The Little Prince of the Field - Chapter 23

“It’s not that serious.”

After the field trip, I was on my way to the house of Uncle Bari, who invited me for dinner.

He was steering the wheel with a kind smile on his face. 

It’s not that I’m crazy, it’s just that I don’t like it when I have something in my heart and talk as if there is nothing.

“I just got anxious. It’s a good thing for you.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I was going to tell you over dinner later. I had a lot of good suggestions to the point where Miguel lost his patience.”

“You said you didn’t like it before.”

“Yes. It was then.”

Uncle Bari laughs cheerfully, but I can’t laugh. 

The unpleasantness lingered in my mind for too long to act as if nothing happened. 

The conversation was naturally cut off as I was only looking at the pier outside the car window next to the beach road. 

Uncle Bari waits for my feelings to subside without trying to talk to me. 

This is what I like about Uncle Bari. 

He doesn’t rush.  

He gave me enough time to let me return to my good mood when I felt bad. 

We were respectful of each other. 

Three minutes after entering the alley, a white apartment comes into view.

Uncle Bari lives in a neighborhood not far from our house.

He liked the 12-story high residence, which had no opponents in the neighborhood.

It’s perfect except for the fact that the security is not very good. 

There are events held at Insula Park right next to the apartment, which uncle Bari used to say was good. 

It was a word that my father, who is a silent sleeper, would never understand. 

“The parking area is full.”

In a narrow alley near the apartment, Uncle’s car moved around looking for a place to park. 

The Canary Islands have no underground parking lots, so local residents usually have to search for vacant places along the streets which were marked with dotted lines in the evening. 

Before long, Uncle found an empty lot near the corner of the building. 

“I have to park here.”

Putting the back wheel on the edge of the crosswalk, I took the luggage out of the trunk and went up to the apartment. 

Huge apartments are good because they have lifts. 

There were times when things were taken for granted in Korea, which sometimes felt special here.

“Wait a minute. I’ll cook for you right away.”

“yes.”

Soon the house got taken over by the savory smell of caramel. 

It’s obviously maple syrup.

“Take one bite. Aren’t you going to eat again anyway?”

“Not in the evening.”

“If you don’t eat now, you will regret it. It’s a real exhaust that I brought directly from Canada.” 

“Are you bragging about the grade again?” 

“Kim, it’s an insult to just eat it without saying that it was rated AA. You can’t even find it here. It’s a Canadian treasure that doesn’t even get exported.”

Uncle complained that I didn’t understand its true value, but half of it was a joke. 

He’ll probably pack some maple syrup for my dad on the way home.

After a while, the food was brought to the table one by one. 

Light Caesar salad, steak, and cod dishes topped with yellow sauce.

“The dessert is a blueberry canapes.”

“It looks delicious.”

Humans are so cunning and fragile!! 

The cod meat pushed out by the knife and the sauce that danced in the mouth was so good, that the faint anger that remained, quickly disappeared, leaving no trace. 

Was my will so weak?

Stuffed with satiety, I almost forgave the owner of Las Palmas. 

I have to pull myself together. 

I can forgive him, however, it was impossible to forgive all at once. 

Moreover, as I was sipping chamomile tea, everything in the world felt meaningless, except for soccer and my anger towards the owner.

“It was good, right?” 

“Yes. thank you for the food.” 

Uncle Bari was a great cook. 

He took the beer out of the cupboard and drank it instead of tea since uncle Bari liked beer more than tea.

“Now let’s talk about business, shall we?”” 

“Okay.” 

In the drowsy atmosphere, under the orange light, the serious talk was about to begin.

Uncle said that he received a lot of good offers. 

Uncle Bari was an intuitive person.

If he said ‘it’s a good offer’, then it has to be a great offer.

“Three teams from England, four from Spain.”

“Is it official team?”

“Yes.”

That’s too many. 

Considering my indecisiveness, it doesn’t seem like a good thing.

“From England, the best offer is from Manchester City. They offered a guaranteed play option. 15 games of the season. Since it’s a professional contract, the weekly wage is 20 times higher than the current one, so there’s nothing wrong with that. Everton and West Ham are also relatively short, but their offers are not a bad one either.” 

I listened to uncle Bari’s words while fiddling with the mug. 

“From Spain, Barcelona, ​​Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, Via Real.”

“It sounds good.” 

“Yes. But, as you know, Spain cannot sign a professional contract before the age of 18 according to EU rules. You are going to get paid more than double the weekly salary, but you are still in a youth group.”

“England is in the same EU, but the rules are different, don’t you think?”

“It’s okay. Since they might soon be coming out of the EU, right?”

Uncle’s words were so funny that I couldn’t help laughing. 

The person who threw the words, whether they were joking or serious, shrugged his shoulders and continued to talk as if nothing was wrong. 

“Instead, The offer from England is a little tricky. Work visa.…..”

Uncle Bari stood up and folded his fingers one by one. 

“They need a certain guarantee or transfer has to exceed a certain amount, and it’s not easy.” 

Uncle Bari sips the Beer and then takes the macadamia out of the glass jar on the table and chews. 

