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Clive snapped, "You idiot! Why the hell would you say that? We agreed you'd go quietly and come back quietly!"
Harrison was thrown by Ha Sunmoon's sudden remark, but the young fullback wore the calm expression of a man who had already thought things through.
"Hold on! You specifically mentioned the Brazilian Football Confederation. Player Ha Sunmoon, your nationality is South Korean. Are you considering naturalization?"
The reporter who had asked the original question looked stunned now that the rumor had been confirmed as fact. He pressed Ha Sunmoon again.
"Sunmoon, the atmosphere's turning toxic. Can't you see how every reporter's eyes are practically vibrating?"
"It's not confirmed at this exact moment... but yes, I am considering naturalization."
The press room wasn't packed, yet the journalists present were either whispering urgently to their colleagues or muttering to themselves in confusion. A footballer choosing his national team was rare in Korea, so their shock was understandable.
Most Korean players faced complications like military service. Choosing another country could create serious problems. Ha Sunmoon, however, was relatively free of those constraints.
"Obtaining another nation's citizenship isn't easy. Are you saying it would be straightforward for you to acquire Brazilian nationality?"
Overseas, players selecting their national team was far more common. In Europe, marriages across nationalities were frequent, and immigrants or South American talents often found citizenship easier to obtain. As a result, many players from Europe, Africa, and South America held multiple passports. The real question was whether Ha Sunmoon had reached a level where Brazil would even offer it.
"Yes. I didn't investigate it myself, but that's what the Brazilian Football Confederation stated."
"Is this a case of them offering naturalization because you're such an exceptional footballer?"
"Well... the Brazilian FA told me that someone in my position is close to qualifying under the ordinary naturalization criteria. They said the process would be relatively smooth, especially since I've been in Brazil since I was a child."
The reporter's face flickered with realization. The years Ha Sunmoon had spent at Fluminense flashed through his mind. The claim carried real weight.
"Then can we interpret this as Ha Sunmoon genuinely intending to naturalize elsewhere?"
"Yes. That's correct. It would be difficult for me to claim I have no interest at all."
The journalists' expressions darkened. They had come prepared to write about his transfer from Espanyol to Manchester City. Instead, a nationality bombshell had detonated. It was a scoop, certainly, but from the Korean national team's perspective it was catastrophic news.
It's going to explode... It... It exploded.
Director Kang Jung-ho and the other KFA officials who had pushed to fast-track Ha Sunmoon into the senior team froze the moment they saw the interview. The match itself had been a comfortable victory against the Southeast Asian sides thanks to Ha Sunmoon's brilliance, but celebration felt impossible.
The only group likely cheering his demolition of the opponent's right flank through sheer speed and dribbling was the distant Brazilian Football Confederation.
Damn it. We already lack quality fullbacks... and now we're about to lose a world-class prospect? Maybe I should have staked my entire position and forced his senior call-up back then...
Vice President Jeong Bae-im's earlier decision to block Ha Sunmoon's senior-team promotion hadn't been entirely wrong-headed. The player had already skipped grades; his senior debut had only ever been a matter of time.
If only his Korean parents had actually looked after him properly...
But Ha Sunmoon had no parents. There was no reason for him to feel deep attachment to Korea. Had his mother stayed in his life, he might have endured the struggles in Brazil and still chosen the Korean team. Given his history, however, it was obvious his heart lay with Brazil, where his adoptive father figure Felipe waited.
If Ha Sunmoon was the type of player who simply wanted his national team to win trophies, everyone knew Brazil stood far closer to that dream than Korea ever could.
Bang!
"What the hell is this news?"
Vice President Jeong Bae-im slammed the door open, voice thick with rage. As stories about Ha Sunmoon continued to dominate the headlines, an emergency meeting had been hastily convened. Even Jeong Bae-im could not fully escape responsibility and had been forced to attend.
"It looks like player Ha Sunmoon intends to choose the Brazilian national team."
"This should have been resolved ages ago. Isn't this the youth development team's fault for failing to manage a prospect properly?"
"We gave him plenty of attention. But a player of Ha Sunmoon's caliber needs to be brought into the senior team, not kept in youth football. We told him to play for the youth side, but Brazil immediately offered him senior minutes. Honestly, even if we had made the same offer, we would have been at a disadvantage."
Once the full picture emerged, the conference room grew even gloomier.
"This is..."
"Which is exactly why I tried to get him into the senior team as quickly as possible. He was probably unhappy about the youth-team call-up. Brazil offered him the senior side..."
"Exactly. He'd be training and playing alongside Neymar, Marcelo, Jesus... If he has to choose, the odds of him picking Brazil are overwhelmingly high."
"Then find a solution! Any solution!"
Bullshit... After you told us to drop the family search when we were trying to keep him...
Director Kang Jung-ho nearly cursed aloud.
"Does the kid have no patriotism? Aren't his parents trying to persuade him?"
"As I explained before... Ha Sunmoon comes from a single-mother household, and... he has had no contact with his mother for a very long time."
"Right, I heard that. So when you finally located her you should have handled it cleanly."
That's the problem. You people are the ones who ruined it... Ha... This is complicated.
Both Kang Jung-ho and Lee Ji-seon felt their faces burning, but they kept silent.
"Lee Ji-seon! Speak! Stop expressing your dissatisfaction with your face."
"We found the mother... but she is refusing to meet Ha Sunmoon."
"What? Her son is succeeding and she refuses to see him?"
"There are... circumstances..."
"Circumstances be damned. Persuade her... No. No. We cannot handle it that way."
"Pardon?"
"Leak it to our friendly reporters. Paint Ha Sunmoon as a terribly unfilial son. Say he's on bad terms with his mother. That's why he's choosing Brazil."
"Pardon?"
"This way, even if he leaves the Korean national team, the blame won't fall on us. We'll establish from the start that he's that kind of person."
"That has not been confirmed as fact. It will only make future conversations between mother and son even more difficult."
"What does that matter? If they don't like it, they should come forward and talk properly, or the mother should persuade her son. We're stepping back."
No... How can he even think like that? Instead of trying to hold onto the player, he's preparing smear articles in advance so he can dodge responsibility if we lose him later?
When the international break ended, Ha Sunmoon returned to Manchester. The next fixture was a Carabao Cup home match against Wycombe Wanderers. During training, Manager Pep Guardiola called him over.
"Ha. Come here a moment."
"Yes, sir."
Hmm? What's this about?
"There's a press conference tomorrow. The reporters have asked for you to appear alongside me."
"Me, sir?"
"Yes. We occasionally bring players to press conferences. I was planning to start you properly anyway, so I intended to accept their request and bring you along."
Ha Sunmoon's eyes widened.
"I'm starting?"
"That's right. Wycombe Wanderers are a League Two side, so we'll rotate the squad a little. That doesn't mean we'll leave out all the regulars, so it should still be a comfortable win. I simply wanted to introduce you properly, but you've become rather hot property lately."
Pep Guardiola's comment clearly referred to the Brazil naturalization story. The reporters would undoubtedly ask about it.
I don't recommend it. The British press is garbage.
After hearing Clive's advice, Ha Sunmoon looked slightly troubled.
"It does seem that way. Are you asking because you're concerned about the same thing, sir?"
"Hmm... yes, that's part of it."
"In that case, I won't attend the press conference. If it's an interview after a good performance on the pitch, that's different."
"Good decision."
Good decision.
Yet while Ha Sunmoon spent his days in Manchester, the articles that had begun in Korea were spreading across the internet and had already reached England.