The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 417 - 90: Clinching the Title Early! Number 1 in the Bundesliga! The Next Superstar! Toying with De Gea! He Single-handedly Toppled Atletico Madrid

The Portuguese madman was at the zenith of his power!

And it was precisely because of this news about Mourinho that, outside of the German media, hardly anyone paid attention to Dortmund’s official announcement.

Dortmund had officially reached a contract renewal agreement with Wang Shuo!

In an interview with the West German Newspaper, Watzke revealed, "We have already reached an agreement with Wang Shuo’s management team on the framework and key clauses of the contract. All that remains is to finalize some of the details."

For example, appearance fees, goal bonuses, assist bonuses, and championship bonuses.

"We are very confident that we will formally sign the renewed contract in the near future!"

But this piece of news was completely drowned in the tidal wave of coverage surrounding Mourinho and Inter Milan.

Aside from a few interested parties, it garnered very little attention.

...

"An annual salary of 8 million euros, with a buyout clause of 60 million euros."

At Wang Shuo’s house, Shen Qinghe and Thomas Essien were reporting on the latest progress.

"In addition, we secured 100% of his image rights."

Shen Qinghe was most pleased with this last point.

Initially, Dortmund had hoped to receive a share of the profits from Wang Shuo’s image rights.

Over the past few days, Shen Qinghe and her team had met with Adidas.

There were also rumors within the industry that Nike was closely monitoring their discussions.

Wang Shuo’s current contract with Adidas was worth only 1.5 million euros, which was practically nothing to Nike.

By retaining his image rights, Wang Shuo’s team would have a free hand to operate.

Especially in China.

If they had given up his image rights, all future commercial revenue would have had to be split with Dortmund.

"This is the initial draft of the contract we prepared with our lawyers."

Shen Qinghe handed Wang Shuo a thick stack of documents.

It was over thirty pages long, printed on A4 paper.

The pages were filled with densely packed clauses.

Generally speaking, a player’s compensation consists of a base salary plus performance-based incentives.

In Wang Shuo’s contract, the 8 million euro pre-tax annual salary was the base salary.

The performance incentives included things like appearance fees, goal bonuses, and championship bonuses.

But these clauses were also very complex.

Take appearance fees, for example.

For some players, appearance fees are calculated based on a percentage.

For example, if a player participates in 60% of the team’s total matches, a clause is triggered, earning them an additional bonus.

Reaching 70% would earn them yet another.

For other players, it’s simpler: they receive a set fee for each appearance.

Some players’ contracts don’t just specify the number of appearances, but even drill down to playing time, defining how many minutes on the pitch count as a single appearance.

This is because such a player is a substitute who mostly comes off the bench.

The same goes for goal and assist bonuses.

The specific terms all come down to the negotiations between both parties.

So, sometimes when a player asks the head coach to put him in a game, it might not be because he’s eager to compete.

Instead, it’s because he’s just one match away from earning the appearance bonus stipulated in his contract.

Of course, a head coach will generally try to balance playing time, taking into account each player’s situation and personal interests, trying to be fair to everyone.

All in all, it’s an incredibly complex calculation process.

Then there are achievement-based bonuses.

In Wang Shuo’s contract, the Bundesliga achievement bonuses were divided into several tiers.

Avoiding relegation, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League, qualifying for the Champions League, finishing as runner-up, winning the championship...

The bonus amount was different for each tier.

Since the contract was for five years, it had to cover European competitions, including both the UEFA Europa League and the Champions League.

Take next season’s Champions League campaign, for example.

The goal bonuses were higher than in the Bundesliga.

How much for advancing from the group stage?

How much for advancing from the Round of 16?

And then the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, winning the final...

Every single one had to be written into the contract.

The same applied to the DFB-Pokal.

So, could you just leave these things out of the contract?

The answer is, no!

Because if it’s not in the contract, why should they pay you?

If a dispute arises, you’d have no legal grounds to sue.

This is the very reason management teams exist!

Their job isn’t as simple as just negotiating with the club; they’re the ones who draft these incredibly detailed and complex contracts.

Moreover, they have to monitor the player’s performance constantly.

As soon as the player meets the conditions to trigger a clause, the team is responsible for faxing the club to remind them to make the payment.

Expect the club to pay up on its own?

Don’t be ridiculous!

They don’t always pay right away even when you remind them. If you don’t remind them? You can bet they’ll pretend they forgot.

The contract Wang Shuo was getting now was that of an established star, characterized by a high base salary and high performance bonuses.

But generally, players of Wang Shuo’s age typically receive contracts with a low base salary and high performance incentives.

What does that mean?

For example, Bayern’s young star Thomas Müller has a pre-tax annual salary of only 3 million euros, which is 1.5 million after tax.

The young player Konstantin’s situation was even more extreme. His pre-tax annual salary was only 83,000 euros, but his various first-team performance bonuses were very high.

A lower base salary with higher performance bonuses serves to incentivize a player’s development.

So, where does Wang Shuo’s current salary rank in the Bundesliga?

Based on previous media reports, Wang Shuo’s 8 million euro pre-tax annual salary would currently rank first in the Bundesliga.

Since annual salaries are confidential team matters, it’s difficult for outsiders to know the exact figures.

But after Luca Tony left Bayern, the highest-paid player in the Bundesliga was reportedly Lahm, at 7 million euros pre-tax.

Van Nistelrooy’s pre-tax salary was only 3.5 million euros.

The Dutch striker had taken a massive pay cut to join the Bundesliga.