“In the Premier League, if you don’t have experience of being in the national team, you will be judged. No matter which team you go to, your salary must be within 75% of the league as a whole, and your position in the current team is also important. The problem is that Las Palmas doesn’t even have a first-division, and there’s no record of European competitions. Then, the judging is halfway through the water, so you won’t get any guarantee, and unlike Spain, England needs you to get it from a really influential person.”

A blush rose on the cheeks of Uncle who was pouring out words without stopping. 

Maybe because of the lamp that was spitting out orange light, it looked red.

“Then is this the end?” 

“Haha, no.. no. There are many cases where a visa application is rejected after signing a contract. If that happens… you’ll be thrown out of the main leagues on loan in a hurry.”

“Where?”

“If it’s a city, Belgium. Everton or West Ham were good too. British clubs prefer to sign contacts with clubs with which they have agreements.”

“You said Manchester City would give guaranteed appearance.”

“What’s the use if you don’t get a visa? They will just replace you with a penalty.”

“……”

“It’s terrible, isn’t it? But it’s undeniable that it’s an attractive offer. As long as you take risks, you can get a lot of money. It’s 20 times bigger. It is not a small amount of money.”

England is out… 

Hmmm, I thought I shouldn’t go.

Rewards are insignificant for taking risks. 

Just because you earn less than others doesn’t mean you’re lacking. 

My dad works, and I’m also making a money. 

One day, earning a lot of money may be the reason for the transfer, but not yet, I didn’t find the offer attractive.

“What do you think?”

“I have to listen to my dad’s opinion, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s that good. I’m sorry for telling you like this.”

“What are you talking about? It’s all something you need to know. Just think about it a little more. They’re clubs that are so good that it’s hard to say which one is better.” 

“Yes.”

“Let’s go back to Spain.”

Uncle Bari said about the all four clubs, like Pedri, they want a loan from Las Palmas. Short term: 6 months, in the long term it’s 1 year and a half, 

“Barcelona is the only one who asks for a year and a half, and when you turn 18, you will return on release and offer a professional contract based on your results.” 

“It’s cold.”

“What can we do about it? That’s the reality.” 

Uncle smirks and scratches his head. 

Uncle said that the La Liga team’s offer was to put on hold until the winter transfer window, saying that there is no rush as it is an offer that includes a release clause.

“Oh, I should also tell you the story of Miguel’s anger. I came out of the restaurant last week after finishing the conversation with the officials, and I got a call as if he knew about the meeting.” 

Uncle laughs haphazardly, saying it would be strange if he didn’t know since all the contract managers of each team showed up on this small island.

“I went to the club’s office the next day, and Miguel Alonso, the old man, came first and was waiting, and he said he wanted to renew the contract with you. Since it’s been less than a year since you signed an extension.” 

“So?”

“I said there’s no need to think much about it for now. So there is no need to be in a hurry. He said, ‘Let’s put a professional contract as an option and add a one-and-a-half-year extension’.”

It felt absurd even for me, who had no professional knowledge about contracts.

No matter how urgent it was, they’re making their intentions so transparent. 

Uncle Bari deserved to get angry. 

“There are such idiots in the world. hahaha, I thought of that. They make up and talk about it, but in the end, they’re saying they want to sell you at a high price after signing a professional contract. He worked very hard to make me agree, but I refused in the end.” 

“Then he shouted?”

“Right, it happened because he couldn’t control his anger. You’re making such an excellent result that the transfer fee that he can get from the other team during the renewal of the deadline will be huge. He yelled at me, saying I’m too greedy while turning a blind eye to his own greed.” 

When I saw Uncle’s expression, I understood a little. 

It was really not a big deal, so there was no emotional agitation on his face. 

It wasn’t even worth being angry. 

When Uncle Bari’s calmness moved my heart, the anger towards the owner completely subsided.

But the mind gets complicated on the contrary. 

It seemed too risky to go to England, and the Spanish First Club’s offer did not appear to be on a great level. 

Honestly, I don’t know what’s good. 

“Then why don’t we renew it as Miguel said? He raised my weekly wage a lot. I’m sure it’s the same as playing for Las Palmas on a release.” 

“No, renewing a contract with Las Palmas is a lot different from returning to after the transfer. As soon as you sign with one of the teams I mentioned earlier, you are 99 percent first-division player from next season. Barcelona may be a little different.” 

“Well, that’s right.”

“On the contrary, Las Palmas is a club that sells promising players. It’s less likely to go up to the first division and even if it did, it is less likely to survive. Let’s say you renew your contract and switch to a contract that runs three years from now, the first division teams don’t fall apart. Not only do I know that Las Palmas is a club that sells young talent, but I also know that Las Palmas wants to get a bigger transfer fee through the extended contract period.”

Uncle Bari looked at my head with a sharp eye and snorted.

“Is your head getting complicated again?”

“…….I don’t want to say anything.”

“I have to talk about calling up the under-20 national team, but let’s quit here. I don’t want to see you having a stomach upset after dinner.”

Maybe it’s because he’s more mature than me, he has amazing insight. 

But for me, this whole issue was a pain in the ass.