CHAPTER 50 — THE LAST NAME
**Dortmund / Gothenburg — October 1992**
He went to Dortmund first.
The logic was simple — Povlsen had been on the list longest, the introduction had been made in June, and leaving the last name on the second column uncircled for another month felt like the kind of procrastination that served nobody. Blomqvist could wait three days. Povlsen had been waiting six months.
The train from Copenhagen to Dortmund took seven hours with the Hamburg connection — long enough to read Astrid's updated Povlsen brief, Rasmus's current scouting report, and a German football magazine that had a two-page feature on Borussia Dortmund's season which Mikkel read with the focused attention of someone extracting intelligence rather than consuming journalism.
Dortmund were having a reasonable season — mid-table Bundesliga, no particular threat of relegation, no realistic title ambitions. The football was functional rather than inspired, the squad decent rather than exceptional. Povlsen was their best attacking player by a significant margin and had been for two seasons, which meant the gap between what he was and what surrounded him was visible every week.
That gap was useful. Players who were clearly better than their environment were easier to move — not because they were unhappy necessarily, but because the argument for the move was self-evident rather than constructed.
---
Kretschmer met him at Dortmund Hauptbahnhof — the German youth coach had apparently decided that attending the meeting was appropriate given that he'd facilitated the introduction, which Mikkel found both slightly unnecessary and entirely understandable. They took a taxi to a restaurant near the Westfalenstadion that Kretschmer had chosen, which was good — neutral ground, familiar to Povlsen, unfamiliar enough to Mikkel to communicate that this wasn't his territory.
Povlsen was already there.
He looked different from the last time Mikkel had seen him — not in any dramatic way, just the specific quality of someone who had processed something over six months and arrived at the other side of it with more certainty than they'd had going in. He was in a jacket rather than training clothes, which felt like a deliberate choice. He shook hands with the direct grip of someone who had decided this conversation was happening and intended to treat it as such.
*"Mr. Trane,"* he said.
*"Flemming,"* Mikkel said. *"Thank you for coming."*
*"I said I would in October,"* Povlsen said. *"It's October."*
They sat. Kretschmer ordered food for all three of them with the ease of a man in his own city, then appeared to decide his role was facilitative rather than participatory and became, for the duration of the actual conversation, essentially furniture. Useful, well-placed furniture, but furniture.
---
Povlsen opened before Mikkel had to.
*"The Müller situation,"* he said. *"It's finished. The contract expired last month. I told the agency I wasn't renewing."*
*"How did they take it?"*
*"Professionally,"* Povlsen said. *"Which surprised me. I'd expected resistance."*
*"Professional agencies accept professional decisions,"* Mikkel said. *"If they made a fuss it would confirm the problem rather than address it."*
*"The undisclosed fee,"* Povlsen said. *"With Dortmund."*
*"Yes."*
*"I confirmed it. Through a player at another club who had the same arrangement with them."* He said it flatly, the tone of someone who had done their research and found what they'd suspected. *"They were taking money from clubs to place players there. Not every placement — but mine specifically, yes."*
*"I'm sorry,"* Mikkel said. *"That's a betrayal of basic representation."*
*"I know,"* Povlsen said. *"Which is why I'm here."*
He pulled up the scout report mentally while Povlsen spoke — the numbers the same as in June, the situation unchanged in terms of football, changed significantly in terms of representation.
---
**⚙ SCOUT REPORT — Flemming Povlsen**
*Position: ST/LW | Nationality: Danish | Age: 26 | Club: Borussia Dortmund*
*Overall: 83 | Potential: 85 | Talent: ⭐⭐⭐⭐*
Dribbling 85, Finishing 82, Pace 84, Off the Ball 83, Vision 77, Composure 81.
*Agent Status: Unrepresented | Contract Expires: Summer 1993 | Wage: DKK 385,000/yr (£37,345 / $61,600)*
*System Note: Povlsen is at his peak. Contract expires summer 1993 — free transfer leverage significant. Premier League profile strong. The conversation about what comes next should have happened a year ago. Make it happen now.*
---
Eighty-three overall. Eighty-five potential. Twenty-six years old at his absolute peak, unrepresented, with a contract expiring in nine months. The leverage was enormous and had been waiting to be used by someone who understood it.
