The next morning, Tomás got up early to find his parents already making breakfast.
Eating out was expensive.
Cooking three meals a day at home saved real money, and Tomás ate better for it too.
He was a seventeen-year-old boy, still growing.
Over breakfast, Tomás tried to hand back the bank card his mother had given him the day before.
She pushed it back across the table.
“Tomás, that’s your money. Manage it yourself. Your parents are still young and capable. We can earn our own.”
“Yes, son. Your mother and I know you won’t go running wild out there,” Nuno said.
“Besides, you’re a professional now. The social side of things costs money. You can’t keep coming to us every time you need cash. Your teammates and coaches would look down on you. They wouldn’t trust you.”
“Your father’s right, Tomás. You’re only seventeen, but you’ve signed a formal contract with Manchester United. That makes you a man. It’s time to learn independence.”
Under the combined weight of their advice, Tomás slipped the card into his pocket.
He promised himself he would work harder, earn more, and buy his parents a house and a nice car someday.
He pulled a different card from his wallet and set it on the table.
His salary card.
A £1,000-a-week deal, even after tax, left over £500 a week.
More than £2,000 a month.
Add in his parents’ regular jobs, and the household could clear over £4,000 a month without either of them needing extra part-time shifts.
A household after-tax income over £4,000 a month was a high-earning bracket in England.
Up until now, his parents had worked themselves to the bone every month for less than that before tax.
It was a massive lift for the family.
Food and clothing would never be a worry again, and his parents wouldn’t have to grind so hard.
In England, one job wasn’t exhausting.
Working five or six part-time jobs just to scrape by was.
Without a part-time job dragging at them, his parents would have time for hobbies.
Time to actually enjoy life.
And if they weren’t happy with their current jobs, they could quit.
Woodward had mentioned United could help place them somewhere else.
It was the first time Tomás felt like his hard work had paid his parents back.
“Mom, Dad, you’re not allowed to work part-time anymore. If you get bored, find a hobby. You could even go back to Portugal for a visit. I’ve signed a professional contract. I’m an official Manchester United player now. I can eat in the United canteen. You don’t have to worry about my meals.”
The thought of the canteen food sent a chill down his spine.
But if a cockroach-adjacent steak meant his parents got an easier life, he would eat it.
That was love.
Besides, if he wanted to save money, he really could stay at the training ground every day and have his meals handled.
His parents exchanged a look.
They hesitated, but finally accepted the salary card.
“We’ll hold onto it for now,” his mother said softly.
“We’ll give it back to you when you turn eighteen and we head home to Portugal.”
Tomás let out a breath.
His dad’s phone rang.
Tomás glanced at the screen.
Tiago, from Benfica.
Nuno looked confused for a second, before his eyes widened.
“Dad, Mom, I’m done eating. I’m heading to training now. Go ahead and answer that, don’t keep him waiting.” Tomás smiled, read the room, and pushed back his chair.
Nuno nodded, looking pleased.
Tomás left the house, pausing by the door on his way out.
“Tiago, it’s not that I don’t respect you,” Nuno was saying over speakerphone.
“Liverpool’s close to Manchester, sure, but we’ve been swamped lately. You know how it is. Tomás just signed with United, there’s a lot to sort out. Even if you came in person, we wouldn’t have time to host you properly. Let’s find a better time down the road.” The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
His parents sat on the sofa, leaning toward the phone.
They looked exactly like they had three years ago, when he was the prodigy every club in the country wanted.
Three years had passed, and somehow, nothing seemed to have changed.
Except everything had changed.
Ding!
Daily Quest Released: Complete 10 successful crosses today.
Reward: [Passing] experience +50.
Tomás stopped.
Crosses?
Today’s daily quest reward was generous.
Is it because I’m a regular now?
Or because I made the U18 side?
Is the baseline just different now?
Carrington Training Base.
Tomás and Rashford walked through the gates and were immediately stopped by a staff member.
“Tomás, Marcus, wrong way. You two are over there.” The staff member pointed toward the pitch where the first team trained.
Tomás and Rashford exchanged a bewildered look.
Rashford reacted first.
“You mean… we’ve been promoted? To the first team?”
