After the match wrapped up, Michael grabbed a ride with Levis to the local hospital to check on Oriol.
Following a thorough examination, the doctors confirmed that Oriol had thankfully only suffered a mild concussion.
With a week of strict rest, he would be fully cleared to return to training.
“Oriol, how are you feeling, mate?
You’re the team’s undisputed hero today,” Michael said, pulling up a chair next to the hospital bed.
“Seriously, Oriol, you were an absolute wall out there,” Levis added with a grin.
“When are you going to teach us a few of those moves?”
Listening to Michael and Levis praise him, Oriol just rubbed his bandaged nose and flashed a simple, embarrassed smile.
The three of them hung out and chatted for a while before Michael and Levis finally said their goodbyes to let him rest.
The rest of the Santander squad was catching a late bus directly back to the city that night, but Michael had taken Levis up on his offer to crash at his place in Madrid for the night.
Tomorrow, Michael would handle the travel arrangements to get Oriol back home safely.
When Levis’s car finally pulled through a set of massive iron gates, Michael stepped out and stared at the towering villa.
It looked like a literal country manor!
“Levis!
So you were insanely rich this whole time?” Michael asked, genuinely shocked.
“A private estate right in Madrid?
You hid that pretty damn well.”
“It’s just family property.
Honestly, nothing worth mentioning,” Levis laughed, waving it off casually.
“Michael, you’ll be staying in the guest suite on the second floor tonight.
The staff has already prepared everything.”
Levis came from a highly traditional English aristocratic family.
If he couldn’t make it in professional football, he would be forcefully dragged back to London to help manage a massive chunk of the family’s corporate empire.
In other words, he was the kind of guy who could completely fail his football dreams and still be forced to go home and inherit a multi-million-pound fortune.
Not long after Michael dropped his bags in the massive guest room, his phone rang.
It was John, his makeshift agent, whom he hadn’t heard from in a couple of weeks.
“Michael!
It’s been a while, my boy.
I watched both of your matches.
Your progress is absolutely terrifying!” John’s deep, booming voice came through the speaker.
“Hello, Uncle John!
Yeah, I’ve felt pretty sharp over the last two games.
I think I’ve improved just a tiny bit,” Michael replied modestly, happy to hear from him.
“Is something going on on your end?”
“You’ve been sitting directly in the spotlight lately.
Tonight alone, several top-division clubs have already contacted me asking about your availability.
Look, you know my real job is scouting.
I’m honestly not very good at the heavy legal work of being an agent.
You need to find proper, professional representation as soon as possible to handle these sharks for you.
Otherwise, your phone is going to be ringing every single day.”
“All right, I completely understand.
Thank you, Uncle John.
I’ll get on it.”
After chatting for a few more minutes about ordinary family matters, Michael ended the call.
What John said made sense.
It was definitely time to find a heavyweight agent to protect his interests.
Just then, a soft knock came at the door.
Levis poked his head in.
“Michael, are you busy?
How about we head downstairs and grab some tea in the living room?” Levis asked politely.
“Sounds good.
There were actually a few things I wanted to ask you about anyway.”
Michael walked downstairs and sank into a ridiculously expensive leather sofa, casually looking around the room.
“Levis, you seem to know quite a bit about cultural artwork,” Michael noted, pointing at the calligraphy and the various antique porcelain vases scattered around the room. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
“Ah, these are all my Uncle Renault’s treasures.
This whole estate actually belongs to him,” Levis explained as he carried over an ornate tea set and poured Michael a cup.
“Michael, there’s actually something I really wanted to ask you,” Levis continued, his tone turning serious.
“Would you ever genuinely consider transferring to Atlético Madrid in the future?
I’m only asking because I really hope we get the chance to play on the same team someday.”
Michael looked up in surprise, realizing Levis wasn’t just making small talk.
“I’m honestly not thinking about a transfer right now, Levis.
I’m happy with my role at Santander.
If I decide to make a move in the future, I’ll definitely keep it in mind.
But speaking of business…
I need to find a professional agent soon.
Do you have anyone in your circle you’d recommend?”
“Well, if the time comes, please consider Atleti first!” Levis said, visibly happy that Michael hadn’t completely shut the door.
“As for an agent?
Actually, my Uncle Renault is a massive sports agent.
He primarily handles basketball players, but he manages all my football affairs too.
If you’re looking for someone trustworthy, I can ask him to make some inquiries for you.”
The two of them sat back and chatted easily for the next hour.
Levis felt that Michael operated like a natural older brother—someone grounded who gave the people around him a strong sense of reassurance.
On the flip side, Michael felt a deep respect for Levis; despite being a spoiled rich kid with an infinite safety net, the English defender still insisted on grinding it out and chasing his own football dreams.
They got along effortlessly, as if they had been teammates for years.
The next morning, Levis arranged for the estate’s private butler to personally drive Michael to the hospital, pick up Oriol, and chauffeur them both comfortably back to Santander.
…
After a full night for the news to marinate, all the major Spanish sports outlets rushed to publish their match reports on Michael.
Genius Goalkeeper Shines in Madrid!
Santander’s Back-Line “Striker Killer” Secures Another Clean Sheet!
The Silent Lamb!
Man of the Match Refuses to Acknowledge Baka Sports During Press Conference!
