To be honest, it doesn't really matter whether Yè Chén endorses Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
What matters is how much he can get paid.
For Coca-Cola, this was a crisis, but for Yè Chén, it had no impact whatsoever.
As an athlete, he had the right to choose whether to drink soda or water.
News spread that both Coca-Cola and Pepsi were vying for Yè Chén's endorsement.
They couldn't ignore it, so they immediately matched offers...
â¬4 million per year!
Mendes jumped into negotiations, carefully discussing endorsement details and contract specifics.
However, news of Mendes showing up at Coca-Cola's office "accidentally" leaked, prompting Pepsi to raise their offer to â¬4.5 million!
Coca-Cola had no choice but to apologize.
"We really want to work with you, but their offer is too compelling!"
In the end, Coca-Cola made their final bidââ¬5 million over two years, plus additional clauses.
This endorsement deal was top-tier even by European standards. For context, Cristiano Ronaldo's endorsement for Coca-Cola was only â¬2 million per year.
Coca-Cola was willing to pay such a premium for three reasons: Yè Chén's outstanding performance, the Chinese market he could tap into, and the "pushing away the soda" incident.
If Pepsi managed to snatch Yè Chén away at this point, the damage to Coca-Cola would be immense.
Interestingly, the additional clauses Mendes negotiated came from Yè Chén's own ideaâ
A 10% bonus for winning a championship, 25% for winning two, and 30% if he won the Champions League.
30% of â¬5 million is â¬1.5 million. Combined with the base fee, that's â¬6.5 millionâaround 58 million yuan!
A single-year endorsement fee reaching half a "small target"âincredible.
Don't forget, Yè Chén's current annual salary is around â¬2.2 million, with nearly 40% lost to taxes.
In a way, Yè Chén had to thank himself for that unintentional act of pushing away the Coke. It landed him a top-tier endorsement without even trying.
His endorsement with Coca-Cola would also boost his global recognition.
Plus, this deal set a benchmarkâ
No future contract under â¬2 million per year would even be considered.
However, Coca-Cola's two-year term hinted that they weren't fully confident in Yè Chén's long-term prospects. Otherwise, they would have locked him in for a longer period, sensing a bargain.
But renewing Yè Chén at this price two years later? That would be much harder.
Yè Chén appreciated the benefits of having a management team.
His daily life remained unaffectedâhe just focused on training while Mendes handled the rest.
Even before the endorsement was finalized, the news was everywhere.
Yè Chén's first Instagram ad was a post announcing he'd become the face of Coca-Cola's new product!
As for the product itself, it would soon be revealed.
Naturally, online criticism followedâpeople accused Yè Chén of being a "slave to money," willing to trade dignity for cash.
Yè Chén didn't bother to respond.
These were just sour grapes. Besides... he was endorsing a new product. Who said it was regular Coke?
"Coca-Cola: More Than Just Cola!"
Yè Chén casually handed Coca-Cola this free slogan.
Meanwhile, Dortmund's entire squad departed for London, arriving a day early.
At Arsenal's press conference, Wenger confirmed Van Persie would playâa crucial match for the Gunners.
A victory would secure their place in the Champions League Round of 16 for the 12th consecutive seasonâa new record.
Year after year, Wenger kept Arsenal in the Premier League's top four with just £70 million sitting in the bank. Truly an economist at heart.
Unfortunately, Wenger eventually left Arsenal, plunging the club into decline.
Before Yè Chén's time-travel, Arteta's possession-based tactics had rekindled hope for Arsenal fans, but Spurs under Conte edged them out for fourth place again.
In the 2021-22 season, Son Heung-min was undeniably Asia's shining star. His Premier League Golden Boot, achieved without a single penalty, was pure gold.
Yet even a player of Son's caliber faced difficulties at Spurs.
Lloris openly criticized him, and Dier even went as far as shouting at him face-to-face.
That's the harsh realityâAsian players still face biases in European football.
The Arsenal-Dortmund clash was destined to be intense.
Arsenal had won 7 of their last 8 league matches, while Dortmund was riding high after defeating Bayern at the Allianz, winning eight in a row.
This match was hyped as another "Asian Derby," with Arsenal's Park Chu-young and Dortmund's Shinji Kagawa representing Korea and Japan, respectively.
Sadly, Park didn't even make the squad.
In the end, Dortmund lost 1-2 at the Emirates.
Van Persie's return could only be described as majestic.
In the 49th minute, he latched onto Song's through ball and smashed it home.
Weidenfeller had been brilliant against Bayern, but this strike was unstoppableâno keeper, not even Casillas or Buffon, could've saved it.
Van Persie scored again in the 86th minute, receiving Vermaelen's long pass and volleying it in.
Arsenal was up 2-0, one foot in the knockout stage.
Dortmund fans were heartbroken.
If only Yè Chén were here!
Next time they faced Arsenal, they would winâno matter what!
Although Arsenal seemed invincible...
In injury time, Lewandowski assisted Kagawa for a consolation goal.
Meanwhile, Marseille shockingly lost 0-1 to Olympiacos, leaving Dortmund and Marseille tied on points.
The final group stage match would pit Dortmund against Marseille at homeâ
Winner advances to the Champions League, loser drops to the Europa League.
But a more important game loomed.
The Ruhr Derby.
For Dortmund fans, the Ruhr Derby mattered more than the Champions League.
Losing to Bayern? Acceptable.
Losing the Ruhr Derby? Unthinkable.
Fans quickly shifted their focus, roaring in support of their team.
Even before the match, the atmosphere in the Ruhr region was electric.
While out shopping, Yè Chén saw rival fans already arguing...