My Goalkeeping System

"Hey, I've already said sorry like six times now," Dave said with his phone placed against his ear as he walked down the road with Clark.

Emma didn't say anything for a while before letting out a deep sigh.

"Okay, so how did it go?" She asked.

"Fine, it went smoothly, I'm now a Footy Wears Athlete." The goalkeeper said. "And they even gave me some cool stuff after everything."

"Yeah, that's how it works," Emma said. "So, you're on your way back now right?"

"Yeah," Dave replied.

"Is Clark still with you?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's still here."

"Okay, tell him I said hi, safe journey, bye." She said before ending the call.

"Bye," Dave said before turning his gaze to Clark. "Emma said hi."

"You should have called her," Clark said.

"I know, I'm not convinced she has let it go." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to the road.

Clark spotted a cab heading toward their direction and stopped it for the both of them to hop in.

It didn't take long for the both of them to get to the airport and now it was time for them to part ways.

"I guess this is goodbye," Dave said looking at the plane that was going to take him back to Unique City.

"Yeah," Clark said.

"You know it was really nice to have fun with you today just like old times, I know signing the contract and seeing all those things were supposed to be the best part of today but I think I enjoyed that race with you more," Dave said.

"Although it was stressful, I enjoyed it too," Clark said.

"Alright then, see you later, goodbye," Dave said before he began to walk toward the plane.

"Goodbye, I'll be in Unique next week, I expect a grand welcome."

"I'll see what I can do!" Dave yelled.

_______ _______

Earlier, during the day...

Inside the Wondanimo stadium in Unique city, about eight people all dressed in suits were sitting around the large table in the area, the only person in the room who wasn't wearing a suit was Norman who was putting on his coaching outfit.

At the far end of the table was a long-haired young woman, the only woman in the room, she scanned the room with her fiery eyes to make sure that everyone was there, her body composure defined her to be calm but her eyes told a different story, she had this suffocating aura of authority around her that was making the two males sitting closest to her a little uncomfortable.

Theresa Gomez was the vice President of Unique FC and now that Tom Richards wasn't available, she was to take over his duties as the acting president of the club until he returns.

"Alright, let's begin." She said before joining both of her hands together. "This is the first meeting since the end of the season so I believe you all know why we're here."

There was no reply from anyone in the room so she scanned the area once again with her eyes before continuing.

"We've been able to clear most of our debts this season but there's still some of it left and we'll need to clear them off before next season so that we can sign new players that will be able to make important impacts on the team." She said. "We have seven players sent out on loans this season, they will be returning soon but some of them will be sent out on loan transfers while some of them will be staying here. Do you have any players that you will recommend for loan transfers next season?"

The question was meant for Norman who slowly raised his gaze to look at her now.

"I have a couple of players who going on loan transfers will give them more exposure and help them polish their skills as they have not been getting enough playing time in the squad," Norman said. "Frankie, Roger, Ina, I will assess the loaned-out players after they return and see who will be going back."

"Okay," Theresa said. "What about transfers? Are there any players you have your eyes on that you think will help strengthen your squad?"

"Yeah, I have my eyes on a couple of players like Lionel Paredes from River Plate," Norman said.

"What's his position?" Theresa asked.

"He's a striker," Norman said.

"That position is one of the places where the team falls short." The man sitting beside Norman on his right said.

"Yeah, the boy is only eighteen years old, he doesn't have much experience but I think he has a lot of qualities, he'll be a good addition to the team, a player from River Plate won't be expensive so this is a massive opportunity for us." Norman expressed.

"Okay, I've noted that down, anybody else?" She asked.

Norman went on to name a few other players that he thought would be good for the team, he also told her about the few players that their scouts had been keeping their eyes on and had termed as promising young players.

After that, they went on to talk about other things, and just before the meeting could come to an end, Theresa had something she needed to tell Norman.

"Um...Norman, I forgot to tell you that I got a loan offer recently." She said,

"From who?" Norman asked.

"Benfica." She said, "They offered quite a huge amount, way more than we've generated from sending out any player on a loan transfer before."

"How much are we talking about here?" One of the men asked.

"Two hundred thousand euros." She said,

"Okay, but you still haven't told me the player they want," Norman said.

"I was getting to that." She said before removing her hand from the table and falling back in her seat. "It's Dave Richards."

"Dave," Norman muttered with a horrid look on his face.

"They would spend that much for Dave Richards?"

"Maybe they've seen his recent heroics." She said.

Norman was frozen as he stared at her with a horrid look on his face.

"What's your take on the matter, Norman?" She asked.

"No, no." He said, shaking his head. "Dave cannot be loaned out, that can't happen."

Theresa didn't reply immediately as she stared at him for a while before putting her hands back on the table.

"Why are you suddenly defending him? You were the one who was fuming at the president for sending out Anderson on loan and leaving you with no other option than to make Dave the starting goalkeeper." The man on his left said.

"That was then, things are different now," Norman said.

"Because he put up a couple of fluke performances." The man sitting opposite the coach said.

"I don't think those performances were a fluke."

"Norman," Theresa called as Norman quickly turned his gaze to her.

"Can you give me a good reason why we shouldn't consider this offer, because it's not up to me, if you give me a few good reasons maybe I might be able to help you out and convince Tom?"

'Good reason? How the heck can she be asking for a good reason after all the performances that led us to qualify for the conference league?' Norman said subconsciously as he stared at her trying to hide the baffled expression on his face.

****

Hope you enjoyed the chapter?

If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I'll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.