“That’s right.” The staff member nodded.
Rashford let out a shout.
“Wow!”
Tomás didn’t yell, but he clapped a hand over his mouth.
Straight to the first team?
Oh my god.
He pinched his arm hard.
It stung.
This was real.
At the gates of Carrington, Tomás and Rashford became the center of attention.
Rashford was practically vibrating, acting like a man who had just won the lottery.
Tomás felt exactly the same way.
“Idiot,” McTominay muttered, glaring at Rashford.
He looked like he wanted to kick him.
“I thought I’d get to reunite with Tomás in the U18s today,” Dean Henderson said, standing beside McTominay.
“I had a whole speech planned out, senior to junior. Guess that’s not happening. He’s my senior now.”
“Mason, is this why you got rushed up to the U16 side?” someone asked.
“Because Marcus just got bumped to the first team?”
Mason Greenwood nodded.
He had originally been scheduled to join the U16 side that summer.
“Wonder if I could get promoted straight from U16 to the first team too, like Marcus.”
“You can do it, Mason. You’re a genius, same as Marcus.”
Outside the U18 and U16 groups, everyone else had their eyes locked on Rashford.
Tomás was still a nobody to them.
“Let’s go,” McTominay said heavily, leading Henderson and the rest away.
Joe Rothwell, Tomás and Rashford’s old captain, watched them walk toward the first-team pitch.
His jaw tightened. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Some players made the first team at sixteen or seventeen.
Most players who hadn’t made it by then never did.
That was the brutal reality of professional football.
“Brother, now that I’m in the first team, I’m not going back down,” Rashford said, clapping Tomás on the shoulder.
Their arrival in the first team was technically temporary.
If they couldn’t earn a place, they would be sent back down.
Most young players promoted to the first team ended up sent back.
Establishing yourself in Manchester United’s first team was no small task.
Still, feeding off Rashford’s confidence, Tomás nodded firmly.
“I’m not going back either.”
He had his system.
He had a gold-tier special skill.
He had Manchester United’s DNA.
He wanted to test his limits.
United’s first-team training today was preparation for tomorrow’s Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Olympiacos.
Tomás and Rashford reached the pitch, where assistant coach Steve Round greeted them.
“Marcus, it’s been a while. Told you six months ago you’d make it to the first team. Here you are.” Round pulled Rashford into a hug.
Tomás understood why Rashford was so bitter about Januzaj.
Rashford still felt he should have been here six months ago.
“Tomás, I watched the U18 and U16 match yesterday,” Round said, turning to him.
“Outstanding performance. Ball control, orchestrating from the back, all excellent. Your vision is superb, and your ability to beat a defender is impressive. Three years, and our academy staff finally found your best position. They turned up another real talent for this club.”
Round seemed even happier to see Tomás than Rashford.
“Thank you, Mr. Round,” Tomás said.
Rashford stayed lukewarm toward the assistant coach.
Tomás meant every word of his thanks.
“Go on in and say hello to the lads,” Round said, gesturing to the pitch.
Tomás and Rashford nodded and walked onto the grass.
Their shoulders were tense.
Watching Tomás walk off, Round exhaled slowly.
United’s poor form this season had plenty of causes—a lack of winger talent, an aging back line—but the biggest reason was that since Michael Carrick got injured, the team lacked a deep-lying playmaker.
A metronome.
The league form collapsing, the FA Cup exit, the League Cup exit, the Champions League nearly slipping away—all of it had happened while Carrick was out.
Carrick was the brain of the team.
He had only just recovered.
Nobody knew what condition he would be in.
The match against Olympiacos was a must-win.
Tomás’s arrival right now could be exactly the lifeline the team needed.
You’re not much as an attacking midfielder.
But drop you back into a deeper role, and you’re something else entirely.
Why did it take this long for anyone to notice?
“Cross the ball more! Cross the ball more! Pat! Cross it!”
Bang!
A frustrated Patrice Evra slammed his foot into the ball.
It whistled past Moyes’s ear and cracked into the side netting, inches from Tomás and Rashford.
The two of them froze, having nearly caught a stray shot.
They went completely silent.