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The Football Dynasty

A broke man. A football fan. What will he do when transmigrated to past? Armed with the knowledge of the future, follow John on his journey to create the greatest football dynasty.

Serialeater · sport
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51 Chs
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Coach

"I was very surprised when Leicester contacted me." said the man sporting a neatly trimmed grey goatee, "I even thought one of my friends at the bank was pulling a prank but his English isn't that good."

John smiled at that along with the easygoing old man sipping at his coffee leisurely. If John didn't know about him, he would assume that he was just in his mid-forties instead of 52 due to his energy.

"It was really unexpected though, Mr. Baker." the old man said to John.

"Just call me John, Mr. Vio." John said.

"You should also drop that and just call me Gianni."

"Alright." John replied.

John had left for Italy immediately after signing Medhi Benatia. There were some difficulties in the negotiation with Benatia but they had agreed to sign for Leicester in the end. After that John flew to Venice right away.

"So, what do you think about our offer?" John asked.

"There's nothing to think about it. Football has been my passion ever since I can remember. Even at the work, I would be thinking of the ways a team could score from set pieces. I have been working as an assistant coach in lower leagues after getting my coaching license, waiting for a chance at the higher level. So, I would have accepted it even if it was a short term contract, but you are giving me a five year contract, so of course I am going to accept it." Gianni said with glint in his eyes.

John had offered a contract with a salary of 100,000 pounds annually to hire Gianni Vio as Leicester's set piece coach. Leicester would be the first club to employ a set piece coach, but John knew they wouldn't be the last. In professional football, where clubs are fighting for every little advantage they could gain, having a set piece coach provides a special advantage to a team over other clubs without one. That's why John had decided to give a five year contract from the get go, so other teams will have a hard time to prise him away from Leicester.

John knew that even with all the players he signed, this signing will probably be the most revolutionary for Leicester. Gianni's ability in creating chances from set pieces were top class. Even after set piece coaches would be present in every team's corner, he still would be the very best. John remembered that Roberto Mancini hired him before Euro 2020 and he helped Azzurri very much on their way to win it all.

"So, this book brought you here, huh?" Gianni said while looking fondly at the book titled That Extra 30 Per Cent like it was his own child.

This was the work that led Walter Zenga to hire him as his assistant during his time as the manager of Serie A club Catania in 2008 in John's previous life. He would then go on to work for Leeds United, Brentford and A.C. Milan. The book was inspired by his experiences during his time at Serie D outfit ll Quinto de Treviso.

"Yes, this book brought you to our attention, but we also scouted the work you have done in the lower leagues in Italy." John said to Gianni,"We were impressed by what we saw."

Even though John knew that in future, Gianni will become a top class set piece coach, he was very surprised when he found out that he had already been doing excellent work on set pieces in the lower leagues in Italy.

He was surprised that no one from the Serie A or Serie B thought about hiring him. Though that was probably a set piece coach wasn't a thing until now and Gianni wasn't very talented in other aspects of managing. Anyways, it was a good thing for John.

"After that, we discussed it with the new manager of the club, Mr. Diego Simeone and he thought it would be a good idea." John said

Set pieces were a very important part of Simeone's tactics. Throughout Simeone's career as a manager, he would rely on set pieces to create scoring chances for his team. That's why, even though a set piece coach was a new thing proposed by John to Simeone, he saw merit in the idea and accepted it.

Simeone's only goal was winning and he was willing to do anything to achieve it. It could be seen in his playing style during his time as a player and his managing style was very similar too. If something gave an advantage to his team, he would embrace it immediately.

"I never thought I would be working with Mr. Simeone." Gianni said to John, "I am very grateful for this opportunity."

Simeone was a legend in Italy. He had won the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan and Scudetto with Lazio. He also took Lazio to win Coppa Italia. He was regarded as one of the best at his position.

"We are very thrilled to work with you too." John said as he took out the contract he had already prepared, "Let's make it official then"

Gianni signed the contract right there. He didn't have to think about it. Football was his passion and he knew he could be very good in the new role he was offered. He knew his limitations as a manager, but he was very confident in his abilities at set pieces.

"Congratulations, Gianni, you are the first set piece coach in the history of football." John said as Gianni finished signing the contract.

Thanks to your comments, I tried something different in this chapter. Tell me how it is.

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