THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Later that evening, after enjoying a lavish English dinner, Zachary sat with Emily on her apartment's balcony to enjoy a celebratory drink. From their high vantage point, their faces glowed with excitement as they appreciated the impressive view of Islington under a night sky filled with bright stars. They couldn't contain their excitement after sealing a lucrative deal with Juventus.

"Emily!" Zachary sighed, sipping on his lemon juice. "You're really a ruthless agent. Securing 32 million Euros as a signing bonus! You were even about to make the sporting director cry."

"You're wrong about that," Emily said after sipping her red wine. Her face was rosy, her blue eyes glowing with cheerfulness, and her smile bright. She was obviously enjoying herself in Zachary's company. "That sporting director is a very shrewd man," she continued. "He was only putting on an act to ensure I didn't ask for more money. I feel that the 32 million we agreed upon was still two or three million Euros shy of his bottom line."

"Is that so?" Zachary was surprised. "And here I thought the man was in dire straits, fighting to make ends meet."

Emily chuckled. "That's the deceitfulness that usually transpires around negotiation tables. But the good thing is that we still forced a good deal out of him."

Zachary nodded, creasing a brow. "So, now that we've agreed to Juventus' offer, what do we do about the Tottenham people? We promised to meet them tomorrow."

"You ignore them," Emily said matter-of-factly. "As for me, I'll communicate to them tomorrow early morning and tell them that the deal is off. Don't feel sorry for them. You gave them an opportunity, but they failed to take it due to some bureaucratic procedures. They only have themselves to blame for missing out on your signature."

Zachary nodded again. He concentrated on sipping his juice while admiring the activities on the streets of Islington, spread out below the balcony. All the while, his thoughts whirled at fast speeds as various plans came together in his mind.

Finally, he had chosen his next club. He now had to focus on moving from Trondheim and settling in Turin within the next few weeks. In between, he also had to consume the S-grade vitality-enhancing elixir so as to boost his body fitness. Then, he had to train arduously to fight off the elixir's potent side effects before playing in the highly-competitive Serie A. His schedule was sure to be a hell-lot-busier over the upcoming few weeks.

"So, when do you plan to return to Trondheim?" Emily suddenly asked to break the brief period of silence on the balcony.

"Is there anything more you need me to do here in London?" Zachary fired back. "Am I needed during the upcoming talks with the Juventus attorneys and agents?"

"No," Emily replied. "We're now going to start talks to revise and iron out the minor details in the contract. They involve a lot of lawyer jibber-jabber, as Mr. King would say. They only require attorneys of our two parties to be present."

"So, when will I next be needed?" Zachary asked.

"We'll only require your presence when the final contract is ready for signing," Emily answered. "That will probably be three days later, on Monday. We'll probably have to travel to Turin and sign the contract there. What will follow will be meeting your coaches and club staff for the first time. After that, your unveiling ceremony will take place — and you can finally start settling down in the new city of Turin."

Zachary leaned forward and took another sip of his juice. "Considering all that," he said, "I have to return to Trondheim tomorrow morning to commence preparations. Otherwise, I might not be ready to move to Turin on Monday."

"You don't have to rush," Emily advised. "You can wait until we sign the contract before you shift to Turin. Don't forget that you'll have to purchase or rent a house before moving. The next three days won't be enough for that."

Zachary nodded and sighed. "I still have to return to Trondheim tomorrow morning. I have been away from the club for two months. I must return and say goodbye to a few people, especially my coaches, teammates, and friends. I also have to talk to my girlfriend about my move to Juventus. I don't know how she'll take it. I wonder whether she'll agree to move with me to Turin. There is just a lot of stuff to take care of."

"Don't worry," Emily said. "Everything will fall in place naturally. And before we forget, we must also inform Kristin to start preparing to move to Turin. Even though you're shifting out of Trondheim, she still wants to remain your publicity secretary."

"I know," Zachary replied. "I'll talk to her when I return to Trondheim."

"Good," Emily said. "Now that we've finished making plans for the next few days, you can make that official post, informing the public that you have agreed to join Juventus. We don't want to rile the Juventus representatives by failing to keep our promises."

"Sorry! I had already forgotten about that," Zachary said, smiling awkwardly. "Let me post the message on my Twitter and Instagram accounts now."

"Go ahead," Emily encouraged. "Make sure that you post some evidence to show that you met with the Juventus representatives today. The pictures Stefano took with your phone after the meeting will do wonders."

Zachary nodded and scooped up his phone from the table before him. He unlocked it before opening his Twitter app.

With expert ease, he quickly uploaded a picture portraying Emily, Mr. Fabio Paratici, the Juventus sporting director, Mr. Federico Delfini, the attorney, and himself on the account. Then, he typed the comment, "Happy to reach an agreement with Juventus today afternoon," before tapping the tweet button. He repeated the same process and uploaded the same picture and message on his Instagram account before placing the phone back on the table. He'd finally fulfilled the Juventus party's requirement of communicating to the public that he'd reached an agreement with them.

"You're as brief as ever," Emily commented from the side while glancing at her phone's screen. "You posted only a picture and a single sentence!"

"But the post says all there is to say," Zachary argued. "It mentions that I have agreed to join Juventus and provides proof of our meeting with the people from Turin."

Emily smiled. "True. And the post is just like you, efficient and to the point. By the way, what time do you wish to depart from London tomorrow?"

"6:00 AM would be a good time to depart," Zachary said. "I want to be in Trondheim by ten in the morning."

"Then, you should sleep early today," Emily suggested. "I'll take you to the airport tomorrow morning."

"Thanks." Zachary beamed.

-----

The following morning, Zachary's two posts were trending on Twitter and Instagram. His short message about reaching an agreement with Juventus had caused the internet to explode with vibrant activity.

A large fraction of Zachary's 2.4 million followers on Twitter and Instagram reacted to his posts, hoping to get the juicy details of his agreement with Juventus. But, of course, Zachary couldn't offer any replies to them since he was seldom on social media. So, the task fell upon Kristin, the unfortunate publicity secretary, who spent the entire morning answering tweets with the limited information she possessed about the deal.

Then, just as Kristin was about to lose her head, both Rosenborg and Juventus posted official statements about the deal on their websites and Twitter accounts. In as few words as possible, they stated that they had reached an agreement concerning Zachary Bemba, and he would be joining Juventus for a 74 million Euro fee, plus a few add-ons. They even mentioned that representatives from the two clubs would meet that afternoon to sign the associated contracts.

"BOOM!"

The two statements were explosive, like tonnes of dynamite ignited on the internet. The netizens and media houses quickly fed on the new information and reposted it, causing it to propagate far and wide on the global web.

Before long, headlines about Zachary joining Juventus became a trending topic on the internet, forcing even the news of Luis Suarez's already-completed transfer to Barcelona to fade into the background. And soon, even those as far as South America and Australia already knew that Juventus had signed Zachary Bemba, the nineteen-year-old wonder kid from Rosenborg.

It was then that many football pundits began reacting to Zachary's move. They took to the various sports news platforms and started predicting how Zachary might fare after joining Juventus.

"Mark my words," Charles Adams, a reputable sports journalist, said during an interview with ESPN. "Zachary has a high chance of becoming a flop at Juventus."

"Aren't you saying all this because you're a Tottenham fan?" Emilia Vasquez, the ESPN presenter, questioned with a smile. "Aren't you just bitter because Zachary abruptly ditched Tottenham and signed for Juventus?"

"That's not the reason," Charles responded, glancing into the camera. "I made this prediction without any bias. It's only based on my professional judgment as an experienced sports journalist."

"Then, please clarify," Emilia Vasquez pressed, a smile still outlining her face. "Tell us why you think Zachary Bemba will become a flop at Juventus?"

"The answer is simple," Charles Adams responded. "The Italian football competitions are more competitive than any league Zachary has ever experienced. And I know people will argue that Zachary has already performed incredibly well in the Europa League. He has broken all records and so on. But that isn't enough to guarantee that he will perform when he joins Juventus."

"Last season, he was a new player in the Europa League. Many coaches and players weren't aware of him because he was from a small club in a low-tier league. So, they couldn't prepare immaculate countermeasures against him. But now that he has joined an Italian giant, opponents will study him with a targeted obsession. They will develop countermeasures to defend and guard against him. That's where his problems will begin."

"And let's not forget that he might not be able to make Juventus' starting line-up in a long time. With Pirlo, Vidal, Pogba, and Claudio Marchisio on the squad, he'll find it hard to secure a number on the starting eleven. And due to his limited experience, not securing a number will frustrate him and mess up his focus. What will follow will be him performing poorly on the pitch."

"You sound like a prophet," Emilia Vasquez commented.

"Not at all," Charles Adams said, shaking his head. "I'm no prophet, but just a sports analyst making a prediction with the information I have."

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