Chapter 877: Two Big Sponsorships?!

Still, the euphoria of winning this award didn’t just stop at that day. No, Higo might be happy that he got the acknowledgement from the others, but Fujita-san was way happier since the agent knew that this was his chance to make more money over everything here.

After all, this was a perfect PR for the boy to attract more big deals on the bag, and since the timing was right, Fujita-san decided to push it further until some of the big ones were signed in the next couple of days.

The first one was a car, something that Higo had been pushing quite a bit too much in the last couple of weeks, especially since he gained his driving license. The man was in need of private transportation, and of course, it should match his current status as one of the biggest rising stars in the league.

That was the media’s words, by the way, not his.

At first, a Japanese brand, Daihatsu, offered a term. However, it was a little bit too low, and since Higo was in Germany, it was quite difficult to accept the obligation that the boy was needed to come back to Japan occasionally.

Not that Higo minded doing that, but if he had to come back to his home country, the boy would very much love to have free time with his family.

Fortunately, another brand came in clutch. It was none other than Volkswagen, a classic car brand from Germany itself that had been getting involved with so many big players in the past.

This time, the contract itself was bigger in number, and the obligation wasn’t really that much other than a professional photoshoot, a promotional post once per month, some content, and more things that weren’t really that much for Higo.

Knowing this, of course, the boy didn’t need to blink twice. He snatched the deal, and within a day, a pretty deep-blue Volkswagen Golf R-Line was parked on his flat, ready for the boy to drive for the first time in his life.

"Well, damn..." Kumiko let out a low whistle when Higo called him to watch the new car. "It is no BMW or Audi, but the car sure is pretty, right? You have to try bringing it here, Ryukkun. I would love to have a round with it!"

Higo snorted a little at the comparison here. He knew that Kumiko was joking about that regard. After all, no way in hell that the girl didn’t know that Volkswagen was the biggest among those three, and that Audi was a part of Volkswagen Group here.

In the end, he just focused on the invitation from the girl, as he nodded quietly after pondering it for a moment. "Later, once the schedule is a little bit loose, I will try to go there. I also want to explore Cologne a little bit, so be my guide, okay?" He asked playfully.

"Well, for sure!"

Then came the boots deal, where Higo had to make a big decision that people would think was stupid. He rejected Nike and instead accepted one from Under Armour.

Oh, not like Under Armour was bad, per se. It had some good players as a representation, like a talented fullback from Liverpool that was hailed as the best in the generation, Trent-Alexander Arnold, or even Achraf Hakimi, the Moroccan fullback who played for Dortmund last year.

Still, it was Nike that they were talking about, one of the biggest players in the industry. Rejecting it seemed to be a stupid idea here, one that people wouldn’t be able to understand.

Still, the reason why Higo chose this was quite simple.

First, the number that Under Armour offered was higher, which was a realistic reason why the brand was chosen.

Then, the sincerity that Under Armour showed also convinced Higo.

Instead of a standard athlete contract that was exactly like any other Nike player, Under Armour gave him a better deal, including access to performance apparel, a dedicated contact who would check his feedback on the product performance, and even a review for a better deal if, after one year, Higo’s performance was way better than the target.

Hell, Under Armour’s representative even dared to make a promise that he would get signature boots in his second year if Higo could maintain this level of performance, something that definitely showed that Higo was valued more here.

Then, the final nail in the coffin was the fact that the representative knew quite well about goalkeeping, with the man asking so many technical things about what Higo needed in the team that could be provided by Under Armour.

At least, the fact that the man who talked here seemed to know what Higo would actually do seemed to be a sincere move, one that was enough to move Higo to sign with that brand.

So, in the next training session, at least, Higo changed a lot.

Instead of walking to the training ground, he drove his Golf R-Line, and instead of wearing any random attributes that he usually did, this time, from gloves to boots, everything he wore had the Under Armour logo shining proudly, which was easily noticed by his teammates.

"Damn! Hey, new superstar! Can we have a photo together or something?!" Someone shouted teasingly at the boy.

"I heard someone has a new car here! Come on, give me a test drive!" The others followed.

Higo just snorted here, making some rude hand gestures that made the people around laugh at him. Still, it would be a lie if Higo said that he didn’t enjoy this feeling, having so many new things coming from the sponsorship.

Of course, the deal itself didn’t just come from the car and boots company. No, the boy also received one from Pocari Sweat, one from a watch brand, and even one that wanted him to promote their skincare product.

Still, that was a matter for the future, because right now, the boy had to focus first on the next game in November, as the team had to go to the OPEL Arena to fight against Mainz 05.