Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: The Fear of Desperation - 2
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"Of course, I'd love to keep him until he retires... but realistically, that's impossible, isn't it?"
Everyone nodded at Director Paolo's words.
For players on the chopping block, maybe. But no team sells its ace because they want to.
Especially not a young player, and one who has completely captured the fans' hearts, at that.
You could say there's no such thing as a team that sells a player out of genuine desire.
But reality has its own demands.
As much as it pains me to say it, the current Serie A is not the world's top league like it used to be.
In terms of prestige, popularity, and available funds...
By any metric, it's hard to call it the best.
And Fiorentina wasn't even considered a top-tier team within that Serie A.
If they were, all the homegrown stars they'd produced over the years wouldn't have left the team.
Just look at Federico Chiesa, who's on loan at Juventus right now.
In short, the current Fiorentina's vessel is simply too small to contain a player destined to be the world's best.
"He is a talent that will become the world's best."
He's a player we'll have to let go of someday.
Which means the most important thing, in the end, is timing.
If we have to let him go, we need to choose the best possible timing from the club's perspective.
It wasn't an easy problem.
Jumping at the first decent offer that comes in is a bad idea, but holding onto him forever isn't the answer either.
The offer that seems good now might look like we gave him away for free later on. And if we just hold on and miss the window for a contract renewal, we might be forced to sell him in a desperate situation.
It all comes down to timing.
Frankly, we need to sell him when his value is at its absolute peak.
You might call that cynical, but there's no helping it.
Fiorentina's finances are not stable. The only way for us to get a significant injection of capital is to sell players.
For us, selling a player when we can is a means of survival.
"Honestly, I don't know when his peak will be. I don't know how high he'll go. If I knew that, I'd be a fortune teller."
Director Paolo said with a wry smile.
"But I'm certain it's not now. He's a 16-year-old who debuted on the first team, scored eight goals in his first six games—two of them against Juventus, no less. But even so, this isn't his peak. A talent like him wouldn't have his peak be this low."
Director Paolo narrowed his eyes and wore a faint smile.
He was suddenly reminded of the day he first saw Lee Ji-an.
The day he dominated the match against Empoli U17 and scored a hat trick.
The shock he felt back then seemed to course through his body again, and Director Paolo scratched the back of his neck.
He tried to recall the names of players who had given him that same level of shock, whether he'd seen them in person or through the media.
Every single one of them had reached the world's elite tier.
"I believe his value will skyrocket even further by the end of this season. However, if we wait one more season after that... this current offer might look like pocket change. He'll be on a bigger stage, proving that his talent is the real deal."
"A bigger stage...?"
"European competition. The Europa League, or better yet, the Champions League."
Director Paolo nodded as if it were a foregone conclusion and continued.
"Even if he wins the league's Golden Boot and the MVP award... if it's in the French league, he won't get much recognition. Not if he has zero experience in European competition."
"We're not going to the French league..."
"No, of course not. But it's a fact that we don't compare to the Premier League or La Liga. People aren't as interested in the Serie A Golden Boot winner or the season's Best XI as you might think. Everyone knows who the Premier League Golden Boot winner is, though."
"Hmm..."
"Philippe Coutinho, who played for Liverpool, went to Barcelona for a transfer fee over 130 million euros. If he had played in Serie A, would he have fetched that kind of money? Likewise, if Vlahović had played in the Premier League, even 80 million euros would have been a steal."
Director Paolo shrugged, then returned to the main point.
"So, what I'm saying is, it's hard to get his true value just from his league performance. Hmm. It's not a term I like, but let's call it 'validation.' If he gets validated in the Champions League, his price tag will skyrocket. He'll draw the attention of all of Europe. Isn't that the truth? The perception of Serie A attackers is... not great. He'll have a hard time getting his true value recognized with just league performance."
It was a strange, but undeniable fact.
Serie A defenders are considered a proven commodity, but attackers from Serie A always come with a question mark.
Even though it's notoriously difficult to score as an attacker in a league known for its stellar defense, the perception is strangely skewed.
Maybe it's because so many attackers who shined in Serie A and then moved to other leagues have failed.
Anyway.
As Director Paolo finished his point... someone raised a hand and asked.
He was a man with an even sterner expression than Director Paolo.
"What if he fails the validation? What you're saying is all well and good if he performs well in the Champions League... but shouldn't we also consider the possibility that he doesn't? Wouldn't that mean his performance up until now was all just hype?"
He wasn't wrong.
Director Paolo nodded.
And then he said, "Then let's take a quick vote. Those who think he'll do well in the Champions League, raise your hand. Those who think the hype will be exposed, raise your hand first."
Saying that, Director Paolo scanned the room for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"Since no one raised their hand, I'll move on."
Front office staff are often seen as incompetent figures, like politicians, but they're not that foolish.
The talent Ji-an had shown so far was clearly not hype to anyone.
He was the real deal, without a shadow of a doubt.
"Ultimately, I think the ideal time is around the summer of the year after next. Well, it could be a bit sooner. There's a chance we might fail to qualify for the Champions League tournament. But by then, the kind of offer Juventus is making right now will seem like nothing. That's my take."
