The Transfer Market Opens — Who Is Han Shin's First Target? A Call with the Agent...

For several days Han Shin had been running himself ragged, and one truth had sunk deep into his bones.

Handovers.

Even a convenience-store part-timer got a proper handover. In a society where everyone walked on thin ice—and especially in the merciless world of professional football—the privilege of managing a first-team squad belonged only to those who arrived fully prepared.

Yet when a manager changed clubs, his entire staff usually walked out with him. There was no handover to expect. It was a lonely post.

Hah… damn lonely, isn’t it. The famous line drifted through Han Shin’s mind.

Bran scratched at the stubble along his jaw and asked, “But you already have a plan, don’t you, Boss?”

“I do. I’ve spent the week at the training ground lodging putting together a carefully curated list of targets. Let me share ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it with you first.”

“Where?”

Should I just make a group chat?

“Let’s open a WhatsApp group.”

“Sounds good.”

Even if I’m a young manager, barging into a players-only chat would be awkward. Better keep a little distance.

Han Shin created the group, invited the scouts and the sporting director, and dropped the files he had converted into PPT and PDF.

The list he had refined through game simulations and transfer-site research was the product of long deliberation.

Barry fumbled for his reading glasses—his phone font must have been tiny—and slipped them on.

“Wow! Coach, you put all this together by yourself?”

Bran hummed a little tune of admiration. A rather peculiar one.

“Gooseberry~ Raspberry~ Strawberry~ Good~!”

“Ugh…”

Barry the scout let out a long, familiar sigh.

Gooseberry, raspberry?

“What’s that about?”

“The old man insists we call him ‘Berry.’ So we made up a song with every kind of berry we could think of.”

“Ah. Right.”

Han Shin felt a flash of embarrassment for having once memorized it as “Berry Berry Strawberry.”

Still, as a scout’s nickname it sticks pretty well.

“We’ll take a moment to go through your player analysis, Boss.”

“Isn’t the gaffer amazing, Berry?”

“Bran, did you butter your tongue this morning?”

“Hahaha!”

Speakman tapped away at his laptop keyboard.

“I’ve drawn up a release list, Gil.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Look into their current market values and any potential buyers, please.”

“On it! Excuse me!”

Gil left the room.

“Gilbert’s off to set his phone on fire with calls. And Coach?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll ring the agents of the players we want to move on, explain that we’re considering releasing them, and sound out whether they’re open to a transfer.”

“Sounds good. Then we put them on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the official list?”

“Exactly. Once the player agrees, the agent will canvass clubs across England and anywhere else that might be interested.”

The director gave his phone a little shake.

“I’ve got Do Not Disturb on right now, but the inquiries are already piling up.”

“How many? I can’t be far behind.”

“Want to see?”

The emails, messages, calls, and WhatsApp threads he showed were already at bursting point.

“When the traffic’s this heavy, do you keep a separate phone for personal calls?”

“I do. I carry three.”

He fanned them out across the table with a flourish.

“I’d better put in a request with Emily soon. So what happens once a player says he’s willing to leave?”

“A player isn’t merchandise, of course, but we still have to sell. We prepare video clips, data packs, and medical records to show there’s nothing wrong, then send the package to any club that shows interest.”

“So even though we’re selling, the message is that there’s no real problem—just that he doesn’t fit our squad or valuation.”

“Exactly! If word of any friction with the club leaks to the press, the price drops on its own. We keep everything discreet until the deal is done, and make sure the player walks away satisfied too.”

“Releases are trickier than I thought.”

“They are. And these days you’ve got Romano and the rest of the pack shouting about everything.”

“They get the tips from agents, right?”

“Usually the agent leaks to gain leverage in negotiations. But journalists have thick networks—sometimes the info comes from someone inside the club who knows someone who knows someone.”

Bran’s eyes stayed fixed on Han Shin’s player report.

“Speaking of which, Romano seems to have taken an interest in us thanks to you, Boss. He’s been updating about the club nonstop on X.”

“Really? Romano? Maybe I should join X right now.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up with more followers than the club’s official accounts.”

The director cut in.

“Coach, leave SNS and media decisions to Frank or Emily. The media team will handle the official channels. You’ll have sponsor shoots to do as well.”

“I’ll talk to Emily first. So what happens when another club makes an offer for one of our players?”

