Chapter 33
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: No Place for Him in the Football World
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Upon hearing the call to come back to Korea, I handed off Blackburn matters and boarded a plane.
It just so happened to be around Boxing Day, right before the winter transfer window, so I'd have to ring in the New Year in Korea before heading back up.
Well, it was my choice, and whether it was group business or football club duties, it was something that had to be done—no helping it.
"But why am I here for Seol-ah's boyfriend introduction...?"
Obviously, that was just a pretext. The real talk would be something like, "While you're here, take care of this issue—what should we do about that business?"
In my previous life, stuck in Korea, I'd open my eyes, head to the office, and find documents piled up so high I could've measured them with a ruler.
"We need to hire a professional executive for the club, too."
With Dalglish leaving this time, we needed a football expert as chairman to fully lead the sporting director and club operations.
John Williams had managed things steadily, but after the Jack Walker era, it was time for him to retire.
Stanley Mattiessen? You hardly ever saw his face. Sure, he ran things as Jack Walker's son-in-law, but he was just the type to handle neighborhood-level business.
We needed a world-class administrator.
The perfect candidate who sprang to mind was Arrigo Sacchi, the creator of "Sacchi-ism."
Michel Platini was famous as both a player and manager, and somewhat favorable toward the English scene.
I'd have to pursue recruiting those retirement-age legends as club chairman.
We needed someone to draw the big picture entirely from scratch—a new system, proper youth setup, training infrastructure, scouting operations.
After returning to Seoul, I met with the family and then the young man who shuffled awkwardly into the house.
"Ah, hello, sir? Vice Chairman?"
"Vice Chairman, my foot—this is my second son. The one who turned the whole family upside down running a football team across the sea."
Even with Father's explanation, Kim Sang-woo—Seol-ah's boyfriend—acted extremely cautious in front of me.
A Seoul National University architecture grad, he'd started as a campus couple with Seol-ah. From a poor family but on full scholarship, he was famous back then as a top Gangnam tutor.
He had solid skills, but business-wise and personally, he'd always been intimidated by me.
"Take good care of her."
"Y-yes, sir."
After the handshake, we cut straight to the chase.
"You've seen Seol-ah's boyfriend now—what else do you need me to handle?"
"You cold-hearted punk. You wanted to come, so I've got plenty lined up, just as you wished."
Father called me into the study, and in front of Mother and Dae-chul hyung, I told the young couple:
"You two like each other, parents approve—I'm good with it. Done."
"Oppa!"
"Th-thank you, brother-in-law."
If it were after the season, maybe, but right now, I was swamped.
The next day.
I boarded a domestic flight with hyung.
"Train's four hours, car's six—this is when flying's best."
Once airborne, Dae-chul hyung handed me some documents.
"Just like you said, with the financial crisis, sites from shuttered department stores went up for sale—we snapped them up."
"Hmm, this is plenty. We can run a demand survey and move forward right away."
"Wasn't fully confident..."
Hyung had always been like this.
He had the nose for construction projects, acquisition bids, investments—but zero will to pull the trigger, overly reliant on others.
He could just commit if he believed in it, but in crunch time, it was always "Is this okay?" or "No issues proceeding?"—total indecision.
In the end, I handled all the fieldwork, and with my edge in group shares, rumors swirled in business circles that the Vice Chairman held more sway than the Chairman.
Still, these were prime department store sites we could milk for up to twenty years—solid assets.
The key was what Father had said.
'Posil's president-slash-pro league chairman Yoo is down in Busan, along with that Zeus Group football team president. You said you'd acquire it—sort that out while you're there.'
Yeah, time to settle it.
"How long will it take?"
"This? Quick. Just flash the redevelopment permits and investment plans—they'll stamp everything."
"No, the football team acquisition."
"!"
Hyung glanced around suddenly, then whispered:
"Ran into Hyeonkyung Industrial Development's Chairman Jang at a business gathering. He's eyeing a football team like his cousins—you beat him to it."
Chairman Jang of Hyeonkyung Industrial Development, a collateral branch of the Hyeonkyung clan.
Big cousin had Jeonbuk Dino Motors, little cousin Ulsan Hyeonkyung Tigers. Secure regional loyalty with football, then boom with local development and factories—so he wants in too.
"Competition— you good?"
"Yeah, no way he sticks his foot in football."
"Hm?"
"Other Hyeonkyungs already have two teams—greedy much? If he loves football so bad, tell him to cheer for his cousins' squads."
Business aside, wasn't this for football too?
If butterfly effects and alternate histories were real, this moment erased the day 'that certain someone'—who'd later massively impact Korean football—first set foot in the game.
"I'll wrap the department stores, then negotiate with Zeus Group straight away. I'll handle it all."
"Ah, okay."
I hit the ground running the moment we landed at Gimhae Airport.
After sorting the department stores, I toured Busan Gudeok Stadium once, then arrived at the Busan Zeus Royals office.
