi, thank you for coming to Milanello to meet with me. I don’t want to waste your time, so let’s get straight to the point: I have no plans to sign an agent at the moment.”
Trossi was somewhat surprised, but he was absolutely confident that he could persuade Fino.
"That's a really unexpected idea, Mr. Cabrini. I know you just renewed your contract with Milan, which might have given you some misconceptions about the role of an agent, making you think that even without an agent, it wouldn't affect your contract renewal or your playing time. In reality, an agent's role isn't just about renewing contracts with teams. Through an agent's efforts, you can gain greater exposure and media attention, all of which can be converted into money. With the GEA platform, I can transform you into a commercial superstar like Beckham or Kaká. At that point, your image will be on billboards all over the world, and your commercial earnings will be several times your annual salary."
Trossi paused deliberately and gave Fino a meaningful look.
“Even in contract renewals with the team, the role of the agent is huge. If I were your agent, your annual salary in your contract renewal with Milan would definitely not be 2 million euros, it would be at least 1 million euros more.”
Fino shook his head: "I'm not interested in commercial activities, nor do I need exposure or buzz. I'm just a player, and all I need to do is play football well."
Trossi didn't believe that any young person could resist the allure of global fame. He was more inclined to believe that the negative news surrounding GEA at this stage made Fino doubt GEA's capabilities.
"Mr. Cabrini, let's be frank. Even after last year's upheaval in Italian football, GEA's foundation remains completely unshaken. We are still the most powerful sports agency in Italy. Leaving aside commercial development for now, from a purely competitive standpoint, GEA will be a huge asset to your career. I know that a prodigy like you is confident in your talent and ability, believing that as long as you play well, your career will be smooth sailing. But please believe me: football is pure, but the world of football is complex. A simple example: awards. Is the best player truly the best? No, behind it lies the public relations and maneuvering of the management team. With GEA's protection, your future will be bright."
Fino smiled and shook his head again: "Of course I believe in GEA and Mr. Trossi's abilities, but my football is really simple. I don't need huge fame or awards to prove myself. I just need to focus on playing football, so I don't need an agent."
Why is this child so stubborn? Trossi was somewhat discouraged.
“Even if you just want to play football in peace, having an agent provides more security. I can help you get more playing time and protect your interests to the maximum extent when renewing your contract. I know that as a product of Milan's youth academy, no one wants to not finish their entire career with their parent club like Maldini, but in modern football, it is becoming increasingly difficult for players to stay with one club for their entire career. With GEA backing you, you will have enough confidence to negotiate with the club instead of being sold off easily.”
Fino shook his head again: "If I'm not good enough to stay in Milan, I won't resent Milan for selling me. I'll go abroad or to a lower league, as long as I can play."
Seeing that Fino still refused so firmly, Troisi finally pulled out his trump card.
"What about the national team? A player as good as Mr. Cabrini certainly deserves a spot on the national team, but even the best players need a discerning eye to discover them. GEA is happy to be Mr. Cabrini's guide to the national team."
In fact, GEA usually only uses incentives to lure players with great potential like Fino, and doesn't want to coerce them unless absolutely necessary.
Since they wanted to cooperate, it would be best to do so amicably. Forcing things wouldn't work, and making enemies of a future superstar wasn't in GEA's best interest. But Trossi had already pleaded with Fino, who remained completely unmoved. To achieve his goal, Trossi didn't care about such things anymore.
Fino paused for a moment, realizing that if the soft approach didn't work, he had to resort to force.
He still chose to shake his head, pretending not to understand Troisi's implied meaning.
“Mr. Trossi, thank you for your kindness, but the national team has its own considerations when selecting players. If I do not meet the national team’s selection criteria, but can join the national team through GEA’s recommendation, it is not fair to other players, and it may not be a good thing for me personally. Moreover, it will weaken the national team’s strength.”
Trossi was furious, and he even thanked me!
Why does this child look so smart, but turn out to be such a blockhead?
Finally, Fino said with a simple and sincere expression, "Mr. Trossi, you are very eloquent, and I have complete faith in GEA and your abilities, but I am certain that I do not need an agent, so there is no need to waste your time any more."
Trossi: I @#￥%&*）——
He tried to calm himself down, putting on a composed demeanor, and said meaningfully to Fino, "I believe Mr. Cabrini will change his mind soon. If you do, you can contact me anytime."
After saying this, he handed Fino a business card, shook hands with Fino, and left Milanello.
"That day will never come," Fino silently vowed to herself.
This business card is just a piece of waste paper and has no value whatsoever.
Milanello was crowded and noisy, so Fino put the business card in his pocket, intending to take it home and throw it away later.
He was only telling Troisi half the truth.
He doesn't reject agents or commercial development; there's nothing wrong with making more money through legitimate means.
He rejects GEA, and all its underhanded tricks.
Even before the "Calciopoli" scandal broke, GEA's despicable tactics were common knowledge in Italian football. Fino should never stoop to their level.
If you have to rely on power struggles to win an award, then you might as well not have the award at all!
If you have to rely on underhanded tactics to get selected for the national team, then you might as well not play for the national team at all!
No secret stays hidden forever, and the news that Fino had rejected GEA quickly spread throughout the locker room.
GEA has a very bad reputation in Italian football, and players who haven't had direct contact with them just think that Fino made a wise decision.
Nesta, who had previously worked with GEA, was very worried about Fino's situation. He would never forget how the people from GEA "persuaded" him to abandon his original agent and join GEA in that luxurious limousine.
He needs to find out what's going on from Fino.
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