“If it comes in by official email or phone, we review the proposal and negotiate—transfer fee, wages, bonuses, the whole package.”

“I’ve done plenty of that in the game.”

“It’s actually quite similar. The game copies reality, after all.”

Speakman picked up one of the phones he had laid out and opened an app.

“These days a lot of clubs use a platform called TransferRoom.”

The interface was cleanly split into two big rectangular buttons: Buy and Sell.

“It’s a global network of clubs. You can talk and do deals right there online.”

“I had no idea something like this existed…”

“Direct club-to-club contact cuts out the hassle, so it’s faster and the fees are a bit lower. It’s also handy for players without agents.”

“So clubs use the network to trade among themselves when there’s no agent involved?”

Speakman crossed his legs and gazed at the ceiling.

“Yes. But I have a feeling this window is going to be… interestingly different.”

“In what way?”

“Say we decide to go after that Matteo lad from Royal Antwerp that Isaac recommended.”

“Possible.”

He uncrossed his legs and leaned toward Han Shin.

“When a player is considering a move, what does he usually weigh first?”

“Wages, the club’s stature, whether he’ll get minutes in his preferred position, the squad around him… lots of things.”

“All correct… but the hint is that Sunderland is in a completely unprecedented situation in football history.”

Unprecedented situation? That’s me. Ah!

Han Shin caught the hint at once.

“Ah—because no one knows what I’m like as a manager yet, they’ll want to talk to me more than anything else. About vision, tactics, the lot.”

“You nailed it. From where I’m sitting, your role is going to be crucial. During negotiations they’ll almost certainly push for video calls or face-to-face meetings with you. You’ll need to prepare plenty of material that shows off your tactical chops and training sessions.”

Han Shin rolled his neck left and right.

“That I can handle. Get me the meeting and I’ll make them desperate to come. Which means we now have an extra reason to win those televised friendlies against Zenit and Liverpool.”

“Absolutely. Offers will go out before then, so the potential arrivals will be watching. A win would help enormously.”

Liverpool… can we actually win at Anfield? No—we have to win.

“But looking at it another way… that also means that until the Liverpool match, even if we put in offers, some players might not want to come. They still don’t know what kind of manager I am or what style I play.”

“Some players won’t care either way, but you might be right. I’ve been around long enough, and I’ve never seen a situation quite like this.”

“Hah… every step is an obstacle.”

Even a friendly—we have to beat Liverpool away. Suddenly I can’t wait for the match.

But the mountain of work in front of him left no room for daydreaming. Han Shin turned to the three scouts.

“So—have all three of you gone through the list I sent?”

“Yes!”

While weighing the recruitment list, Han Shin had balanced several values.

One of them was this:

Bring in a big name who could step straight into the squad?

Or stockpile promising youngsters with bright futures?

If this were the game I’d hoover up every prospect. But developing kids takes three or four years minimum. A one-year firefighter can’t wait that long.

Han Shin searched Wyscout for a centre-back named Yassine Mahroudi of FC Nantes.

Nantes were a Ligue 1 side that had spent recent seasons flirting with relegation, yet they remained one of France’s historic clubs—eight top-flight titles in their past. Didier Deschamps, Marcel Desailly, and Claude Makélélé had all taken their first steps there. In 2019 the club had been on the verge of a club-record €16 million sale of Emiliano Sala when the tragic plane crash claimed his life; the number 9 shirt had been retired ever since.

“Nantes… we once had Papy Djilobodji there, didn’t we?”

Ah… the Senegalese rock who vanished from Chelsea, Papy Djilobodji…

The name Korean commentators had always struggled to pronounce floated back to him.

“Pfft…”

“What’s so funny, Boss? Djilobodji only spent a short time with us—”

“Ahem… let’s drop that name. This Mahroudi could become a key piece for us… pfft…”

Mahroudi was a defender Han ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shin had shortlisted back at the lodging, long before he had even heard the transfer budget.

He played a few clips and began to explain.

“First, Yassine is a physical monster at 193 cm with excellent aerial ability, and he’s a left-footed centre-back. His build-up play is solid, and the tackle numbers are strong.”

He pulled out a sheet of A4 and sketched a 4-3-3 with a ballpoint pen.

“I want to sign one full-back who can invert—someone who can drop into midfield and help the single pivot when we build.”

He drew an arrow sliding the left-back into the centre of the back four.

