Lionel Maël's name quickly climbed the trending lists of mainstream media in almost every country, with slight variations in ranking based on the specific circumstances of each nation that day.
The European Cup was already capturing global attention during this period, fueling a wave of enthusiasm for Football.
At this moment, a superstar with existing international influence, who was performing exceptionally well in the European Cup and achieving significant career milestones, naturally caused a sensation.
However, unlike before, the magnitude and scope of this sensation were noticeably greater! It wasn't that Maël's name had never broken through before; during his time at Arsenal, he frequently made headlines with his celebratory gestures and landmark achievements, and many people who didn't follow Football had heard of him.
But reaching the trending lists of almost every country like this was unprecedented.
It's important to remember that Football isn't the national sport in many countries, and even though many people in those countries are passionate about Football, they make up a small percentage of the total population.
In these countries, Football news is significantly less competitive compared to other sports and entertainment news, let alone the unanimous hype around a Football star.
"He looks so handsome, and he seems flawless regardless of any aesthetic culture!"
"Exactly! I fell in love at first sight, and he's so amazing!"
"I just found out he's Olay's second male spokesperson; it's a brand I really like! I think I've seen his photos before, but I thought he was a model, not a Football star!"
"Ahhh! I can't take it, young, rich, and handsome, he perfectly fits my ideal partner."
"18 years old, with a value of 105 million pounds! That's insane."
"I see many new fans in the comments who don't know that his value isn't his net worth, so let me explain."
"That's true, but with a player's earning potential, I estimate he can earn 100 million pounds in 2-3 years."
"I really want to date him and be patted on the back by him."
"He already has a girlfriend! She's a refined lady, the daughter of a British real estate tycoon, and very beautiful! A match made in heaven!"
"I'm shipping them!"
"..."
That evening, the comment sections about Maël's news visibly gained many new fans, especially young girls.
They were drawn to the related reports by the words '18 years old, 100 million pounds value', then amazed by Maël's appearance, and finally frantically searched for his other news to learn more.
Soon, they learned how outstanding and charismatic he was in his field.
Such a person meets all the expectations anyone has for an imaginary boyfriend and an imaginary life, and he will undoubtedly become the idol of these people.
Moreover, it's predictable that the number of outsiders who became Maël's fans that day was definitely more than just these young girls.
It's just that they, compared to some very young children and older middle-aged and elderly people, are more inclined to leave messages on the internet, appearing to be the first wave of new fans.
The majority are definitely those who silently fall in love with Maël without leaving comments.
Thus, countless people established a good image of Maël in their minds, began to pay attention to his news, and subtly learned about the brands he endorsed and the co-branded shoes he was selling.
Perhaps they won't buy these things for him right away, but through their good impression of Maël, they will also have a good impression of these brands.
In the future, when they choose to buy shoes, jeans, or skincare products, they might prioritize buying products from these brands.
Because he is trustworthy, the things he endorses are also trustworthy!
This is also the basic logic of celebrity endorsements. As a person's fans increase and their loyalty strengthens, more people will trust him and have a good image of him, and his commercial value will naturally increase!
Many industry insiders began to calculate today how exaggerated the asking price would be if Maël were to take on another endorsement in the future.
In the United States, at the Procter & Gamble headquarters.
David Taylor, who is in charge of spokesperson affairs under the marketing department, was in front of the computer, browsing the trending data that Maël had driven on major social software tonight.
He was not only observing the United States, but also the social media of several countries with the best sales performance for the company.
He looked very carefully, and soon used their big data software to select the news about Maël and Procter & Gamble.
As a person who is very sensitive to data and information, he believes that he can judge the sales increase he may bring to Olay through these reactions.
After a long time, David Taylor took off his glasses and murmured with shock: "It must be amazing, I'm sure."
This shock was soon replaced by joy and relief.
As one of the top ten brands in the world in terms of market value and the top twenty in terms of profit, Procter & Gamble is deeply loved by female users all over the world, and has also invited countless spokespersons.
But because of their brand characteristics, they rarely invite male spokespersons, especially for female products like Olay.
Last year, they invited a Chinese star named Xiaoming huang to experiment and seek breakthroughs, hoping to further tap into the spending power of female fans of male celebrities.
However, this attempt was clearly a failure and didn't make any waves at all.
This time, finding Maël is actually an attempt by the company that they were not resigned to.
They replaced entertainment stars with sports stars, and spent more money to find football stars with a wider range of influence, no longer experimenting in a single market, but directly attempting to break through this field in the global market!
David Taylor thought that Maël's endorsement effect would be better than that Chinese star, but he didn't expect it to be so much better.
Was it luck? He felt it was somewhat, because not long after they found the football star to endorse, the football star won championships one after another, and also performed well in major competitions, made breakthroughs in value, and completely broke out of the circle after repeated accumulation.
But no matter what, their goal was achieved, and they saw a broad and bright road ahead! David Taylor quickly made a call, and immediately said after connecting, "During the European Cup, we must focus our publicity on the sports spokesperson Maël during this period.
"The opportunity has appeared, and we must strive to open up the channel for male spokespersons to endorse the company's female products in one fell swoop.
"Yes, the effect is very good, and we may see this from the sales data in the next month or two.
"Yes, I know we have many spokespersons, and he is not the most expensive or the most promoted.
"But we must understand that this is a new successful attempt. He is a pioneer, and we need to obtain a feedback data through his endorsement for future use."
After saying this, David Taylor hung up the phone and continued to browse Maël's related news.
As he looked at it, he suddenly felt that this matter couldn't just end like this, he had to pay more attention to Maël.
Because they have the possibility of achieving a larger and more successful cooperation! David Taylor immediately got up, left a message for the company's chairman, Lei Fu Li, and rushed to the chairman's office at the speed of light after receiving an invitation.
More than ten minutes later, he sat opposite Lei Fu Li, gesticulating and describing the blueprint in his heart, "He is a phenomenal figure, not only in Europe, but in the future, he will become a phenomenal superstar in the world.
"Like Madonna, Beckham, Kobe, and even Michael Jackson... Of course, that's a bit far-fetched."
He raised his eyebrows embarrassedly, and then continued: "In short, I am optimistic that he will become one of the most famous people in the future, and he will be sought after by everyone.
"And as a young man with both talent and face, he will definitely be one of Procter & Gamble's most ideal partners!"
Lei Fu Li put his hands together and listened to him quietly, nodding slightly, "He is already our partner, do you mean to increase the level of cooperation?"
"Yes." David Taylor nodded, with anticipation in his eyes. "We can let him endorse other brands under the company, deepen cooperation, and lay a good foundation for the relationship.
"In the future, we will consider whether to let him become our international spokesperson based on his development."
Lei Fu Li thought for a while and shook his head, "Taylor, I agree with the first half of your sentence, but no matter what, we can't let a football player become an international spokesperson.
"In this position, we have more choices, even all celebrities, even retired presidents."
Lei Fu Li smiled, he stood up and walked two steps, and when he turned to look at Taylor again, he saw the disappointment in the depths of his eyes and a little bit of dissatisfaction with his proposal not being fully recognized.
"Haha..." The smile on his face grew stronger, "Taylor, we don't know what will happen in the future, and we can't know how this player's career will develop.
"But out of trust in you, I can promise you, let's try it first.
"I'll leave this matter entirely to you. I must say, the young man I'm most optimistic about in the entire company is you. I hope your decisions and choices can give me more confidence."
David Taylor raised his head, a surge of hope ran through his entire body, making him seem to have new vitality and motivation, "I will definitely do it well, and do it beautifully, thank you for the opportunity, boss!"
Lei Fu Li waved his hand, and after thinking of something, he said: "By the way, speaking of players, I remembered one thing, the player seems to be a shareholder of Instagram, Zuckerberg is having a headache for him recently."
David Taylor's eyes moved, he had read the report, it was rumored to be 10%, that is to say, even in the financial world, Maël is considered a rising star?
This is indeed surprising, he is too young, and obviously has no relevant knowledge.
"The US securities law does not have mandatory tender offer regulations, it seems that Zuckerberg is going to bleed a lot this time."
Lei Fu Li lit a cigarette, looked at the busy streets outside the window, and joked: "I heard that he also likes to watch football, I wonder, will he appreciate this young superstar, or hate him?"
David Taylor smiled, scratched his brown hair, and also looked out the window.
He couldn't speculate on what Zuckerberg thought, but as far as he was concerned, he really, really appreciated this superstar living far away in Europe, and really hoped to see him play a game someday.
Lionel Maël, this player who only emerged two years ago, is really moving too fast.
This is an 18-year-old international superstar, and a superstar with a very personal brand value!
He hopes that one day, as long as this name appears, it will attract people's attention, because on that day, he will most likely be able to go to the next level.
Ukraine, Donetsk, in an upscale restaurant.
The French Team players bustled in, each with a smile on their face, ready to celebrate heartily.
Lionel Maël walked at the front of the group, beaming with joy, having learned about his record-breaking transfer fee on the way to the restaurant.
It was hard to describe how he felt at that moment. If someone asked him, he might only be able to say, with a touch of embarrassment, that he felt taller, saw different scenery, and breathed different air.
