Genius - Chapter 547: Now That’s What You Call a World-Class Superstar! (Patreon)

After beating Villa, Liverpool followed it up by defeating Watford with a rotated lineup, securing another win in Matchweek 27 of the Premier League and moving up to second in the table.

Only Manchester City remained ahead of Liverpool!

Because Liverpool had been inconsistent in the league over the past few seasons, Manchester City supporters had grown accustomed to seeing them chasing from behind.

Klopp had generally placed greater emphasis on Liverpool’s Champions League campaigns, which was why the club had actually won more Champions League titles than Premier League titles over the past few seasons.

...

Meanwhile, once various brands learned that Leo wanted to produce a travel show featuring several football stars traveling together, with some fans invited to join them and experience the trip alongside the players, they immediately began contacting Barnett.

Every one of them wanted to sponsor Leo!

“We’re willing to cover the entire production! Whatever budget Lin needs, we’ll provide it!”

“Please, Barnett. I’ve never asked you for much. Before you started working with Lin, I never asked you for anything at all. Every time I’ve come asking for a favor, it’s been because of Lin, and this time is no different!”

“Barnett, did you talk to Lin about the partnership I mentioned last time? I know he doesn’t want to do endorsements right now, but can’t you help me out?”

Barnett spent most of the day with his phone switched off.

The moment he turned it on, someone would inevitably contact him, and most of those people wanted something involving Leo.

Leo was already extremely wealthy, and because he was completely focused on winning all seven trophies, he hadn’t accepted an endorsement deal in a long time.

That had left plenty of brands desperate.

If Leo refused to endorse them, they lost a huge source of attention.

Some companies had even resorted to showing up at Leo’s home themselves.

But Leo kept ten dogs at his mansion. The property had four separate yards, each with two or three dogs roaming around.

So the representatives could do little more than stand outside the gates and shout for Leo at the top of their lungs.

Leo never went out to meet them.

Liverpool had recently started dealing with another problem as well.

Fans from all over the world were camping outside the club day and night, sometimes even sleeping there.

The area around the club had become covered with sleeping mats, with fans lying on the ground almost everywhere you looked.

They weren’t homeless.

They were well dressed, they ate well, and they clearly had somewhere else they could be.

They were simply waiting outside Liverpool because they wanted to see Leo once.

Sometimes, the other Liverpool stars might as well have been invisible to them.

A few fans would occasionally ask another player for a photo or autograph, but that was usually it.

The moment Leo appeared, however, the entire crowd went crazy.

Because of that, Leo rarely entered through the main entrance anymore.

Most days, he would hide in Joe Gomez’s or Mac Allister’s car and enter through the back with them.

Leo himself didn’t think much of it.

Liverpool, on the other hand, had a serious headache.

With so many people constantly gathered outside the club, they had no choice but to maintain order around the premises.

Even when Klopp personally came out and tried to persuade the fans to go home, the crowd outside Liverpool barely shrank.

Across different countries, some absurd merchandise had even begun appearing.

Someone could list a shirt under the title, “I was wearing this shirt when I hugged Leo,” then attach a price to it.

Plenty of fans wouldn’t even ask whether the story was true.

They would only ask whether the shirt was still available.

The same thing happened during Liverpool matches.

If Leo accidentally kicked a ball into the stands, the fan who got it might not even stay to watch the rest of the game.

They would clutch the ball to their chest, leave the stadium immediately, and run off as fast as they could just to make sure they got to keep it.

After all, Leo had kicked that ball.

Sometimes Leo felt less like a football star and more like something else entirely.

He didn’t like that feeling.

But his popularity had grown so enormous that things like this were bound to happen.

Before long, another problem began bothering him.

Many smaller clubs started inviting Leo to visit their stadiums, much like when he had been invited to watch Boca Juniors play River Plate.

Most of those clubs depended heavily on ticket revenue.

If Leo attended one of their matches, tickets that day were almost guaranteed to sell exceptionally well.

Some fans wouldn’t even be buying tickets to watch the football.

They would be buying them just to see Leo.

Leo wanted to be a football player.

He didn’t want all of this distracting him.

So he gradually reduced the number of public appearances he made.

Outside of playing matches, he stopped accepting endorsements or other commercial partnerships.

He did, however, continue helping plenty of kids and encouraging them to develop properly as footballers.

By this point, whenever Leo arrived at Liverpool in the morning, Klopp would jokingly call him a global superstar.

The Liverpool players agreed.

Leo really had become one.

...

Three days after the match against Villa, Leo saw that plenty of fans were still waiting outside the club for him.

He finally decided to address some of the things that had been happening recently.

Fans who had notifications turned on for Leo’s account immediately received an alert that he had posted something.

That alone was unusual.

Leo hardly ever posted anything.

“Hello, everyone. First, I want to thank all of you for supporting me. But more than anything, I hope that what I do on the pitch and what I contribute to football can give you more courage and confidence in your own lives.”

“So getting my autograph or taking a photo with me really isn’t that important. What matters is that you’re happy with your own life and that football brings you joy. That’s what I hope you can get from being a fan.”

“Football has always been a great sport. There’s no need to debate that. So I hope every person who loves football can become someone great in their own world.”

“You don’t necessarily have to accomplish anything extraordinary. If you can take care of yourself and find a way to be happy every day, that alone is already something great.”

After Leo posted the message, the number of fans camping outside Liverpool finally began to decrease.

At the same time, more Liverpool supporters began showing up to actually watch the team’s matches.

That was exactly what Leo wanted to see.

Watching a football match could help people forget some of their exhaustion.

Having a favorite player could give them someone to look up to and learn from.

Supporting a football club could give them countless reasons to cheer.

That was why so many people loved football.