Reaching France
As I stepped out of Marseille airport, a hoard of reporters and cameramen stood outside, shouting out questions about signings, preseason, Rooney and, in particular, Azpiliceuta. Looks like Biscotti had not been successful in avoiding a leak about our potential signing. The sheer size of the crowd assembled didn't bother me; but this indicated that every club monitoring the Spanish defender would now be contacting Olympique de Marseille and agreeing a deal. Although I was managing a very big club, there were some clubs we just couldn't compete with. Thankfully, Real Madrid and Manchester City had not shown too much interest in the player.
Carrying nothing but a suitcase, I enter a stationary taxi and tell the driver to quickly drive to Stade Velodrome, while shielding my eyes from the constant flashes of the dozen cameras swarming around the vehicle. Initially, 'Rien de Rien' by Edith Piaf had the cab driver distracted, but once we hit the highway, he attempted to start a conversation with me in very refined English, almost as if he was English, minus the accent obviously.
"You are here for Cesar, no?". His words had caught me off-guard. I knew Azpiliceuta was famous amongst the fans, but if they talked about him on a first-name basis, it would be difficult to come back here when we sign him.
"Is it all over the news already?", I asked him, curious to know how these things worked in France. If this was England, the newspapers would have linked us with most of the French national side by now.
"No, it was because the Cesar's representative had a press conference about it.", said the driver, with a giggle. "Stupid man, that will just make it harder for you to sign Cesar". Was he stupid though or was it masterstroke by Juan Lavin? With interest from Barcelona and Liverpool as well, he could easily get more than double if the teams got into a bidding war, when it came to wages.
The talking and information extraction continued as the taxi stopped for one last time, a couple of minutes away from the stadium. This was a cab, after all, and they wouldn't let him go in without proper authorization.