Having played Football for nearly two and a half years, he had finally entered a whole new realm!
From this day on, he was truly the world's third-best player!
And unlike the later iterations of the world's third-best, he was genuinely competitive against Messi and Ronaldo! Perhaps even before the previously estimated age of 20, at 19, he had a chance to challenge for the Ballon d'Or Winner!
"Ooh la la!"
The French Team players crowded around Maël, shaking their heads and yelling strangely as they pushed him into the large private room, then danced around him, their enthusiasm boundless.
"A living hundred-million man!"
"Hahaha!"
"What do you mean, 'living'?"
"Who cares? I never thought I'd be playing Football with a hundred-million man one day!"
"Four goals in two European Cup matches! No team can withstand that kind of firepower! Not even Spain!"
"Stop praising him, look at Maël, he's already embarrassed, haha!"
Many people were genuinely happy for Maël's record-breaking transfer fee and his consecutive Braces, while others were simply joining in the collective celebration of the team's victory.
Maël smiled as he looked around at the joyful faces, and he joined in their dancing, completely immersed in the atmosphere.
He had experienced moments like this many times since he started playing Football, but each time brought new joy.
He believed that these joyful scenes would be deeply imprinted in his mind, never to fade away.
After retirement, if he strung them together, he would see a slideshow of the shining and joyful moments of his entire career, forming the brilliant first half of his life.
Deschamps walked in and watched the scene with a smile, his hands in his pockets. When everyone stopped dancing, he said, "Today is an important day, whether for Maël, for the French Team, or for each of you.
"Order whatever you want to eat, and you can have some red wine and cocktails, but don't overdo it, don't get drunk.
"To express my respect and gratitude for your dedication on the field, I'm paying for everything today!"
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" As soon as he finished speaking, cheers erupted in the private room, and the players raised their arms again, laughing loudly.
What they valued wasn't the money for the treat—that amount might be less than a few days' income for them—but the gesture of the coach treating the players to a meal and drinks, the respect of placing them on equal footing.
The players took their seats, all clamoring to give Deschamps a good fleecing. They ordered many expensive ingredients and took five of the most expensive bottles of wine.
"Cheers!" Before long, more than twenty players and a dozen coaching staff members raised their glasses around the round table, everyone smiling as they drank the celebratory wine.
During the meal, many people turned on the England versus Sweden match from the neighboring group, observing the qualification situation.
England took an early lead thanks to a goal from Andy Carroll, but Glen Johnson soon scored an own goal.
Then, at the start of the second half, Sebastian assisted Melberg to score, helping Sweden take the lead!
England was on the verge of a second consecutive defeat!
"Are they going to be eliminated directly?" Maël looked at the frustrated face of Gilbert on the broadcast and couldn't help but mourn for him for a few seconds.
For them, the best result would definitely be a draw between the two teams, or a win for England.
The ranking rules for the European Cup group stage are that if teams have the same number of points, they compare the points earned in matches against each other, and then the goal difference.
That is to say, if these two teams with no points drew, or if England, whom they had beaten, won, they would directly secure the top spot in the group!
They wouldn't even need to play the third round, because no matter who won between Ukraine and England in the final round, with 6 points, they couldn't surpass them.
If Sweden won this round and then won against them in the final round, they could overtake them and take the top spot in the group.
Although he wasn't afraid of Sweden, since everyone was sitting together celebrating, he naturally hoped to hear the news of securing the top spot in the group during the celebration, adding joy to joy.
Seeing that the match time had passed 80 minutes and Gilbert was substituted on, Maël couldn't help but hold up his phone and raise his right hand, shouting, "Gilbert, save me! Save yourself too, save England!"
A miracle really happened. In the 88th minute of the match, Gilbert's long pass found Walcott, who had cut in on the right, and the latter immediately sent in a Cross.
*"Bang!"*
In the center, Welbeck scored a header, securing a draw for England and preserving their hopes of qualifying.
"Yeah!" This goal also ignited the spirits of the French Team players, as it helped restore their hopes of securing the top spot in the group ahead of time.
The next 3 minutes passed with the French Team players in tense anticipation, until the referee blew three long whistles.
The match was over! A two-two draw!
With 6 points from 2 rounds, they secured the top spot in their group ahead of time and advanced to the quarter-finals!
In that match, their opponent would be the second-place team from Group C! Judging by the current situation in Group C, it would likely be Italy or Croatia; in any case, it wouldn't be the overwhelming favorite to win, Spain.
This would greatly increase their chances of reaching the semi-finals. Once in the semi-finals, the team's mentality and other aspects would be different, and they would have a better chance of overcoming strong opponents.
"Beautiful!!"
"Ciel! Ciel!"