*"Your contract,"* Mikkel said.
*"Summer 1993,"* Povlsen confirmed. *"Nine months."*
*"Dortmund will want to discuss a renewal."*
*"They've already mentioned it. Nothing formal — just a conversation about interest levels."*
*"What did you say?"*
*"That I'd think about it."*
*"Good,"* Mikkel said. *"Don't say more than that until we've had a proper conversation about what the market looks like."*
Povlsen looked at him with the direct assessment that had characterised the brief encounter in Gothenburg in June — the reading of intent before the words arrived. *"What does the market look like?"*
*"Premier League first,"* Mikkel said. *"You have the profile English football responds to — pace, directness, the ability to play wide or centrally. The new television deal means clubs are spending. Your free transfer status means the fee conversation doesn't exist, which simplifies everything."*
*"England,"* Povlsen said.
*"Specifically — Blackburn are building aggressively. Aston Villa want attacking quality. Arsenal have an understanding with the agency about first conversations."* Mikkel paused. *"And there's interest from beyond England — Dutch clubs have been flagged, a Belgian club has enquired. The picture is broad."*
*"What would you target?"*
*"Depends what you want,"* Mikkel said. *"The biggest possible club, the best possible football environment, or the best possible wage?"*
Povlsen thought about it with the seriousness it deserved. *"The best possible football environment,"* he said. *"I'm twenty-six. I have four or five years at the top level. I'd rather spend them somewhere the football is right than somewhere the money is best."*
It was exactly what Mikkel had hoped he'd say. The players who prioritised environment over money were easier to place correctly and more likely to succeed when placed. *"Then Premier League,"* he said. *"Specifically a club that plays football rather than just wins it. Blackburn might be too direct for your profile. Arsenal —"* he paused, thinking about the Dein conversation, the Wenger context, the four-year plan. *"Arsenal could be exactly right."*
*"Arsenal,"* Povlsen said. The word carrying the specific weight of a name that meant something — the marble halls and the history and the red shirts that had been part of English football's furniture for decades.
*"Not immediately,"* Mikkel said. *"They're in a transitional phase. But by summer 1993 the direction will be clearer. I'd want to have the conversation with them in January — give them time to assess properly before the summer window opens."*
*"And the terms?"*
*"Free transfer. Wages I'd target at £3,200 to £3,500 per week. Significantly above what you're earning at Dortmund."*
Povlsen absorbed the figures with the composure of someone for whom the gap between current and market rate was not a surprise but was still, hearing it stated specifically, significant. *"That much above,"* he said.
*"The Premier League has changed the wage landscape,"* Mikkel said. *"Dortmund were paying you at Bundesliga rates. English football is paying at a different rate now."*
*"Same terms as everyone else,"* Povlsen said. Not a question.
*"Fifteen percent of anything I negotiate. Nothing until I earn it."*
*"Fine,"* Povlsen said. He put out his hand. *"Let's sort this properly."*
Mikkel shook it.
Kretschmer, who had been silent for forty minutes and was apparently very good at it, said: *"Good."* Then ate the rest of his dinner.
---
**⚙ SYSTEM UPDATE**
*New Client: Flemming Povlsen (Borussia Dortmund)*
*Contract: 2 years | Commission: 15%*
*Total Active Clients: 16*
*Second Column: COMPLETE — all names signed*
*Total Monthly Commission: DKK 67,153 (£6,513 / $10,744)*
*Net Monthly Position: DKK +10,353 (£1,004 / $1,656)*
*Funds Unchanged: DKK 979,549 (£95,016 / $156,728)*
*Reputation +18 → 969 / 1000*
*System Note: Second column complete. All Euro 92 squad targets represented. Povlsen to Arsenal the logical next move — begin January groundwork. Monthly position strengthening consistently.*
---
He took the overnight train from Dortmund to Hamburg, connecting to Gothenburg by ferry Thursday morning. Long, functional, the specific tiredness of someone covering significant distances in pursuit of things that couldn't be pursued by telephone.