Back home in China, news about Michael was still heavily restricted, only quietly circulating through underground football forums and niche online communities.
The Segunda División’s overall influence in Asia just wasn’t strong enough to break the mainstream blackout yet.
Meanwhile, back at the club’s headquarters, general manager Herman was sitting at his desk, sweating over a small ledger as he reviewed the club’s recent revenue.
Currently, new signings like Michael and Oriol had started putting in phenomenal performances.
The local fans were clearly buying into the hype, and replica shirts with their names were flying off the shelves.
Matchday attendance at El Sardinero had basically hit maximum capacity
As long as the squad maintained this winning form, the cash would keep rolling in.
The only massive headache for Herman was that Michael had casually walked away with €20,000 in clean-sheet bonuses from last night’s match alone!
If the kid kept playing like a brick wall, a terrifying chunk of the club’s new income was going to be funneled straight into Michael’s bank account.
Worse, during the previous match, Michael had been only two saves away from tying an all-time club record.
According to that insane contract John had negotiated, breaking a single record came with a staggering €500,000 bonus!
Herman aggressively scratched his scalp, desperately trying to formulate a financial solution.
Ring, ring.
Herman snatched up the office phone.
“Hello, this is Herman.
What can I do for you?”
“Herman, you bastard!
It’s your good friend Villaverde!”
Atlético Madrid’s general manager, Villaverde, laughed brightly on the other end of the line.
“I heard you boys managed to edge out our B team yesterday.
Listen, I’m calling to ask about the asking price for your new goalkeeper, Michael Chen.”
Herman’s eyes instantly narrowed.
“Ah, my old friend, I’m so happy to receive your call,” Herman lied smoothly.
He is strictly not on the transfer list.”
“Don’t speak too quickly, Herman,” Villaverde countered, his tone remaining perfectly pleasant.
“Our owner was in the stands yesterday.
He watched the match personally, and he thinks incredibly highly of your boy.”
Villaverde paused, letting the silence hang for a second.
“Look, don’t get nervous.
I already know you signed Michael on a free transfer with a base salary of around €800,000.
If our owner really wanted to, he could simply trigger the release clause, drop the cash on the table, and take him directly.
But in the spirit of mutual respect and good business, we’d much prefer to discuss a structured deal with you first.”
Herman’s blood ran cold as he silently did the math in his head.
Base salary: €800,000.
The release clause John had demanded: precisely ten times the salary.
Eight million euros.
If some massive club like Atlético Madrid swooped in and poached a generational goalkeeper for a measly €8 million, Herman—a manager famous across the league for his shrewd, cutthroat business tactics—would be the laughingstock of Spanish football.
‘I need to sign this kid to a massive new contract.
Now,’ Herman thought frantically.
“That was his previous contract,” Herman bluffed, keeping his voice steady.
“We are already in the advanced stages of finalizing a new, improved contract with Michael as we speak.
He is absolutely not for sale, so you should really stop thinking about him.”
Without waiting for a response, Herman hurriedly slammed the phone down.
Over the next three hours, Herman received calls from four different clubs, all casually “inquiring” about Michael’s availability.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Herman completely scrapped his afternoon schedule and immediately began drafting a renegotiation strategy.
He couldn’t afford to lose this kid for pocket change!
…
After Michael finally arrived back at his apartment in Santander, the very first thing he did was call his grandmother.
They chatted warmly for a long time about simple, everyday things.
She was doing incredibly well.
The suffocating debts hanging over the family had officially been wiped clean, and with proper medical care, her health condition had completely stabilized.
Thinking about those old debts left a bitter taste in Michael’s mouth.
He had built up that massive financial hole over the years just trying to keep his football career alive back in China
He had been forced to mortgage the old family home and take out heavy loans just to afford the so-called “donations” required to bribe the corrupt academy directors and national team officials.
The brutal reality was that every single layer of management took their greedy cut.
One forced bribe quickly turned into a bottomless pit of endless handouts.
Lying back on his bed, Michael cleared his head and objectively reviewed his current footballing ability.
At the Segunda División level, his raw pace off the line couldn’t be fully showcased, but he knew he was comfortably in the top tier of athletes.
His distribution and passing range, however, had already completely surpassed this league and were easily up to La Liga standards.
To expand his defensive advantage further, he needed to start participating in set-piece shooting drills during team practice.
If he wanted to anticipate shots better and save his rewind ability, he had to fundamentally understand how elite forwards thought and how they naturally struck a dead ball.
Physically, his stamina was still a major weak point that needed heavy conditioning.
He also needed to hire a proper sports nutritionist and a dedicated fitness coach to bulk up his frame so he could handle the brutal physicality of aerial duels in the box.
As for his flexibility—which heavily dictated his diving reach and recovery speed—that could all be handled outside the club.
After finalizing his mental checklist of strengths and weaknesses, Michael firmly decided he would visit Emma’s yoga studio again tomorrow morning for a private session.
‘Not for any other reason, of course,’ Michael assured himself, staring at the ceiling.
‘I simply need to stretch my tendons properly to prevent injury.
Strictly professional.’
That was exactly the lie Michael confidently told himself in his heart!
If you did not read the synopsis the mc will play for portugal since he is beefing with chinese fa.
He will naturalize cause his wife is portugese, well at least Ronaldo will get his world cup trophy…
even tho its in a fanfic it still count!