"Cheers!"
The French Team players were celebrating like it was New Year's, their faces flushed as they raised their glasses again in celebration.
Maël soon felt slightly tipsy. He took the opportunity to check his social media follower count and found that his Twitter and Facebook followers had each exceeded 40 million.
The latest tweet had also surpassed 1.1 million likes! He smiled, wondering if he could achieve an even faster growth rate next year if he played even better, aiming to reach 100 million followers on a single platform.
Surely, he would then truly be one of the most famous people in the world, right?
Maël sent a message to Mendes on Facebook, asking how much he planned to increase the advertising fee for a single post after this wave of popularity.
Mendes quickly replied, "I'm waiting for you at the hotel entrance. Come out after you finish eating, let's take a walk and chat. We'll return to the base in Poland tomorrow."
"Okay."
He sent the message, looked up, and saw everyone raising their glasses again, so he smiled and raised his glass as well, "Come on!"
After dinner, Maël arrived at the entrance and saw Mendes, dressed in black, smiling at him. "Did you drink?"
"Not much." He shook his head, took a couple of steps with Mendes, and felt the breeze, which made him feel more awake.
This feeling was nice, celebrating and then walking on a quiet street with someone very familiar and close, enjoying the tranquility.
"€105 million."
Mendes couldn't help but glance at Maël, and said with amusement, "A fraction of that could basically buy you from 2 years ago, are you happy?"
Maël raised his eyebrows with a smile, the meaning self-evident, and then said, "You're also very happy, right? There are only 3 players in world football with a value of over 100 million, and your agency has 2 of them."
"Of course." Mendes didn't hide his joy, he looked at the sky, "Isn't this what I've always been looking forward to, the peak of my career as an agent?
"This feeling is too good, I feel like I really control European Football, my tentacles are enough to cover the sky."
"Haha...!" The two laughed together, men of any age would suddenly act like teenagers with close friends.
Mendes took a few more steps, and after the smile gradually faded, he said, "When you just asked me about the price of a single post, I was sure the moment I saw Transfermarkt that even if I priced it at £1 million, someone would come knocking.
"At least during the European Cup, next season, whether it goes up or down depends on Arsenal's performance."
£1 million. The corners of Maël's mouth and eyes once again revealed satisfaction. This was also a milestone he had been thinking about, officially achieved on the day his value exceeded 100 million.
"Phew!" He let out a heavy breath, looked at Mendes, and didn't know what to say, only shook his head and patted him on the shoulder, conveying his joy.
"But there's one thing."
Mendes held up a finger, "When the price of one of your posts is enough to buy an apartment in central London, it's definitely different from before.
"You have to record videos and post them on all platforms to advertise for the brand, including some accounts that we help you manage, of course, it's not troublesome, just a video."
"Yeah." Maël spread his hands and smiled, "A video for an apartment in central London, who would find that troublesome?"
The two walked forward a few more steps, feeling the tranquility of the night and the spirit of walking uphill in life, occasionally smiling at each other.
Mendes then asked, "After being with you for so long, I seem to have discovered something, you don't care about money, do you?"
Without waiting for Maël to answer, he continued, "After your investment in Instagram succeeded, you weren't in a hurry to cash out, nor did you get involved in other industries.
"This is extremely abnormal, logically speaking, you would become extremely confident in the financial market because of this success, and thus invest more recklessly.
"But you didn't... What makes me unsure is that you seem to care very much about the price of single posts and endorsement offers, and you show obvious happiness when they increase."
Lionel Maël looked ahead, a smile on his face. He had thought about this question long ago. "Shamelessly speaking, I don't seem to care much about money now, nor do I want to invest in other industries.
"In the Football circle, I feel like I'm living such a comfortable and pleasant life. Here, I can get all the emotional value I want.
"So, when I have a lot of money, I definitely won't want to open up battle lines outside of Football, distracting me and preventing me from fully enjoying the joy of Football.
"I'm a simple person. If I really had to invest, it would be in a team, not in industries outside of that."
After a few more steps, he stopped, because he saw a small river full of life. "As for the happiness you mentioned, I might think it's because my value has increased? That I'm doing well in my industry?
"Maybe that's it. Value is sometimes more than just money, but it needs money to measure it.
"This kind of improvement can make me happier than giving me a large sum of money."
"Why?" Mendes also stopped, accompanying Lionel Maël to look at the small river in front of them.
"Because..."
Lionel Maël didn't rush to answer, but thought for a long time before smiling at Mendes, "Because in one feedback after another, I deeply feel that I am alive in this world."
Mendes' body trembled slightly. He looked at Lionel Maël, always feeling that there must be something about the other man that he didn't know.
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