He slept on the train in a way that suggested his body had decided to deal with the tiredness rather than wait for permission.
---
IFK Gothenburg's offices were near the Ullevi — the same stadium where Denmark had won the European Championship three months earlier, which gave the visit a specific quality that Mikkel noted and kept to himself. The city had moved on from the tournament in the way that host cities moved on — the infrastructure returned to normal use, the tournament flags taken down, the whole extraordinary event integrated into the city's memory rather than its present.
The meeting was with a youth development coordinator named **Mats Enquist** — thirties, thoughtful, the manner of a Swede who had learned that measured speech produced better results than fast speech and had been applying the lesson consistently for years. He'd arranged for Blomqvist to be present, which was either a sign that he understood the purpose of the meeting or that the club's approach to player development included transparency about recruitment interest.
Probably both.
Jesper Blomqvist was nineteen and looked it — the specific combination of physical confidence and social awareness that young players carried when they were good enough to know they were good and young enough to still find that knowledge slightly surprising. He had the left footer's characteristic slightly pigeon-toed stance, the wide player's restlessness even sitting still.
*"I heard you were in Trondheim last month,"* he said, which was his opening rather than hello, which Mikkel appreciated for its efficiency.
*"Leonhardsen,"* Mikkel said.
*"I know Øyvind. We played in a Scandinavian youth tournament two years ago."*
*"What did you think of him?"*
Blomqvist considered it. *"Very good,"* he said. *"The best passer I played against that age."*
*"He'd agree with your assessment of his passing,"* Mikkel said. *"He's been working on it."*
Enquist watched this exchange with the contained attention of a man who had arranged something and was assessing whether it was developing correctly.
---
The conversation with Blomqvist took an hour. Not because it was complicated — it wasn't, the terms were standard, the development pathway was clear — but because Blomqvist asked questions the way Leonhardsen had asked questions, with the focused intelligence of someone who understood that the conversation he was having now would shape the next five years.
He asked about the agency's approach to young players specifically — not the same as established ones, he noted, which was correct.
*"Young players need more contact, more information, more context,"* Mikkel said. *"The established players — Schmeichel, Laudrup — they know how the industry works. A nineteen-year-old at IFK Gothenburg doesn't yet. My job with you is different from my job with them."*
*"How different?"*
*"More education, less negotiation. For the next two years the most important thing I do for you isn't finding a transfer — it's making sure you're developing correctly and that when the transfer moment comes you understand what it means and what it's worth."*
Blomqvist looked at him. *"Two years,"* he said. *"You're not going to try to move me next summer."*
*"You're not ready next summer,"* Mikkel said. *"Moving you next summer would be bad for your development and therefore bad for my commission in the long run."*
*"The commission argument,"* Blomqvist said, almost smiling. *"That's a more honest framing than most people use."*
*"The honest framing and the correct framing are usually the same thing,"* Mikkel said. *"In my experience."*
Enquist, who had been listening, said: *"IFK's position is that we support the player's development regardless of representation. We don't obstruct."*
*"I know,"* Mikkel said. *"Which is part of why Gothenburg is a good environment for him at this stage."*
Enquist nodded — the nod of a man who appreciated being told something true about his own club.
Blomqvist signed the contract at the end of the meeting — not that day, a week later after he'd read it properly and asked his father to look at it, which Mikkel had suggested he do and which Blomqvist had apparently planned to do regardless. It came back signed with a note from the father that said the terms seemed fair and that he hoped Mikkel would handle his son's career with the same seriousness he'd apparently brought to the others.
Mikkel wrote back saying he would.
---
**⚙ SYSTEM UPDATE**
*New Client: Jesper Blomqvist (IFK Gothenburg)*
*Contract: 2 years | Commission: 15%*
*Total Active Clients: 17*
*Total Monthly Commission: DKK 68,003 (£6,596 / $10,880)*
*Net Monthly Position: DKK +11,203 (£1,087 / $1,792)*
*Funds: DKK 979,549 (£95,016 / $156,728)*
*Reputation +10 → 979 / 1000*
*System Note: 17 clients across Denmark, England, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden. Geographic expansion complete for now. January is eight weeks away. Focus.*
---
He flew back to Copenhagen on the Friday evening and arrived at the office on Saturday morning — not because Saturday was a workday but because the Povlsen signing meant the second column was complete and he wanted to see the list with all the names circled.