“If we use a temporary back three like this, having Mahroudi on the left makes progression much more comfortable. It also helps us control possession.”

He split the plan into two scenarios.

“Against the stronger sides in the league the midfield battle gets fierce, so we add that extra body. Against weaker teams we free Timothy or Romain to overlap and overload the attack.”

Speakman nodded as he followed the logic.

“Right. But the prerequisite is a full-back who can actually play midfield.”

“And good full-backs are rare and expensive. You basically need a reincarnated Philipp Lahm or someone of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s class.”

“What if we can’t find one?”

Barry was probing for Plan B or C. Han Shin answered without hesitation.

“I build the tactics around the squad I have. I don’t invent one system and then force players into it.”

The moment the conversation turned to tactics, Han Shin’s eyes sharpened completely; the words poured out in a rapid-fire stream.

“If we can land that kind of full-back, our options in the league expand and we gain an edge. If we can’t, we simply add another midfielder and drop him a line deeper when we build.”

…

For a second Barry wondered whether this could really be the same novice who had once asked if the team doctor was a real physician. The passion and seriousness radiating from him transformed the scout’s impression on the spot.

I thought he was just an interesting gaffer… turns out the rumours about him being a genius were true.

On top of that, the way he had already mastered the entire squad, and the precision of a position-by-position recruitment list he had somehow produced alone—without Wyscout or any external tools—left no doubt that the work was genuinely his.

Now I see why Jocelyn got the boot. This kid isn’t the chatty type. He’s a proper manager. Managers are all the same—football-obsessed and missing a screw somewhere.

Having established why a left-footed centre-back was essential, Han Shin continued on Mahroudi.

“He’s already made four appearances for the national team, so he should be able to get a work permit.”

To play in England a player needed a work permit issued by the Home Office. The system was notoriously strict; countless overseas careers had stalled against it. Criteria included the quality of the previous league, FIFA ranking, and percentage of senior international caps. Sometimes a high-profile figure had to act as guarantor, or a prospect was loaned to a partner club or another league for three years or more just to accumulate enough European experience. Brexit had made things even tighter until the rules were eased in 2023. Clubs in the Premier League and Championship could now sign up to four players who would otherwise fail the permit test—opening the door for many Korean players into the second tier.

Han Shin had already calculated that Mahroudi’s permit was realistic; the list also contained several prospects who would never qualify.

“Even though he’s in Ligue 1, Nantes have been stuck in the relegation scrap for years. There’s a real chance he’d come to Sunderland. Plus he’s only got about two years left on his contract.”

Bran tossed in a dry remark.

“Boss, the problem is that any player who lands in England wants London. They don’t exactly flock to this backwater.”

“True. London’s a nicer place to live.”

“If he’s married with a wife and kids, Sunderland becomes even less appealing.”

“Housing, and if there are children… schools, right?”

“Exactly. They want ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good education. London has half a dozen clubs—same money, better infrastructure, and they jump.”

“Can’t ignore that. Given similar terms, players will always prefer sunshine, better surroundings, better food.”

“And listening to this whole presentation… he won’t be cheap. It’s a contract year too.”

“I made him sound expensive, but the market hasn’t priced him that high. I built the list before I knew the budget.”

“How much?”

“Just €3.5 million.”

Roughly five billion won.

Only 3.5 m?

Bran’s orange eyebrows shot up. Barry, who had worked with him for years, read the signal at once: Bran was hooked.

“Tempting, isn’t it?”

“If you want him, Boss, shall we make contact right away?”

Sunderland’s finances had limited last season’s budget to around £7 million. The scouting team had spent most of their time chasing free agents. Hearing that the new manager’s first target was nearly half that figure sent dopamine flooding through Bran’s brain.

Even Speakman was tempted by the price tag.

“If you’re serious, shall we call the agent right now?”

“What??? Just like that?”

“We have to strike while the iron is hot, Coach!”

Strike while the iron is hot?

“Hold on, Director! Calm down.”

Even though Mahroudi wasn’t his absolute top centre-back target, their sudden eagerness left Han Shin flustered.

“Let’s move before another club snatches him. Bran—find out who Mahroudi’s agent is. I’ll dig into the exact market value.”

“Yes!”

“Wait—Director, Scout, just a second!!! Let me finish explaining!”

You have to listen to the end of a Korean sentence!!!

Han Shin’s phone lit up in his pocket with a new message.