berlin light

Chapter 162 Raiola
Although Edward did not invite an event planning team this time, the quality of the dinner at home is still guaranteed. The chefs at home have three times their salary on the festival day. The chefs who got the money worked hard and almost made an international food fair.

In addition to Ronaldinho, there is also the prodigal little Lizi, who doesn't want to go back to the United States for the holidays at all, and Edward doesn't miss a bite of food for him.

This time Xiao Luo's family was far less reserved than the last time they came to Hoffman Manor. Edward often went to their house during the holidays. They are now used to having such a rich man who cares about them regularly, no matter why the other party cares about them, This approach is still very heartwarming.

"Mr. Hoffman, here are the gloves I made for you."

Dolores Aveiro gave Edward a hug before delivering his Christmas present.

"Madam, you can call me Edward directly."

Edward took it with a smile, and tried it on purposely. It was a leather product, and it was still a little cold in winter in Germany, so it was just right for use.He thanked with a smile: "Very comfortable, thank you."

"This is what I should do. If it weren't for you, we would definitely not be able to live such a good life now."

"Don't be too polite, Chris is more competitive." Edward put his arms around Ronaldinho's neck affectionately. The child is now nearly 1 meters tall, and it is estimated that it will be almost the same as him in a short time.

"As long as Ricks plays well, he will definitely become Mr. Golden Ball in the future."

Edward said seriously that he had witnessed how strong Ronaldinho was in his previous life. Now that he has changed to a better environment, he can't even win a Golden Globe Award, which is less likely than aliens attacking the earth.

Xiao Luo is usually more confident, but he is not used to Edward always saying that he can win the Golden Globe Award. He scratched his head and asked, "Really, Mr. Chairman."

"of course."

Edward pulled him to sit down: "You will definitely become the greatest player in history, as long as you work hard."

"As long as you work hard." Xiao Li imitated Edward's words in a sly way. He always felt that Edward cared too much about this Portuguese boy, and there were some ulterior thoughts in his mind that only had that matter.

"Get out!" Edward grabbed a napkin and threw it over, without posing any threat to Little Li.

The hostesses were not surprised by this situation. Leonardo often lived in Hoffman Manor, but he was elusive. This guy was completely unaware of being caught by others, and even brought the girl back again.

They are all acquaintances, so the dinner party is naturally relatively simple.

A few girls didn't even change their evening clothes, which are for the media and movie fans, and they are not comfortable to wear at all.

After eating for a while, Mendes arrived late under the guidance of the old butler.

"Sorry, Mr. Edward, I have some things to attend to today."

"It's okay, find a place to be Joao."

Edward doesn't care much about these things, he cares more about the obvious anxiety on Mendes' face.

When he was full of wine and food, Edward found an opportunity to call Mendes to the balcony.

"Joe, what's the matter?"

Edward supported the guardrail with both hands and asked.

"That's right. An Italian came to Berlin recently. He seems to be very interested in the players of Union Berlin. I have found that he is in contact with several parents of the youth team." Mendes took a sip of the wine in his glass But, recently he really felt a sense of crisis.

Edward turned his head and asked, "Italian? How could he force you into this?"

"He is a bastard. He is using money to lure the parents of those children. As long as he signs a contract with him, he can get a signing bonus of 2 euros." Mendes said angrily. Maybe there's another agency that could be here, but that's Aniston's, definitely not Italian.

"Who is he?"

"It's a difficult character called Mino Raiola."

"what?!"

In a hurry, Edward directly supported Mendez's shoulders.

"Mino Raiola." Mendez repeated the name again, although he was a little surprised why Edward had such a big reaction.

"Mino Raiola, Mino Raiola..." Edward began to walk around on the balcony and repeated the name, which was also well-known in his previous life.

On November 1967, 11, Raiola was born in Nocera, a small town in southern Italy, and his family moved to the Netherlands a year later.Raiola's father started out by running a catering business, and Raiola became a waiter in his father's pizzeria when he was young.This childhood was a little miserable?On the contrary, Raiola has embarked on a different path to success.In the communication with the guests, Raiola's language and communication skills continued to improve. At first, he just washed the dishes, and later he even started to be responsible for negotiating business cooperation, which laid a solid foundation for his future success.While helping in the restaurant, Raiola completed high school and studied law at the university. What's more, he has mastered seven different languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch.

At the age of 19, Raiola became a millionaire.He bought a McDonald's near the school and sold it to a real estate agent. He easily got the first pot of gold in his life.In the next few decades, he played this game fluently, but the commodity in his hands changed from McDonald's to players.

At the age of 20, Raiola made another important decision in his life. He gave up studying law for two years and served as the technical director of a small Dutch football club called Haarlem.As a director at a young age, Raiola relied on his own mouth.

"The chairman of Haarlem always came to our restaurant for dinner. Once I said to him 'you don't understand football', he was angry 'you can do it', so I became the technical director of the club." Dan La It didn't take long for Iola to realize that he was not suitable for the role, so he switched to a sports agency.

In 1992, Raiola completed the first transfer of his agent career, operating Ajax player Brian Roy to the Serie A club Foggia, and started his days in football.In the next 27 years, Raiola single-handedly arranged countless blockbuster transfers. Bergkamp and Nedved all stepped into the giants with his help.With his extensive contacts and unique vision comparable to scouts, Raiola recruited a large number of talented players, including Ibrahimovic, Balotelli, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Verratti, Donnarumma and others, among whom Ibrahimovic alone has transferred 6 times, has become Raiola's favorite cash cow.