He found the original notepad — the one from March 1990, the shared desk, the first week. The pages were worn at the edges from two and a half years of being carried everywhere. He turned to the page with the second column list.
*Jensen. Laudrup. Vilfort. Elstrup. Schmeichel. Povlsen.*
Every name circled.
He sat with it for a moment. Then he put the notepad in the filing cabinet — not thrown away, filed, the distinction mattering — and opened a new one.
The new page was blank. Clean. Unknown.
He wrote the date at the top. *October 1992.*
Then below it, the only thing that was certain: *January. Schmeichel. United. Don't blink.*
---
In Dortmund, Flemming Povlsen told his wife about the meeting over dinner on Thursday evening. She asked if he was sure. He said yes. She asked how he knew. He said because Schmeichel had told him in March at a national team dinner that the agent was the most straightforward person he'd dealt with in football. She said that wasn't a very exciting endorsement. He said that coming from Schmeichel it was the most exciting endorsement possible. She considered this and agreed he probably had a point.
In Gothenburg, Jesper Blomqvist told his father about Trane Sports over the weekend. His father read the contract carefully — twice — and said the terms were reasonable. Blomqvist said he knew. His father asked how he knew. Blomqvist said he'd done research. His father asked what the research had produced. Blomqvist listed: Schmeichel to United, Laudrup to PSV, Jensen to Leeds, Helveg to Ajax, Leonhardsen last month. His father was quiet for a moment and then said that seemed like a convincing body of work. Blomqvist agreed it did.
In Leeds, John Jensen played his seventh Premier League match on Saturday — a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Elland Road, the midfielder completing ninety minutes for the seventh consecutive time, Wilkinson's system built around exactly the kind of relentless physical intelligence Jensen provided. A journalist from the Yorkshire Post wrote that Jensen was becoming one of the Premier League's most underrated signings of the summer. The journalist didn't know what the transfer fee had been. If he had he'd have written overrated instead, which would have been wrong in the opposite direction.
Geoff Sleight, who had negotiated the fee, read the piece and said nothing to anyone. He was a scout. Saying nothing was his professional default.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United were top of the Premier League after eight matches. Peter Schmeichel had kept six clean sheets. The television cameras found him, on average, four times per match during moments when nothing was happening, which was the cameras' way of saying that watching him do nothing was more interesting than watching most goalkeepers do something.
Ferguson watched the Saturday highlights with a cup of tea and thought about January with the specific focus of a man who had been thinking about January since the summer and had no intention of being surprised by it.
In the Trane Sports office on Saturday morning Mikkel sat at his desk with a new notepad and thought about the same thing.
Two people who had spoken for thirty minutes in a corridor at Old Trafford in July, both of whom knew exactly what was coming and had decided not to tell each other everything yet.
Eight weeks.
---
**⚙ SYSTEM UPDATE — END OF OCTOBER 1992**
*Funds: DKK 979,549 (£95,016 / $156,728)*
*Monthly Operating Costs: DKK 56,800 (£5,510 / $9,088)*
*Total Monthly Commission: DKK 68,003 (£6,596 / $10,880)*
*Net Monthly Position: DKK +11,203 (£1,087 / $1,792)*
*Total Clients: 17 | Key: Schmeichel (United, January), Laudrup (PSV), Jensen (Leeds, 7 starts), Tøfting (Hamburg, adapting), Leonhardsen (Rosenborg), Povlsen (Dortmund, summer free), Blomqvist (Gothenburg, development)*
*Second Column: COMPLETE*
*January: 8 weeks*
*Reputation: 979 / 1000*
*System Note: Second column complete. 17 clients across 7 countries. Monthly position solidly profitable. One milestone remaining before 1000 reputation. January is the defining moment. Prepare.*