THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

"Did you make it all the way here running?" Emily asked as soon as Zachary settled in a seat opposite hers at a corner table within Café le Frère. "Why do you look so out of breath?"

Zachary just smiled at her without bothering to reply. He'd run from the Trondheim Torg parking lot to avoid being late for the appointment with Emily, but he was sure as hell not going to mention that to her. He didn't want to go into further explanations of what exactly had delayed his arrival.

On seeing him remain silent, Emily just shook her head. "In any case, that doesn't matter," she said, smiling. "I've already ordered the food. But for now, we can go ahead and discuss the business at hand as we wait. Is that okay with you? Or should we wait for the food and first eat?"

"Let's get straight to business," Zachary was quick to reply. "I'm eager to hear what the Red Bull representatives had to say."

"Well, then," Emily said, nodding. "As I'd already speculated, Red Bull is quite interested in signing you as one of their ambassadors. They are even offering quite a large sum as an initial wage plus a very tempting lucrative contract." She paused for a few seconds as the waitress carried their dishes of choice over and began placing them on their table. When she finished arranging the food between them, they thanked her and then savored the taste of their meal before returning to their discussion.

"So, how much is Red Bull offering?" Zachary probed as soon as the waitress was out of earshot. He was already feeling his heart start to palpitate with excitement after hearing that there was a possibility of signing another endorsement contract. Moreover, it was with another world-famous brand.

"They are offering 12 million a year," Emily said after sipping on her cappuccino. "But don't get excited. The deal is a front to build a relationship with you and get you to sign for one of their clubs. I guess you are aware of Red Bull and its keen interest in investing in sports. Aren't you?"

"Yes, of course, I know about their sports investments," Zachary replied, nodding. "So, which of their teams do they want me to join? Is it the Austrian club, Red Bull Salzburg, or the German one, RB Leipzig?"

"You seem to be quite informed about the Red Bull teams," Emily said, raising a brow. "You even already know about RB Leipzig. I just got to know of it today. How is it that you already have this information? Did the Red Bull representatives contact you?"

"Nah," Zachary said, smiling wryly. "I just did some digging on the internet after hearing that you were meeting the Red Bull representatives. I wanted to understand what kind of company they were and ended up chancing upon the information." He decided to lie since he couldn't admit that the information about Red Bull was common knowledge to every football-lover during his previous life.

"RB Leipzig is the club they would like you to join," Emily said, placing her cup on the table and locking eyes with Zachary. She then went ahead to narrate the entire discussion with the Red Bull representatives, even going into details about what kind of weekly wage they were willing to offer. She even told him about Red Bull's master plan to quickly advance the new club to the Bundesliga within a maximum of three years.

Although Zachary was already privy to the info about RB Leipzig from his previous life, he still listened with rapt attention—so as to not miss any small details.

A soft smile outlined his face, softening his often intense features, as Emily started going over more of the promises Red Bull had made so as to convince him to join their team. His spirits brightened as he felt waves of contentment washing through him.

He could tell that the Red Bull officials were quite sincere in making their offer. They really wanted to sign him to their team. And that made him proud of his recent achievements in the Tippeligaen. He was even more confident that he was on the right track to becoming a great player in a short time. But he also understood that he couldn't rush his career progress in any way. Otherwise, he would stumble and fall before facing down a fate full of hopelessness like that of his previous life.

When Emily finished her narration, she leaned forward and made a steeple of her fingers. "So, what do you think about this offer?" She asked, her voice solemn. "Is there any possibility you would consider joining RB Leipzig before the end of August? That is when the transfer window in Germany will be closing."

"Their entire offer is quite tempting," Zachary said after deliberating for a moment. "But the timing is quite wrong. I only signed my contract with Rosenborg two months ago, in March. So, there isn't a possibility that I'll leave my team in the middle of the season. That would be a bit unprofessional and irresponsible. Moreover, leaving a club before achieving anything doesn't sit well with me. Had the offer come a year later, I would maybe promise to think about it. But right now, it's a different story."

"Oh," Emily said, smiling a bit. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest by Zachary's answer. "Don't you even wish to sit down with them and listen to what they've got to say?"

"Nope," Zachary was quick to reply. "I'm not good at out-and-out rejecting people. If I meet those representatives, I may get tempted by them and end up joining their club, especially considering the money they're offering. So, it's better for me to stay far away from them to avoid such a scenario from happening." He smiled, shaking his head.

If he was to be one hundred percent honest, he was pretty much tempted by the 40,000 Euros a week offer. But if he agreed to join Leipzig within that very transfer window, he would be abandoning his team even before the middle of the Tippeligaen season. That would affect his reputation and credibility as a professional footballer to a great extent. For the next few years of his career, the other clubs that wanted to acquire his services would wonder whether he would abandon them right after signing a contract.

Moreover, he was well aware that switching clubs at the genesis of his career was not an advisable course of action. During his previous life, he'd watched Nicolas Anelka, a player with immense skill and incredible talent, fail to reach his full potential partly because of a similar reason. The French striker went through several transfers very early during his career that destabilized his development as a professional footballer. Zachary didn't want to follow the same path.

He was not against transferring to a different club when the time was right. But for the moment, he wanted to develop his skills in a familiar environment before thinking about joining the bigger stage. That way, he would minimize all the external factors that might destabilize his growth until a few of his stats progressed to the S grade.

Emily nodded expressionlessly on hearing Zachary's response. "Since you seem to be very sure and clear about this, I'll go ahead and reject Red Bull's offer," she said. "But you have to be sure that it's what you want. Otherwise, if we go ahead and reject them, and then you change your mind later, that'll be quite problematic."

"Don't worry," Zachary replied, his voice firm. "I've thought about the issue for quite some time, even before today. I'm sure that I want to continue developing my skills at Rosenborg before thinking about joining any other clubs."

"Then, that's good," Emily said, a smile lighting up her face and dissolving the solemn atmosphere on the table. "I'll go ahead and do the needful. However, you've got to remember that we can only bar the parties that want to sign you—only if they approach us. It would be an entirely different story if they decided to deal with the club directly—and then trigger your release clause. You've got to be ready for such a scenario, especially considering the form you're on at the moment."

"Then we can go ahead and ask for some abnormal personal terms during the negotiation process if such a scenario develops," Zachary replied, grinning like a rogue. "For instance, you could ask for 90K Euros per week and then request for a clause in the contract that promises regular first-team football. If the interested parties could fulfill such conditions, I would force myself to forget my worries and then transfer. But otherwise, I'll remain a Rosenborg player for some time."

"That's a good idea," Emily said, a soft smile still outlining her face. "I'll watch out for such an opportunity in the future. But the endorsement offer negotiations are not dead yet. Red Bull might still want to take you on as a brand ambassador even if you reject the prospect of transferring to Leipzig. But that way, they'll get many opportunities to badger you and try to convince you to change your mind and join their club. Are you willing to accept their endorsement offer of twelve million Norwegian Kroner a year even after knowing that?"

"If they can remove the condition of transferring to Leipzig during the following transfer window, then I'm okay with the deal," Zachary replied confidently. "I can easily withstand their badgering if they're paying me that twelve million a year."