278 Agent Part 1 (1/2)

Chapter 278: Agent Part 1

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

George Wood's value of ”two trillion” was only a way to indicate that Wood was not for sale. While Wood himself may never be able to reach such a status in his lifetime, it clarified his current position in the team from another angle. Chelsea's reported offer of ten million for the rookie player caused some to see an opportunity for profit.

Before George Wood became famous, other than the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) kindly asking him if he needed them to represent him for a variety of his contractual discussions, no other professional agent had approached him. With the world soccer scene constantly producing innumerable new professional footballers, there would not be enough agents to go around if every player was approached.

There was only a total of 170 professional football agents in England. In Europe, this was already the highest number of agents. Even so, not every professional player had an agent; that included George Wood. When Wood first signed on with Forest, there were no negotiations involved. He had also known nothing about the standard procedure. The club gave him a contract that he read through. He felt satisfied with it, and so he signed it.

It was that simple. Making use of Wood's ignorance, Forest team successfully got him to sign a contract that seemed extraordinarily worthwhile in hindsight.

It was not that Tang En had never considered finding an agent to take care of George Wood, help him manage his finances, and earn more money; but getting an agent was a double-edged sword. There were both pros and cons.

If the rules had permitted managers to also be players' agents, Tang En believed that 99 percent of the world's managers would fight tooth and nail to become exactly that for their players. This would give the managers a firm hold over them; something that every manager wished for. In this manner, they would not be bothered by the problems that came with signing contracts, renewing contracts, or raising salaries.

Unfortunately, that was not allowed.

Tang En hoped George Wood would be able to find an outstanding agent; one who did not simply excel at his work but was of an even greater character. Someone who would not quarrel with Tang En every two or three days to make presumptuous demands or make threats of Wood's transferral in demanding for a higher salary.

But such an agent was as rare as a world heritage.

Several footballers who became famous when they were young all but wasted their talents between frequent transfers and running counter to their clubs. And that was simply because they could not find a good agent. Such players were not in the minority; an example was the former forward for the France National Team, Nicolas Anelka, who was once hailed as a ”child prodigy.”

Tang En did not wish for George Wood to get involved with such agents. Unfortunately, in Tang En's position as Forest's manager, he had no right to help his players choose their agent. That would incur unnecessary trouble and jealous speculations. Whenever it involved a conflict of interests, the manager needed to stay away from it.

He knew that more and more people had approached Wood in hopes of becoming his agent. Just like flies which had spotted a butter cake, they were clamoring around Wood, buzzing.

Perhaps he should give Wood some suggestions… It was not against the rules for the manager to give some suggestions, right?

※※※

After training ended with the players having showered and changed in the locker room, everyone got ready to return home. The leaving players saw Tang En standing outside the locker room and thought it a little strange, but still greeted and said their goodbyes to him. Tang En responded to them but made no move to stop and speak to anyone; clearly, it was not them he was waiting for.

George Wood was the last person to emerge from the locker room; he had been the last to enter. After he exited, Tang En called out to him, ”George, have you met with any trouble recently?”

Wood shook his head, thinking it was odd for Tang En to ask such a question.

”Uh, I mean, have there recently been lots of people calling themselves agents looking for you?”

This time, Wood nodded. ”Yes. But not a lot.”

Tang En did not know if Wood's and his idea of ”many” were the same, but that was not the issue at hand. He gently nodded and continued. ”What do you think about it? What do you think of those agents?”

”I don't know. They told me many things, but I have no interest in them.”

”What are you interested in?”

”Playing soccer.”

Tang En laughed. It seemed like this lad had become fond of the game. Even so, Tang En needed to correct Wood's archaic view of the world.