"Barcelona... Real Madrid..."
Shane Carter muttered the names of the two Spanish giants his agent had just suggested. He slowly shook his head.
"Even if I do transfer, I have no desire to stay in La Liga," he stated firmly.
Jorge Mendes nodded in understanding.
"Then the only realistic options are in the Premier League. Manchester United, Manchester City, or Chelsea," Mendes concluded. "These are the only clubs capable of offering the absolute top-tier wages you command."
Shane considered it for a moment. He honestly didn't have a strong personal preference at this stage.
"Let's put all talks on hold until after the Champions League final," Shane replied. "Once the season is officially over, I am willing to listen to what these clubs have to say."
It was a seller's market, and Shane held all the leverage. Mendes nodded again, fully agreeing with the strategy, and smoothly transitioned the conversation to Shane's off-season schedule.
"I still have the Confederations Cup to play in this summer," Shane noted, a brief flash of intense ambition crossing his eyes. "And next year... I am absolutely going to win the World Cup."
In truth, Shane didn't care much about the financial aspects of a mega-transfer. It wasn't that money was unimportant to him, but rather that he simply wasn't driven by an insatiable desire to accumulate it. This mindset was largely due to his upbringing.
While his family wasn't obscenely wealthy, their household income placed them comfortably within the top 10% globally. They were significantly better off than the average middle-class family. Growing up, Shane had never once had to worry about money.
Now, even though he was earning substantially more than his parents ever did, his spending habits hadn't changed. The vast majority of his income was handed straight to wealth management firms for investment.
When it came to personal consumption, his desires were incredibly minimal. Since his family home was right here in Madrid, he hadn't bothered to buy a mansion. After training, he just went home.
He was legally old enough to get his driver's license now, but between the brutal training schedules and endless matches, he simply hadn't found the time. Consequently, he hadn't bought any exotic supercars either. He still rode a bicycle to the training ground every day.
He was currently single, which meant he had zero expenses in that department as well. Of course, his Instagram and Twitter DMs were flooded daily with uncensored photos from Instagram models and influencers throwing themselves at him. But Shane had absolutely no interest in women who approached him with such blatant, predatory motives.
At his core, despite his terrifying on-pitch persona, he was still just a young man who had grown up in a safe, deeply protected environment. Outside of football, his life consisted of playing video games, cycling, and hiking. He had absolutely zero interest in the vibrant, scandalous "nightlife" that ruined so many young athletes. If he wasn't home by midnight, his mother would undoubtedly start spamming his phone with frantic calls.
Furthermore, Shane's current income was already staggering. Factoring in his salary and commercial endorsements, he was clearing nearly forty million euros a year. And he had only been playing professional first-team football for a season and a half.
It was a guaranteed fact that his earnings would continue to skyrocket in the future. Once you reached that level of wealth, an increase in income was just a change in digital numbers.
What Shane truly pursued was footballing immortality. He craved absolute competitive success. Therefore, selecting his next club required extreme caution.
For any elite superstar, the importance of careful career planning could not be overstated.
Take Ronaldo—the Brazilian "Fenômeno"—for example. His pure individual talent was arguably unmatched in the history of the sport. Yet, his club trophy cabinet was shockingly bare. The primary reason for this was his abysmal career planning.
As a generational superstar, he managed to play for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Inter Milan and AC Milan. Playing for both halves of the two fiercest rivalries in world football made it incredibly difficult to believe that Ronaldo had any coherent, long-term plan for his career.
His transfer choices were even more baffling. In 1997, at the absolute peak of his powers, he left Barcelona to join Inter Milan. At the time, Inter was notorious as a superstar black hole. Their squad was horribly unbalanced, offering virtually no midfield support to their attackers. It was remarkably similar to the chaotic state of Manchester United in the mid-2020s. How could a team built like that possibly compete for major titles?
The result was painfully predictable. In five seasons at Inter Milan, Ronaldo failed to win a single league title.
It was perfectly understandable that he eventually wanted to leave. But then, he chose to join Real Madrid's "Galácticos" project—a squad that was somehow even more unbalanced than Inter's. Fortunately, Real Madrid simply had so much overwhelming individual talent that they eventually managed to win La Liga. It was the only top-five European league title Ronaldo ever won in his entire career.
Given his terrifying individual ability, if Ronaldo had possessed a calm, rational career plan, his club honors would never have been so scarce.
Unfortunately, many South American stars suffered from a complete lack of career planning. It was often a tragic byproduct of their environment. Many of Brazil's greatest players clawed their way out of gang-controlled favelas. Lacking formal education, they were incredibly susceptible to manipulation by predatory agents.
Some agents, desperate to constantly farm massive transfer commissions, would actively brainwash their clients into switching clubs every few years. Whether the new club actually suited the player's tactical needs or career development was entirely irrelevant to them.
If the club was a bad fit? Even better. That just meant they could engineer another lucrative transfer in a year or two.
…
Since the La Liga title had already been decided, the final round of the season was entirely focused on the relegation battle.
However, none of that concerned Atlético Madrid.
In their final fixture, they traveled away to face Real Zaragoza. Zaragoza were safely mid-table with nothing to play for. Atlético had already secured the championship.
With the pressure entirely off, both teams played incredibly open, expansive football. It turned into a spectacular shootout.
The final score was 3-4, with the away side taking the victory.
Atlético Madrid scored four goals. Shane Carter recorded a hat-trick. He had genuinely tried to push for a fourth goal to hit the 40-goal milestone for the league season, but unfortunately, he fell just short.
His final La Liga tally for the season stopped at 39 goals.
When the final whistle blew, the 2012-2013 La Liga season officially came to a close.
The broadcast cameras immediately locked onto Shane Carter. The commentators spent the post-match coverage detailing the staggering achievements of his campaign.
"He led his team to the La Liga title and dragged them to the Champions League final. He scored thirty-nine league goals and provided twenty-three assists. He finished second in the race for the Golden Boot, trailing only Messi's forty-four goals, but edging out Cristiano Ronaldo's thirty-eight. In the assist charts, he finished dead first with twenty-three, leaving Messi's sixteen far behind. In the Champions League, he has fourteen goals and eleven assists. Looking at these numbers, it is impossible to question his absolute dominance over the sport this year!"
Mario took a deep, trembling breath as he read the final statistics.
Over in Munich, Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes was staring intensely at his television screen, watching the broadcast focus on Shane.
"Fifty-seven goals and thirty-four assists across all competitions this season..."
Just thinking about those horrifying numbers made Heynckes' scalp tingle with anxiety.
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