THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Coach Johansen could not help but sigh, shaking his head after ending his call with Zachary. He was happy that one of his players had finally won the heavily contested player of the month accolade. However, he was also bothered by the attention Zachary had started garnering from all around Europe.

The young Maestro had been on fire since his debut. He'd been instrumental in Rosenborg's winning streak of fourteen matches. Thanks to his incredible form and consistency, bordering on the realms of almost being inhuman, he'd netted eighteen goals and provided ten assists in a period shorter than three months. But as a result, he had attracted several scavengers from all over Europe intent on signing him from Rosenborg. The most worrying of them was RB Leipzig, a team from Germany, which had decided to trigger his release clause.

Coach Johansen was distressed by the whole development. After milling over the issue for a few days, he'd decided to have a one-on-one with Zachary to gauge his stand. He could then plan accordingly and avoid falling into difficulties later if his best player suddenly decided to leave.

He hoped he would succeed in making Zachary see reason and convince him to stay with Rosenborg for a while longer by showing him some sincerity. One way to go about that was to discuss some of the plans he'd already set in motion to strengthen the Rosenborg squad. But he had to determine whether Zachary had any thoughts of leaving Trondheim before deciding on the best course of action.

"Bzzt Bzzzt! Bzzt Bzzzt!"

His phone started vibrating a moment later — as he was still deliberating on how to handle Zachary's situation. He couldn't help but smile for a bit after picking it and glancing at the screen. It was his old colleague and friend Carlos Alberto Miguel calling. He was one of the most reliable scouts, good at unearthing talented but affordable players from all around Europe.

Coach Johansen had tasked him with searching for talented defenders for Rosenborg only a week prior. He was eager to ascertain whether the scout had finally found some of them.

"Hello, Carlos," he said after accepting the call and placing his phone close to his ear. "How is your morning?"

"My morning is fine, Boyd," Carlos replied from the other end of the line with a Spanish accent. "But, please forgive me. I'm calling with some not-so-good news."

"Oh," Coach Johansen said, feeling as if his mood had sunk into an abyss. "Did you fail to get anyone?"

Carlos sighed audibly from the other end of the line. "Boyd, you've got to understand that there'll always be some good defenders all around Europe whenever you need them. But the problem is with your budget. You can't get the sort of quality you're looking for with the money you have."

"Moreover," the scout continued. "Most of the players I've chanced upon don't want to join a Norwegian side. They would rather stay in the lower divisions of the top leagues than move to Norway."

"Not even when there is the promise to play in the Europa League?"

"That also doesn't help your case," Carlos replied, sighing once again. "Basing on your history, most players on the market don't believe that you have a chance in hell to even make it out of the qualifying round. So, that promise of the Europa league has no impact on the talented players that hope to compete against the best."

"Oh," Coach Johansen said, frowning and leaning back into his chair. He'd believed that with a budget of five million Euros, he would be able to acquire the services of at least two good defenders who could improve the strength of his team at the back. But the scout had just crashed his hopes. So, he was feeling down at that moment.

"Boyd," Carlos said after a while. "My advice to you is this. You can either increase your budget by maybe three million Euros. With around eight million, you'll be able to get defenders who can really strengthen your defense and enable you to compete fairly in the Europa League. Otherwise, I really can't help you."

"Okay, let me talk to my bosses first," Coach Johansen said after a while, letting out a breath. "Thanks a lot for your help."

"It's my pleasure, Boyd," Carlos replied coolly. "Feel free to call me when you finish preparing things on your side. I'll be ready to help at any time."

"I will," Coach Johansen said. "Thanks again, and have a good morning."

"Likewise."

Coach Johansen could not help but sigh for the umpteenth time that morning after ending the call. One of his plans to strengthen the Rosenborg squad and help the team compete in the Europa League seemed to be already going downhill.

He didn't even try to call the club chairman to ask for more funds. He was well aware that the chairman would reject his request without giving it any thought.

The chairman had already explained that the club was in a tight spot financially. That was why the other executives were considering selling Zachary to RB Leipzig for around fifty million. With that sum, they would solve the club's financial difficulties and possibly acquire several more players to strengthen the squad.

So, Coach Johansen was in a sort of a bind because of the limited funding. He could only start making calls to a few other scouts and former colleagues to request their help.

He spent the entire morning on the phone, inquiring whether he could acquire the services of two good defenders at the price of five million. But even after two hours, he didn't manage to get a positive and satisfying response.

All the available defenders in the range of around 2 - 2.5 million Euros didn't meet his criteria. He was better off without them, considering that signing them wouldn't help him achieve his goals. So, he ended up wasting the whole morning without making any progress in solving his defensive problems. He was still in a dilemma.

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