Under the gaze of everyone, Cao Baiming finally opened his mouth and stated a number.
"One hundred thousand," Cao Baiming said calmly, his expression unfazed.
After Cao Baiming finished speaking, the room fell silent. Everyone present, including Mike, was still waiting for him to continue.
At this moment, the high-ranking officials of Nottingham Forest were thinking, "Cao Baiming can't possibly only want one hundred thousand, what does this mean? He'll probably add more later."
All eyes were still fixed on him. However, after another two seconds, or even longer, Cao Baiming showed no further reaction. Instead, he looked up at them again.
"No way, he's done?" the people around him wondered, their confusion evident on their faces.
One hundred thousand yuan! This figure had come from Cao Baiming's mouth. Although it was just a number, whether it was for weekly salary, monthly salary, or signing bonus, it seemed impossible!
Remembering that when Cao Baiming was at Arsenal, even during the club's late financial crisis, his monthly salary was over ten million. What was one hundred thousand?
His personal signing bonus had already been wildly estimated by the outside world to be no less than one hundred million, and the transfer fee would only be higher!
At this moment, everyone present was stunned.
"Excuse me, what do you mean by one hundred thousand? Is it performance-based pay or a goal bonus?"
"Is it a weekly or monthly salary?" another person boldly asked.
They recalled Mike's previous guarantee that Cao Baiming's price would be affordable, and on careful consideration, their wallets were currently as flat as a piece of paper.
If it were true, it would be too good to be true!
Cao Baiming shook his head helplessly, looking at their curious gazes, and explained again.
"The question you asked just now was about the financial terms I want during the contract period, right? That's what I answered."
"One hundred thousand, not weekly, not monthly, and certainly not performance-based pay. It's all the money I want in total during the contract period, including the signing bonus and salary. Do you understand?"
Cao Baiming's explanation was very clear, but after hearing it, the Nottingham Forest executives were even more bewildered!
Wait, what did he just say? This was a two-year contract, and all his personal salary combined for these two years was only one hundred thousand, including the signing bonus…
Damn it, was this a charity act?
At this moment, the executives began to whisper among themselves, but soon they reached a definitive conclusion.
"No problem!"
They understood that Cao Baiming might not care about that much money. As a player, the owner of over a dozen companies, and even the owner of Manchester United, how could such a person care about money?
As the most senior leader present today, one man had initially intended to offer Cao Baiming more money, perhaps at least adding a signing bonus. One hundred thousand seemed a bit too little.
However, after recalling the current situation, he immediately swallowed the words he was about to say. He wanted to offer Cao Baiming an additional ten million as a signing bonus to show sincerity, but on second thought, what was a mere ten million to Cao Baiming?
He was a super-rich individual with assets exceeding hundreds of billions. Mentioning money in front of him without exceeding one hundred million was almost embarrassing. But exceeding one hundred million was beyond his ability to pay!
Fortunately, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. If money wasn't important enough to Cao Baiming, then sincerity could only be shown in other ways.
"All player transfers in the club will be handled according to your wishes. As long as our funds are sufficient, we will listen to you. So, if you have any friends you want to bring over, you can make the decision yourself!"
"Besides that, all tactics on the field will revolve around you as the absolute core. You can choose any position you want, as long as it's not goalkeeper!" Head coach Cooper added.
"I'm the manager responsible for the club's commercial marketing. My name is Kelly. Please take care of me in the future! As for commercial endorsements, if you are willing, you will be the largest figure in any poster featuring humans!"
…
After numerous club executives expressed their sincerity, Cao Baiming nodded with satisfaction.
All these benefits combined were indeed much better than his previous time at Arsenal. Although his status at the club was high then, like an emperor, now he felt like a god!
At this moment, the executive who spoke first felt like he was blooming. They had acquired Cao Baiming for only one hundred thousand yuan, which was a full thousand times less than their original budget!
Moreover, as a cunning old fox, it was still uncertain who would be the biggest beneficiary of the advantages just mentioned! Letting Cao Baiming personally select players for transfers saved him and the head coach a lot of effort. If Cao Baiming could bring his friends over, they would truly strike gold.
Who were Cao Baiming's good friends? They were Henry, Messi, Neymar, Beckham, De Bruyne…
If these people could actually be convinced to join, wouldn't that be a tremendous stroke of luck?
In fact, at this very moment, an idea had already formed in his mind. A name suddenly appeared in his thoughts. Messi was Cao Baiming's best friend, and they had both left Arsenal at the same time. If Cao Baiming could persuade Messi to come over…
Thinking about it made him feel a bit too greedy. It was already great as it was; he should learn to be content!
Could they afford Messi if he really came? They couldn't possibly offer Messi a pay cut again; it would be really awkward face-to-face!
"The transaction is very successful, so can we sign now?" Cao Baiming continued.
Mike suddenly snapped to attention and took out several documents from his briefcase.
"Wait, before signing, your club needs to sign these agreements with me first."
More and more blank papers appeared on the table. After Mike's agreements were signed, he also took out the club transfer agreement from his briefcase. Arsenal also had an agreement.
Cao Baiming was very confident that everything would be completed this afternoon!
At this time, the Nottingham Forest executives were already eager to release the news. How excited would their fans be to learn that they had signed Cao Baiming this year?
Just thinking about it was thrilling!