Chapter 72: Waiting
In the end, Tristan was not selected for the Spanish national team. Camacho's decisions sparked widespread controversy. In the forward position, aside from Raúl and Urces, he excluded Morientes, whose performance had been slightly below par this season, and Tristan, who had been outstanding. Instead, he called up Alfonso, a striker from the relegated Betis, to the national team. The only player from Mallorca to make the squad was captain N'Gonga, likely because they wanted to make N'Gonga's career complete. As the first and only Black player in Spain's history, it seemed a bit out of place that he hadn't participated in a major international tournament.
Tristan was deeply disappointed by this, to the point of thinking, "I wasn't selected because I'm not in a top club." After all, only two Spanish players were in the top six of the La Liga scoring chart—himself and Salvador, who played for Santander. Salvador wasn't selected either...
As news about the transfer market started to flood in, Santos publicly stated his interest in Tristan. Teams like Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña also expressed their desire to bring him in.
Alemany, in an interview, declared that Tristan was a non-transferable player, but everyone knew that for Mallorca, there were no such things as non-transferable players.
"They want to sell Tristan to fill the deficit?" Upon hearing his father's words, José didn't seem particularly surprised.
"Exactly. Tristan is now Mallorca's most valuable player. Right now, they aren't selling anyone; they're just waiting for the new head coach to take charge. Those guys don't want a deficit that they have to cover from their own pockets. To balance the books, the only way is to sell players," Alemany shook his head.
"Can't blame them. It's not that they're short-sighted; they just don't want to pay out of their own pockets," José shrugged. "The club might be theirs, but it's not owned by just one person... If it were, they'd find a way to improve the club, making their assets grow. But with so many shareholders, who wants to lose out? So, they'll just try to take as much as they can."
"Exactly," Alemany nodded. "Son, if you really manage to get 60% of the Asensio family's shares, you'll face the same situation. You can't be the one always paying, right?"
"If I have to pay, so be it. After all, they'll have to contribute proportionally. I'll have the controlling shares, I'll call the shots. They won't be able to do anything. I don't care about maintaining a friendly relationship. If they want to add transfers, they'll pay their share. Want new facilities? They'll contribute accordingly. If they don't, they'll need to fill in with their shares. If they refuse, I'll get the courts involved. It's even easier if they just pay—then they won't get dividends. I'll use all the dividends for facilities or to build a new stadium. That way, they'll have to cough up all their shares."