Zeus Group—no.2 business titan—had gorged itself into near-collapse, now offloading cultural arts ventures and sports teams first to hang on.
On schedule to meet the Zeus president, a group approached from afar.
"Well, well—who do we have here? The Daeyang Group heirs."
"Ah, Chairman Jang!"
Dae-chul hyung hurried to greet him. The man beamed and extended a hand.
"Dae-chul, long time no see?"
Exactly ten years my senior, we'd crossed paths before, so Hyeonkyung Industrial Development's Chairman Jang Mong-gyu spoke casually.
I shook his hand, keeping my poker face locked in.
"Heard you're killing it with that European football team gig—eyeing things here too?"
"Yeah, came to acquire Zeus."
"I'm interested too, you know—football."
"…."
"World Cup coming to our country soon, right? And that World Cup stadium going up in Geoje-dong—Hyeonkyung Construction's building it, you know."
Chairman Jang patted my shoulder, name-dropping the family construction firm that wasn't even his.
"Thinking of making Go-do Busan a reality—gonna need you to yield a bit."
...That's a baseball term.
Between the uninvited Chairman Jang and me—the invitee—Zeus Royals president Kim Se-han served coffee and broached the topic.
"A K-League powerhouse with four league titles and three cup wins, now up for sale."
"I'll take care of it."
Snap—
Chairman Jang snapped his fingers; aides fetched documents. He donned glasses, checked them, and slid them straight to Kim Se-han.
"Valued the club at about 17.5 billion—what do you say?"
"Daeyang can wire that right now."
"!"
"D-Dae-hyun!"
"Cash, direct from my account. President, report to HQ immediately. Group, prep the handover."
Kim Se-han broke a sweat and asked me:
"W-wait, that'd make it a personal acquisition by the Vice Chairman, not under Daeyang?"
"I like football a bit."
Jang Mong-gyu's face twisted for a split second.
"This ain't an auction. Docs show it's more than just price, right?"
Another finger snap—next documents.
"We're prepping redevelopment around the current Royals stadium, tied to our Icons apartment brand. Massive scale, and I love sports marketing—so it's not just the club, it's the whole area's future."
Telling the front office that? He's no permit clerk or mayor.
"Heard you like football—who's your favorite Busan player?"
"An Jeong-hyeok. Love that guy. A man with a ponytail, and his face still shines."
Sure enough, Jang Mong-gyu gushed about Korea's top star back then, An Jeong-hyeok.
"Rebuild around him, franchise-star marketing—the business I've lined up is huge. Very important to me."
Good.
If that's his angle, I can shut it down here.
"Chairman, sorry to say, but didn't you know An Jeong-hyeok's no longer with Busan?"
"What? Nonsense—he was on TV yesterday, and I even called him."
"He's already set to transfer to Italy's Serie A. Portrait rights and ownership, all headed to Italy."
"?!"
An aide scurried over, whispering in Jang's ear.
He nodded, then chuckled.
"Ah, so Zeus Auto sponsors that Italian team's kit—loan spell, right? Means he comes back to Busan."
"Ah, you don't grasp the ownership transfer. Loans like that have full-transfer clauses—pay the fee, and he's a Perugia player outright."
"!"
"Making a Busan franchise team, but drag back an ex-Europe vet to shoot CFs in pics wearing some no-name Italian kit?"
Jang glared at Kim Se-han, who cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Group chairman's directive... Was set for '98 transfer, but timing off—so chairman personally guaranteed, loan then full transfer. Ownership now with the management agency."
In truth, unaware it wasn't a simple loan, Hyeonkyung Industrial Development—post-Zeus acquisition—fought legal battles with Perugia, and only Ahn got burned...
Zeus team acquired, void old contracts, sue in international sports tribunal...
"Well, Busan still has talent: Lee In-seong, Woo Sang-yong, Lee Jang-hyo, Manicic, and more."
"…!"
Faces screaming "who?" Still, figured he'd at least name Lee In-seong from the Tokyo triumph...
"Today I'm learning all sorts of things I didn't know."
Chairman Jang forced a smile and stood.
"Need to dig deeper—I'll call tomorrow. Just know I have Busan acquisition plans."
The moment he turned, his ears flushed beet red as he left.
I quietly lifted my coffee cup and sipped.
"He won't show."
"Ha, hahaha..."
"Looked like nationwide marketing blitz in the hundreds of billions off An Jeong-hyeok—didn't know he was leaving, so he'll figure to slash the price in half."
"But how'd you know? An to Perugia is July next year. Pre-contract only the chairman knew..."
"I run a football club in Europe."
That one line, and Kim Se-han nodded in full understanding.
"Would've been better taking An Jeong-hyeok to your Premier League team."
"Wanted to, but he needs to bulk up first. I'll sign him someday for sure."
And so, I handled the nuts-and-bolts negotiation with the Busan club.
The guy who strolled into football lightly and left without even fastening the first button? He won't set foot here again—and the deal's mine to close.