Even the biggest fool wouldn't be unable to wait a year when told that money would practically be duplicated in that time.
So everyone nodded, but the stern-faced man from earlier was true to his appearance.
"But that's all assuming we qualify for European competition next season, right? What if we don't make it?"
"I believe we can qualify."
"Even without Vlahović?"
"Without Vlahović, making the Champions League might be difficult. But without him (Lee), we won't even make the Europa League. Think about it. Who has been the center of this team for the last six games?"
There were no more objections or questions.
The meeting seemed to be wrapped up simply, and Director Paolo nodded.
"..."
Truthfully, everything he had said so far was just to persuade the front office staff of this mid-sized club, who were merchants to the bone.
Well, he wasn't exactly lying.
But the reason for waiting wasn't just for those reasons.
Director Paolo wanted to see Ji-an playing on a much bigger stage.
It wasn't about the money. In fact, since there was no buyout clause, they could hold onto him for a few more years and sell him at the end.
But in Director Paolo's opinion, Ji-an was a talent not meant to play in the small pond of Italy.
Everyone's heard the story of the fish that grows to 10cm in a small bowl but can grow to over a meter in a river.
Ji-an was a whale.
But even a whale can become a minnow if raised in a small bowl. Director Paolo wanted Ji-an to play in the vast ocean.
He wanted him to compete with other brilliant geniuses in a wider world, to win and lose, and to fully bloom his talent.
Director Paolo wanted to share the thrill he felt when he first saw Ji-an with the entire world.
It was the same feeling as wanting to share a truly delicious meal or show someone a breathtaking view.
It wasn't about the money.
Director Paolo, a merchant closer to that ideal than anyone else, who believed there was nothing more important than money, thought so.
Ji-an was a boy who needed to go to the world's best team.
The only question was the timing.
···
The few days after the match against Juventus were the best days I'd had in years.
I felt unburdened in many ways.
It was an important win for the team, and an important win for me personally, so of course.
Plus, the league was going on a break soon, and school was starting its winter vacation, so I had nothing to worry about for a while.
Thanks to that, I slept soundly for the first time in a long while. I didn't even wake up once in the middle of the night.
I slept so well that the alarm clock actually woke me up. Usually, I'd wake up on my own about ten minutes before the alarm went off.
My mind was just that at ease.
The only thing I had to worry about was what to do during the winter break.
I was on vacation, Ji-woo was on break, and Dad had promised he'd definitely take time off this year.
So the biggest issue was how the three of us would spend our year-end.
But maybe this kind of comfort and happiness is a privilege reserved only for those who have experienced it many times before.
My peace of mind didn't last long.
Because I didn't know how to wisely handle such comfort.
December 16th.
We played our final league match before entering the winter break.
Our opponent was Spezia Calcio, a team sitting in 17th place.
I didn't start the match.
My condition wasn't very good.
My body felt heavy, like a ball of cotton soaked with water, regardless of my mind. I couldn't play properly in training.
I could excuse it by saying I had poured everything into the match against Juventus, but the other seniors were playing just as they always did, so that wasn't a valid excuse.
I was just intoxicated.
My mind and body were at ease, so there was no way I could maintain my condition. The very reason I was here was because I had been desperate.
But I foolishly forgot that, thinking I'd just been lucky lately.
As I sat on the bench, watching my seniors defend the pitch as usual... I suddenly felt deeply ashamed.
It's hard to explain.
It felt like this.
Like the first time you go to a buffet, you're so happy you can't control yourself, you pile your plate high with food, and then you trip and spill it all.
The fact that I was so happy over something so small that I couldn't even manage my own condition... it felt like I was showing everyone that I'd lived my whole life without knowing what happiness was. It was embarrassing.
I felt uncomfortable the entire time I sat on the bench.
My seniors, like the pros they were, quickly shook off the joy and calmly focused on the game.
And I, unprofessionally swayed by my emotions, felt a sense of self-loathing for not being able to help the team.
If the game ended like this and the vacation started, I didn't think I could enjoy it fully.
I felt like I'd be tormented by a constant sense of unease and impatience.
So I suddenly thought, maybe I should be brave. I wondered if I should ask the coach to let me play, even for just 10 minutes, no, 5 minutes.
But I couldn't muster the courage right away.
So I just hesitated and agonized over it alone. But at the same time, I had another thought.
I wondered if the old me would have agonized over something like this and felt self-loathing.
The old me would have been grateful just for not having to play in a situation like this.
But here I was, agonizing over it. I realized I had changed a lot.
Maybe that's why.
A spark of courage hit me, and I told the coach that I wanted to play, even if just for a little bit.
"Hoo-"
And so, I set foot on the pitch in the 37th minute of the second half.
My body felt heavy, but once I got on the field, my mind felt surprisingly at ease.
It was strange.
Feeling uneasy while on the bench, and feeling at ease while on the field.
It was strange and awkward, but that was my honest feeling.
Well, in the end, I didn't score or assist before the match was over.
The game just ended as it was, and we secured the victory against Spezia.
But my mind felt much lighter, and I made a resolution.
I had to come back from the winter break with increased stamina.
I was just purely, for no other reason...
I just wanted to get better at soccer.