GEM TALENT

The quiet, air-conditioned room remained completely silent for a few tense seconds as the heavy shock of William's bold declaration hung in the air, and then the busy director, Mr. Stewart, slowly sat down right in his large leather chair.

He carefully adjusted his blue tie, cleared his throat softly, and looked directly into the young boy's highly determined eyes, because he deeply needed to clearly explain the harsh reality of the professional football business.

"Well, William, your current professional contract is still completely intact and legally binding with us here at Chelsea," Mr. Stewart explained with a very calm, serious voice.

He placed his two hands flat on the smooth wooden desk, leaned forward just a little bit, and continued,

"But right now, since you previously told us you were quitting, we have already moved forward and signed another talented young player that fully agreed to our strict condition."

Mr. Stewart paused for a brief, highly dramatic moment to let those heavy words sink in properly, and then he clearly laid out the remaining choices, firmly adding,

"Because we no longer have a permanent spot for you in the main squad, the absolute only option left right now is by going on a short loan to gain experience, or moving permanently to another club entirely."

He stared deeply at William, heavily emphasizing the ticking clock, and he said,

"The brand new football season will be officially starting in exactly three weeks' time, so, you really need to quickly think about it and make a final choice. Would you bravely take the difficult options left on the table today, or do you want to have a serious rethink and simply go back to your quiet university studies?"

Well, William had actually fully expected that exact harsh response from the strict director even before he bravely stepped into the beautiful office, because Coach Lincoln had already wisely warned him about the cruel, unforgiving nature of the football world.

Because his mind was already fully prepared and highly focused, he did not panic or look sad for a single second, so he confidently told Mr. Stewart the director that,

"I am completely ready to happily leave the club today, if that is the absolute only option that will quickly revive my dying career." William kept his head held very high, proudly looking straight into the older manager's eyes, and he added firmly,

"But I must make one important thing very clear, sir, I will absolutely not go to just anyhow club that only wants me as a cheap bench player, because I highly know my true worth, and I desperately want to be a regular starter too."

Mr. Stewart was actually impressed by the young boy's newfound confidence and strong bravery, because William was finally speaking exactly like a mature, fearless professional athlete.

The busy director nodded his head slowly in complete agreement, gently tapped his expensive silver pen on the wooden desk, and he seriously said,

"Alright then, quickly prepare yourself physically and mentally, because if any good club drops the highest bid for your signature, we will quickly agree on a deal and easily let you go."

William immediately agreed to that fair and honest condition with a bright, highly satisfied smile on his handsome face, and after respectfully shaking the director's warm hand, he happily left the quiet office with a massive, heavy burden totally lifted off his proud shoulders.

On his long, quiet walk down the wide hallways of the training facility, William was thinking very deeply on having a professional sports agent, so that the heavy stress of finding a brand new team could easily ease a bit.

He quickly realized that dealing with greedy club directors and searching for the absolute perfect starting position was simply way too much difficult work for a young boy to handle all alone.

He desperately needed a smart representative who knew the complicated business of football perfectly well. As he finally stepped out of the heavy iron front gates of Cobham, the loud reporters were actually still hanging around the busy street, desperately wanting to know exactly why he was at Cobham today after his viral retirement news.

They quickly rushed toward him once again with their bright cameras, loudly shouting curious questions about his secret meeting, but William just smiled brightly, and his only confident reply was,

"You will all know very soon."

He did not say another single word to the confused journalists, quickly jumping into a waiting yellow taxi and happily heading straight back to his peaceful apartment, which immediately made the eager reporters more curious to know exactly what he really means.

When William finally got home and securely locked his wooden front door, he immediately dropped his jacket, grabbed his mobile phone, and comfortably sat on his soft living room couch, because he wanted to quickly begin his search for the perfect representative.

He specifically searched the internet for a very young agent who was incredibly hungry for massive success, but who also actually knows the difficult football profession very well, because he wanted someone who would truly fight for him exactly like a fiercely loyal brother.

After scrolling carefully through many different sports agency profiles for a long time, he finally found a highly rated, smart young man named Leon. William quickly found Leon's direct contact number on his neat professional website, took a very deep breath to calm his nerves, and he politely sent him a long text message to properly introduce himself, heavily explaining his current situation and gently asking for his professional services.

Leon was incredibly shocked to randomly receive a direct message from the famous William, but he replied very quickly and highly professionally, and they immediately jumped into a long, serious chat on the phone, actively agreeing on a deal to quickly work together.

Leon's voice sounded very energetic through the phone speaker, and he quickly told William,

"I am a very huge fan of your magical playing style, and I know exactly how to easily get you a perfect club where you will be a guaranteed regular starter, but we deeply need to properly bargain and clearly set our strict business terms first."

William truly liked the young agent's honest approach, so he replied very calmly, saying,

"I am very glad to hear that, Leon, but since I am currently starting my career all over again, I deeply need to clearly know exactly what your agent percentage fee will be."

Leon cleared his throat softly and carefully explained the business side of things, confidently saying,

"Normally, for top-level talents like you, the standard agency fee is around ten percent of your total weekly wages, plus a nice bonus from the final signing fee. This is heavily required because I will personally do all the hard legal work and aggressively negotiate with the rich clubs on your behalf."

William thought very deeply about that high number for a quick second, and because he wanted to be very smart with his hard-earned money, he smartly used a gentle but very firm tone to skillfully bargain the huge deal down.

"Ten percent is just a little bit too high for me right now, Leon, especially since I am just trying to quickly revive my career," William explained honestly. "So, how about we firmly agree on a flat seven percent of my weekly wages, and I will gladly give you a much larger bonus if you specifically find a club that happily promises me a permanent starting spot?"

Leon laughed warmly on the phone, clearly impressed by the young footballer's sharp, confident negotiation skills, and he happily replied,

"You are a very tough, incredibly smart negotiator, William, but because I strongly believe in your amazing talent, I will happily accept the seven percent deal."

To make absolutely sure everything was perfectly clear between them, William quickly added another very important condition to their brand new partnership, firmly saying,

"Also, Leon, you must always promise to tell me the absolute truth, completely hiding nothing from me, and you must firmly reject any team that only wants to keep me rotting on their bench."

Leon agreed completely and passionately to those strict terms, highly promising William that he would search the entire football market day and night to easily find the absolute best, most respectful club that perfectly matched William's grand ambitions.

After the wonderful, highly successful agreement was finally officially concluded, they chatted nicely for a long time, heavily planning their next big moves to alert the open transfer market, and William happily ended the long phone call.

He felt an amazing, bright wave of total peace and extreme excitement flow through his warm veins, heavily leaning back against his soft pillows, because he was highly ready to start training fiercely for the new season.

But just as he placed the phone down on the glass table, a loud, sharp notification sound suddenly rang out in the quiet room, completely shattering the peaceful silence.

A piece of breaking sports news suddenly popped up brightly on William's glowing phone screen, displaying a highly shocking, bold headline that instantly made his tired eyes widen in pure, absolute disbelief, and a brand new wave of intense suspense quickly filled his beating heart.