58 Endorsement

Kazuki opened the car door. Inside the car was the figure of Furochi sitting in the driver's seat. He wore a neat formal suit. Furochi twisted her neck, he looked at Kazuki and said, "Come in."

Kazuki entered the car and sat beside Furochi. After closing the car door, he put on his seat belt. Then, Kazuki was asking a question Furochi, "You called me in the morning and told me to dress up, so where are we going?"

Furochi explained his purpose to call Kazuki in the morning, "A company made an offer to make you as their brand ambassador. The company makes a great offer, especially for players who are just starting their careers as you. The various bonuses they offer are also very good."

Kazuki snapped his fingers. He guessed, "Is it, Nike? Adidas? Konami?"

Furochi shook his head, "Avisca."

"Wait— What the fuck did you say?"

"Avisca."

Kazuki had good acquainted with the company. Avisca is a Japanese company that started its business in the consumer electronics sector. Their products are electronic devices intended for everyday use and can be used for entertainment, communication, and business. The problem is Kazeshima Corp owns 80% of Avisca.

Yep, Avisca is a subsidiary of Kazeshima corp.

"Why did you accept the offer from my father's company?" Kazuki protested. He turned his face annoyed.

Furochi looked at Kazuki and scolded him, "I don't care about your matters, but this is a business, no matter if they offered this contract because of your father or because of their own intentions. Most importantly, they have sent an official offer, I will not reject it. Likewise with you."

Kazuki who heard Furochi's words, knew that Furochi had no intention of listening to his opinion this time. He had to accept Furochi's decision.

"Didn't other companies make an offer?"

"Yes, but I declined. Their offer doesn't meet my requirements. Kazuki, you might think that since your performances on the field are so good that the company will scramble to endorse you.

In fact, they see the market behind the player. From a club perspective, Southampton doesn't have a fan base that extends all over the world like Manchester United. You are from Japan, of course, Japan is a good market, but you are not the most popular athlete in Japan. Then, personal fans, although there are many people following your social media, but I'm sure 80% of them are Southampton club fans rather than your fans." Furochi explained in detail the reasons why the endorsement offers of other companies did not meet Furochi's expectations.

Kazuki fell silent when he heard Furochi's explanation. Even though he didn't know much about endorsements and so on, he knew that Furochi couldn't lie. Therefore, when Kazuki heard Furochi's explanation he wondered, 'Am I really not that popular? Isn't my face not too bad?'

"So, are you suggesting that I should have moved to a big club?" According to Furochi's words, the club is a factor in consideration. That is, if Kazuki moves to Manchester United, then the Manchester United fans will automatically become his fans too. Of course, if Kazuki played well there.

Furochi shook his head and said, "Money is important to me, but your career progress is more valuable than money. Therefore, you should choose what the best for yourself, then I will help you make it happen."

After a few hours of driving, Furochi and Kazuki arrived at the Avisca company branch in London.

***

After coming to the Avisca branch office, Kazuki followed Furochi to do the contract signing. Kazuki allowed Furochi to start a conversation while he looked through the contract papers. He knew that the product he was going to advertise was a cellphone with an android system.

Kazuki whispered to Furochi, "Hey, isn't iPhone more classy than Android? Do you really want me to be the brand ambassador of this cellphone?"

Furochi replied, "Of course, Iphone is more classy than Android, but if you talk about popularity then android is more popular, especially in developing countries. Kazuki, with your identity as an Asian footballer, you should advertise products that are popular in Asia. That way you can become the representative of Asian footballers. If you can get Asian football fans to acknowledge you, then how many companies do you think will be fighting for your sign?"

"Whatever," said Kazuki. He believed Furochi had his ideas about Kazuki's career development off the field. As a footballer, he just has to do his best on the pitch. Kazuki would leave the affairs off the field to Furochi.

Although Kazuki is signing the contract right now, but the AD shot won't be done right now. However, some preparations are required first.

***

Apart from the off-field affairs, on the daily training, Kazuki started to develop new habits. He always asked young players like Ryan and Rustan to do additional training with him. The reason for that was because Kazuki felt he had to make sure the development of his companions went well. With that way, then they could help Kazuki to achieve his secret goal next season, which is to win the Premier League.

In addition, Kazuki also discovered a new function of [Dream Training].

"Hey GM, [Dream Training] can you record the data of all players in the world, right?" asked Kazuki.

"Theoretically, yes," GM nodded in agreement with Kazuki's hypothesis.

If [Dream Training] was able to collect a lot of data and create advanced AI that could help Kazuki train, then [Dream Training] was indirectly more effective than any scout in the world.

"Then can you collect data on players who play in the lower leagues and see who are quality players that have low transfer prices right now?"

The GM was silent, after a while he opened his mouth and said, "You don't have permission to use that function."

Kazuki frowned and asked, "Why?"

"The thing you're asking has nothing to do with training. That's why you can't use the data collection function," retorted the GM.

Even though the GM said that Kazuki kept trying to persuade the GM, but his persuasion was in vain. In the end, Kazuki knew that he was better off focusing on training himself than expecting a good player to help his goal, which was to make Southampton win the Premier League next season.

Meanwhile, week 35 of the English Premier League is about to begin. Southampton will face Liverpool, the leader of the table. In this match, Kazuki wants Southampton to at least be able to hold Liverpool to a draw.

The reason was that Kazuki's meeting record with the big six was not good. Kazuki lost 4-2 to Tottenham, then managed to draw against Chelsea, but he lost 5-0 to Manchester City and 3-1 to Arsenal. Kazuki had never won against The Big Six. It would be a shame if Kazuki ended the 2011/2012 season without a win against The Big Six. At least he wants to win either against Liverpool or against Manchester United later in the 38th week. Although it is very difficult to reach a victory.