Every time the transfer is completed, he can charge a lot of "intermediary fees".The most famous example, in the summer of 2016, Pogba transferred to Manchester United for 1.05 million euros, from which Raiola received a huge commission of 2500 million.In the "Most Influential Sports Agents" list released by Forbes in 2018, Raiola ranked 5th, and he ranked 3rd among football agents, only lower than Ronaldo's agent Mendes and Bale's. Broker Barnett.

These are all Edward saw in Netease in his previous life, this predator is quite capable.

"Are you sure it's Raiola, Nedved's agent?" Edward asked again.

"Yes, that guy, this guy is quite difficult."

Mendez nodded.

"Fuck!"

Edward couldn't help swearing. As a fan in his previous life, he hated Raiola very much. Now, as the chairman of a team with countless talented players, Raiola is completely his enemy.

If this guy signs a couple of Union players, it will be very bad for Union in the future.Free transfers are good without contract renewals. I am afraid that players will become the absolute main force of the team, and their salaries will be raised every year. This kind of thing will bring about a big chain reaction.

Now as long as one is not careful and puts this vampire in, Union Berlin will encounter great trouble in the future.

For example, Kroos was signed by Raiola. This East German midfielder will be the midfield metronome of Berlin Union ten years later in Edward's mind. If his agent is Raiola, then Berlin Union will have the lowest salary There will be a lot of extra expenses, and Kroos' contract will at least have a premium of at least 30% compared to normal conditions. This is a very scary thing.

After raising the salary of the players, Raiola will not disappear, and he will come out to gain a sense of presence when he has nothing to do. This guy not only has requirements for money, but also often dictates the team's tactics. Smart giants will not be with him in his previous life. Raiola's players got involved.

The giants who have a relationship with his players are basically very uncomfortable. Donnarumma got the first salary in Milan at a young age, and De Gea became a rapid decline after getting the highest salary in the world. A low-level mistake has become a hot potato.

In Edward's eyes, there is no difference between Raiola and the devil.

"Joao, make it clear to the players' parents that if they sign with Raiola, they will be kicked out by the team." Edward was also furious, and he continued to suffer from it.

"My team absolutely does not allow a third agency, whether it is Raiola or other agents."

In order to make it easier for the players of Union Berlin to manage, he has given up some of the benefits to Mendes, in order to prevent hungry wolves like Raiola from extending their tentacles into Union Berlin. It's time to come.

This situation is absolutely unacceptable to Edward.

Mendes also understood Edward's determination, he nodded and assured: "Don't worry, Mr. Edward, I will use some other means when necessary."

"You can figure it out, Joao, I don't want Raiola to have the opportunity to sit in the reception room of Union Berlin."

Back at the dinner table, Edward was still a little worried.

Someone who can earn millions of euros at a young age is definitely not an easy character to deal with.

"Eddie, what happened?"

Jennifer Aniston looked at Edward and asked worriedly.

"There's a tough guy coming from Berlin."

"so what?"

"He's a broker."

When Edward said this, Aniston immediately understood what he meant. When he was in Hollywood, it was a big deal for a star to change his agency. Combined players, the team will be very passive.

"Then what do we do?"

"You ask them to communicate with the players. This matter must be made clear. There are only two brokerage companies to choose from in Union Berlin, and there is absolutely no room for another person."

"Ok, I see."

After the dinner was over, Edward called the old butler into the study: "Philip, I'm in trouble now, and I hope you can give me some advice."

The old butler hadn't seen Edward's expression for a long time, and he was very curious about what happened to Edward.

"Master Edward, you can tell me anything."

"Here's the thing, there's a bastard agent looking at a Union Berlin player, he's a very tough character, and if he signs our player, we'll have to pay a lot more in terms of salary in the future, worst of all In some cases we will even be swayed by him."

"what?"

Philip Jennings said that Edward's words were exaggerated, but he was still very angry because he didn't like those vampires.

"Master Edward, in this kind of matter, we don't have to wait for the other party to make the first move. You may have forgotten that the Hoffman family has the final say in East Berlin. If you don't like that guy, you can drive him away. .”

"That's right!" Philip Jennings' words reminded Edward that he usually considers the normal way of doing things first, and only thinks of other means when there is no way out. Now he remembered that he didn't need to reason with the other party at all. , East Berlin is his site, and Raiola is just an agent. If he doesn't like the other party, he is fully capable of getting the other party out of Berlin.

Those immigrants in East Berlin, many of them are brave and ruthless, they are also fans of the team, the most important thing is that they are all employees of the Hoffman family, and they will stand by Edward's side under the circumstances, not to mention Edward shot very generously.

After thinking about it carefully, Edward directly explained: "Talk to them, cause a little trouble for this guy, and leave a note for him by the way, tell him to stay away from my players, and leave Berlin quickly."

"Yes, Master Edward."

Philip Jennings prefers Edward's decisive side, and people who do great things can't look forward and backward.

The old butler dealt with it quickly, and Raiola encountered a lot of trouble when he went out the next day.

His wallet was stolen, and he had a conflict with the locals during the meal. When he returned to the team, the waiter brought the meal with a note "If you want to be safe, leave Berlin as soon as possible."

At this time, Raiola understood everything, but this kind of thing didn't scare him. When doing business in Italy, he often dealt with those black gloves. Now he understands that his actions should have offended the local forces.

It’s no wonder that he couldn’t see the situation clearly. Union Berlin signed Mendes or Aniston’s brokerage companies, and there was no publicity in the first place. Raiola thought Berlin was like Italy, and some local brokers didn’t like him.

(End of this chapter)