A Consolation Deal
After Juan Lavin and Azpiliceuta left the room, me and Biscotti looked at each other, with a sense of disappointment. This deal was not only important for our team, but it also prevented a big rival from acquiring one of the hottest prospects available this year. My head was home to a ton of thoughts, some of them as crazy as accepting Lavin's demands and thinking of the repercussions later. Thankfully, Biscotti had a better idea. "Boss, our next step has to be holding a press conference outside Lille, confirming the signing of Lucas Digne, and let everyone know we hold the youngster in high regard". Before I could say something, there was a knock on the door, followed by Jim Lager, Cesar Azpiliceuta's training scheduling, personal assistant entering the room. The player may have rejected our offer, it happens, but surely they couldn't consider throwing me and my coach out of the conference room; they wouldn't.
Whispering, and mostly using hand-signals, Lager got his message across. - "Mr. Vidyasagar, I am disappointed that you couldn't strike a deal with Cesar, but it might have been a blessing in disguise. Kurt Zouma, from AS-Saint Etienne, could be signed for as little as £4 Million. He is a sixteen year old, and may not be as good as Cesar is right now, but in a couple of years, he will certainly surpass him. Just so you know, me and Kurt's agent, Destin Ningamba, are avid Manchester United supporters and would love to see Kurt join your ranks."
Being a part of Manchester United, anyone who was anyone expected their clients, family members and neighbours to be the next "breakout star", and we couldn't just go around signing them. We could make an exception for Zouma though, as he has been on our radar over the last month as a possible replacement for Rio Ferdinand. And at £4 Million, it was an absolute steal.
"We have a flight booked to Lille from here tomorrow morning, and we can't afford to miss it. We have a friendly with Bordeaux in three weeks time, so maybe could discuss terms with Saint-Etienne after that game?", I said, lacking a better option.
"That will be completely unnecessary, sir. Stade Geoffroy Guichard is merely an hour and a half away by car and all negotiations will be handled by me, if you are in a hurry". Lager's words shocked us, inviting a slightly rude comment by Gian. "Why would you handle our negotiations? We are very capable of doing that ourselves". Lager dodged the rudeness, laughing ever so slightly as he explained his motive. "I will have to be there, Mr. Biscotti. Destin Ningamba is a native of Central African Republic, and he is yet to learn proper English. Even if he were able to get his point across to you, he wouldn't be able to understand your accent - Italian or English". "Fair enough", Biscotti conceded.
"We can take my car", Lager said, leading the way out of the room.
EDIT: It doesn't come across as the best writing in the world, I'm aware, but there's more coming up.
