"Deal."
The word was practically forced out through clenched teeth.
Mike felt his heart shatter. He knew any hope of a raise was gone—the money that should have ended up in his own pocket had been sucked dry by Barnett, that vampire.
With the agreement finally reached, Barnett was delighted inside, though his expression remained calm. He gestured for Leo Lin to sign the contract with Mike first.
Once the ink hit the paper, neither side would be able to change anything.
Mike's hand trembled as he signed his name, officially sealing the contract.
Only then did Barnett finally break into a smile. He slung an arm around Mike's shoulder and gave it a few firm pats.
"Come on. Tonight's on me. We'll go to my place—I'll open a bottle of '82 Lafite for you."
At the mention of '82 Lafite, Mike's mood lifted slightly. But as they walked, something suddenly occurred to him.
"'82 Lafite?"
"Wasn't that the bottle you nicked from my place the night before last?"
"F*** you!"
...
Mike and Barnett's story went back a full eighteen years.
Back then, Mike was working as a waiter in a restaurant, while Barnett had just started his own agency. Cash flow was tight, and bankruptcy loomed.
Depressed and broke, Barnett walked into the restaurant, hoping to buy something to eat with the last ten pounds he had on him.
He looked over the menu again and again, only to realize that what he wanted was out of his price range. With no other choice, he turned to leave.
It was late at night. Seeing how dejected Barnett looked, Mike spent two pounds of his own money so Barnett could eat a twelve-pound cake.
He then slipped into the back kitchen, stole a bottle of red wine, and grabbed some snacks that were about to expire.
That night, the two of them drank and talked for hours. Only then did they realize they were both people who had failed—at least for the moment—in their respective fields.
Mike wasn't originally a waiter at all. He had been the owner of the restaurant, a man with sharp business instincts.
Unfortunately, he'd been caught in a period of market turbulence. He could have shut down and waited it out, but instead he chose to gamble everything he had—and lost it all.
His situation mirrored Barnett's almost exactly. Both of them were men who dared to take big risks in the business world.
Barely a month later, Barnett's funding chain didn't collapse. After quickly securing new capital, his business came back from the brink. The first thing he did was find Mike and pull him into the football world.
Mike started as a scout, then became a junior agent, mainly handling Championship-level contracts for youth players.
Later on, when Fenway Group moved into Anfield, they urgently needed an English insider—someone with deep football knowledge and strong business sense.
Fenway sought Barnett's opinion, and Barnett immediately recommended Mike. From that point on, Mike firmly secured his position as Liverpool's head of English operations.
He became responsible for everything from top to bottom: player negotiations, contracts, youth recruitment, and even staff assignments—physios, masseurs, chefs, and more.
Fenway thought the pre-negotiation "training" would straighten Mike out. What he hadn't considered was that his own years-long working relationship with Mike couldn't compare to the eighteen-year bond Mike shared with Barnett.
That bond outweighed everything else—and it was exactly why Mike agreed to such extreme contract terms.
For any other young player, no matter how talented, he would never have agreed to this.
After just fifteen league appearances, the weekly wage would automatically jump to £100,000. That was an absurd clause for an eighteen-year-old.
When Liverpool negotiated Leo Lin's next contract two or three years down the line, they would already be starting from a £100,000 baseline. That was no small number.
Many elite clubs end up paying players £700,000–£800,000 per week for precisely this reason: they overpay early, then keep adding on, step by step, until the ceiling is shattered.
After the contract was signed, a system notification rang out in Leo Lin's mind.
"Congratulations, Host. Milestone achieved: signing your first professional contract. Reward: 150 points!"
"Total points have reached 345. You may now draw your next skill!"
Without hesitation, Leo Lin activated the draw.
"Drawing skill for Host. Please wait."
The golden skill pool churned violently before erupting with brilliant black-gold light.
"He is the embodiment of elegance."
"He is a top-tier midfield maestro."
"Exceptional football IQ and expansive vision allow him to pass the ball to any area of the pitch."
"Delicate technique, escape under pressure, and outstanding control of match tempo have made him a historic midfield great!"
"Congratulations, Host. You have drawn the Black-Gold Skill: Pirlo — Extraordinary Passing!"
The moment he heard "elite football IQ" and "extraordinary passing," Leo Lin instinctively thought of Pirlo. The final result matched his expectations perfectly.
The black-gold skill icon slowly appeared beneath his attributes. Leo Lin tapped it to check the details.
"Black-Gold Special Skill: Extraordinary Passing."
"Increases long-pass accuracy by 25% when positioned in midfield."
"Increases ground-pass accuracy by 15%."
"Increases through-ball success rate by 5%."
All three passing attributes were enhanced. Leo Lin was overjoyed.
From this moment on, he was no longer just a brute-force, charge-ahead workhorse midfielder.
With continued training and match experience to further improve his passing, he would become a midfielder who combined physical dominance with organization and tempo control—a true conductor of the game.
Both skills he had drawn so far perfectly matched his needs. Leo Lin eagerly looked forward to unlocking the next Star Path draw after the third skill, confident his overall ability would grow even more complete.
After the contract was signed, Fenway's face was dark, but he understood Leo Lin's standing among Liverpool fans.
No matter what, Liverpool had to keep him.
The news quickly spread across the internet. Liverpool supporters poured in with congratulations, and legends from all sides chimed in.
Gerrard: "The first piece of good news I've had today. Congratulations to Liverpool for keeping Lin!"
Lampard: "A player like Lin has to stay in the Premier League. He'll bring even more attention to the league!"
Liverpool fans:
"How much did Fenway offer Lin per week? Is that really something Fenway would agree to?"
"Am I seeing things, or did Fenway drink too much on negotiation day?"
"Who would've thought Fenway would finally wake up and start giving players better treatment? I'm genuinely moved."
Seeing online opinion shift so dramatically in his favor because of this contract, Fenway smiled with satisfaction.
He suddenly felt that offering Leo Lin such a substantial deal might truly have been the right decision.
...
(60 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser