Contract Trouble
Omari's turned on his bed. His eyes that were closed opened all of a sudden. He heaved a sigh. It was a hard thing to hear, what Michael told him, especially for someone that was just sixteen years old.
What Michael said meant that the club viewed him as a commodity, a material that can only be useful when he brought profit to them.
He thought he was doing himself a favor, he thought he was doing the club a favor by playing to the best of his ability, he didn't know that he was gradually digging his own grave. It was either he didn't play well enough to be on the radar of big teams or he tied himself down to a second tier team for a long time.
Any teenager in his shoes wouldn't have a peaceful sleep either. There were so many things that his one decision could risk.
After a lot of thought, Omari decided that it wouldn't be so bad to play for the championship for a little bit more time. He wanted to be the best in the world, patience was one of the virtues that was needed.
When he reached that conclusion, he realized that playing for Middlesbrough a little longer wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was in some ways preferable to signing for big teams in his career.
Over here at Middlesbrough, Michael saw a talent he fancied at the under eighteens and kept him in the matchday squad. Due to injuries, he went as far as handing him a start in the league cup game. After that, he made appearances off the bench in which he impacted the matches positively.
At big clubs, it's very rare for sixteen year old players to be given the kind of opportunity that Omari had to showcase his talent. Truth be told, Omari didn't feel like he was qualified to play premier league matches. The players were bigger, faster and stronger than those he was playing against here. It took one bad tackle from a full back to make him scared of taking him on one on one, imagine what the English League or other top flight competitions had for him.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Right when Omari felt at ease and was about to fall asleep again, the sound of his alarm reverberated in his room.
"Fucking hell" He muttered under his breath. "It looks like sleep has to sign me next transfer window" He chuckled to himself.
He groggily stood up and went to have his bath, after which he wore his clothes and went to the training ground.
The disciplinary seminar lasted for two hours. Omari and other young players stayed behind for some minutes as Michael was advising them about their careers.
He didn't say anything much, he talked about their attitudes with the senior players, how important their relationship with the manager was and other things in that area.
"Omari, David, please wait" Michael called the both of them back.
"What's the matter" Omari asked. He stifled a yawn that threatened to come out of his mouth along with the question.
"The club has prepared a draft for the new contract that they are preparing to offer the both of you" Michael said. There are all sorts of clauses there, along with the wages and other basic agreements. The both of you are supposed to go through it before it is printed and pen is put to paper"
"What if we don't understand some things?" David said. He already didn't understand half of what Michael told him.
"That's why you need an agent" Michael said. "Anyways, the club said that you're supposed to get back to them before the end of the month"
"Alright, thanks" Omari said with a polite smile. Without so much as another word, he turned around and walked out of the training ground.
…
School was a breeze for Omari, or rather it felt that way, he wouldn't know. He sort of drifted through everything. His mind was filled up with thoughts about the new contract he was offered. He was still trying to decide whether or not he would sign the conract.
After spending the entire day thinking about it, he decided to ask his parents when he got home.
Unfortunately for him, neither of them were at home when he got the email from Michael. He read through it by himself, skipped the parts he didn't understand and settled on the fact that it was a good contract.
"Five thousand pounds a week, it's a big small but I'm sure we could manage that" Omari muttered under his breath. "Fifty million pound release clause effective in the winter, wow, it seems the club rates me highly. Huh? Travelling allowance? I never knew about that"
After spending a couple of hours with the contract, Omari decided that he was quite satisfied with what he read.
"Fuck what Michael was saying about needing an agent" Omari had a cocky smile on his face, "I could do this all on my own"
A few seconds after saying those words, the smile on his face faded. "I better get mum and dad to call some of their lawyers to inspect the parts I don't understand" He said to himself.
He closed the email and stared at the heaps and piles of homework staring back at him on his desk. He heaved a dejected sigh. "This is going to be a long night" He muttered under his breath.
A/N: Extra chapter coming in today to make up for the crappy update schedule. We could have three if United win against City later today.
Also really want to apologize for this chapter. I know it isn't my bets work. I tried rewriting it to something better, one of the reasons it took so much time to be ready.