Condition

In a quiet cafe in Rome, John and Michael were waiting. Michael wasn't very enthusiastic because he wasn't too high on the prospect of this new manager candidate. But John was unwavering in his confidence about him. After analyzing a bit, Michael did find that he could be successful in future, but he still wasn't sure about his appointment right now.

"Are you still worried?" John asked Michael while waiting.

"No, but I couldn't figure out how are you so sure about this." Michael replied John while checking his watch. They had arrived in Italy without taking an appointment. So they had to wait till the next day.

'We still have 20 minutes before the appointed time.' Michael thought while looking at the time.

"Well, he was a great player in his playing days. He has played at the very top level and midfielders have a great track record as managers." John said to Michael while sipping on the coffee.

"And even though Arrezzo were relegated to Serie C, the team produced very good performances since he was appointed as a manager again. They picked up 19 points from seven games. He almost led them to safety." John continued while Michael listened intently.

Michael used to work as an analyst before he landed this job. So while he was great at spotting players, in other areas he was still learning. And with Jurgen Klopp, John already showed that he wasn't messing around. So he just went with whatever John said. Even if the signing didn't quite pan out, it will still be a great learning experience. And above all of it, John was his boss and had the power to make decisions.

As Michael's gaze fell at the door, he felt excited like a kid. Even though he worked at Portsmouth, he didn't interact with players that much. And seeing one of the greats still made him exhilarated.

Antonio Conte entered the cafe sporting a blue suit. With his serious face, he exuded a totally different aura compared to approachable Jurgen Klopp.

"Hello, Mr. Conte. I'm John Baker. This is Leicester's Sporting Director Michael Edwards." John said as he introduced them.

"Hello" Antonio Conte replied.

As he shook hands with Antonio Conte, Michael couldn't help as a wide smile appeared on his face. Michael then felt stupid as he saw John with a serious face. He didn't know how John did it. He was even more excited than him but now he had a stoic face.

Michael sat down along with them as the discussion started. Michael wasn't going to participate in the discussion. He was on this trip with John to learn. Even though he wasn't sure that learning from John was a good idea, but that was the only choice he had.

After exchanging some rather useless sentences, acc. to Michael at least, John finally came to point as he said, "Mr. Conte, we are here to offer you the position of Leicester manager. Before you decide, hear me out first."

"We watched the last few matches of Arezzo and we were impressed by your ability as a manager. We have a budget of 10 million pounds that we will be willing to spend this summer to reach our goals. You will receive our full support at the club to take the club forward. We are willing to offer you a contract with 1 million pounds annual salary should you decide to come to Leicester." John tried to make the best case to convince the Juventus great.

"To be honest, I was leaning towards staying in Italy to learn further but your offer does have merit." Conte said while thinking.

"I am ready to accept if you are willing to meet some of my conditions." Conte finally said after taking his time.

"What is it? If it's regarding transfer budget, we can talk about it." John said somewhat uneasily.

"No, it isn't regarding the budget." Conte assured John.

"My first condition is that the club management won't interfere with the squad selection and decisions related to tactics." Conte said to John in a confident tone.

"Of course, that is a given." John said in a relieved voice.

"And my second condition is that all transfer decisions will be made by me." Conte demanded further.

"That isn't possible" John replied in a resolved tone.

"Then there's no deal" Conte replied almost immediately.

"We can work together on transfers. We will take your wishes into consideration and will try to get the type of the player you want." John attempted to convince him to reconsider.

"I'm sorry Mr. Baker, but those are my conditions. I was thinking of staying in Italy anyways. My family lives here and I don't want them to move as we are quite happy here." Conte said to John.

"Then there can be no deal, sorry Mr. Conte" John said in a resolved voice.

Michael felt somewhat relieved. Player transfer was his expertise and he was planning to show his worth, but if right to transfers were given to the manager, he will become redundant.

As they left the cafe, Michael asked John who was slightly gloomy, "So, now what? Back to England?"

"No, I told you we won't go back until we find a manager." John replied to Michael.

At this, Michael just nodded and gave a knowing smile. After working with him, Michael knew that John may not be many things, but he was quite stubborn.

"Michael, one day I will take Leicester to such heights that every manager will want to work for us." John said while looking at sky. It looked like he had taken this rejection quite harshly.

"And I hope I would be there to see it." Michael replied with a dreaming look on his face too.