"I need a number, Maxi"
"I've been talking to the consortium and the cost of take over plus the quality of backroom staff you've bought in makes it difficult to give you what you need."
"I understand that, but I need a number to know what we are working with"
"The club can offer you five million for this season transfer budget"
"I thought so"
"That is only for now though, once the club has stabilised further, they will be able to offer you more"
"Did you discuss what I requested with them though?"
"Yes, it was difficult, but they agreed, any transfer fees and cup money will go right back into your coffers"
"That's all I need then"
"You are taking it much better than I expected"
"In truth I expected as much, it wasn't as if we got purchased by Sheikh Mansour. I even prefer this actually, the uber rich owner back rolling any transfer I would like is unsustainable. I want to create a club with a strong foundation which will stand the test of time and that is only possible through making intelligent business decisions and investing in our future. "
"Now then let's go and see how far we can make this five million stretch"
The duo headed towards the meeting room they had booked out for the upcoming decisions. The room was one of the bigger ones as it was no longer just the three founders meeting up and now they had a sizeable team. Looking around the crowd gathered in the room gave Yusuf a sense of achievement in what they had achieved so far even though the work was far from over.
The seats in the room were occupied by all the individuals who were to be involved in the recruitment and transfer process. In one corner was Leonardo Masieri, the chief scout for the club who was dressed in a casual club tracksuit. He was a very amicable individual with an easy charm who took his job completely seriously. The moment he had gathered his international team he had requested the profile of the players that Yusuf would like and immediately got to work scouting. The budget wasn't immediately clear, but he knew the current scale of the club and had found a range of players we could potentially afford. Adin had been invited to the meeting as he had informed him that he was particularly interested in younger players which meant that they might split time between the youth team and senior set up. Adin also had an amazing understanding of the game and Yusuf was keen to involve him in decisions as much as possible. Henke was also already here and likely dreading the amount of work he would need to do from now on, attempting to secure the signature of the players we were interested in. Richard Bredice was here to present any insights on the current team situation and transfer targets which Leo had sent to him. Paul Harsley was the final member to round out the transfer committee which had been assembled, and with the addition of Maxi and Yusuf himself they were finally ready to begin.
"I believe the best way to begin this meeting is an analysis of the result we would like to see that way whatever decisions we make will be geared towards reaching that goal. When it comes to the style of football, I would like to play it is at its core about being positive about attempting to score goals and bring the game to the opponent. The football will be exciting and creative, a brand of football which puts the fans at the edge of their seats. We will instate positional play into our game and create overloads in different parts of the pitch. These will allow us to progress the ball through the different phases and generate chances on goal. The requirement on the players will be high as they will need to think about the reason behind each action they are doing. The coaching requirement will also be high as we will need to make them able to respond intuitively to any situation they will face during the game. I hope to focus our recruitment on young players who can improve drastically under our coaching. My belief is that if a player is good enough, he is also old enough and we will be able to get better bargains by approaching players who are not completely proven yet."
"That is clear enough, but it is also very different to the portfolio of squad we have currently" added Paul, considering how we would get the current team to play in that style.
"Multiple managers have passed through this club, each of which has recruited the players they felt were required resulting in a squad that feels disjointed and lacks a clear ethos. Moving forward we need to recruit heavily in the players we feel can help us play the way we like and remove players who aren't able to adapt to the new style."
"In terms of those who can adapt, the profile of the senior team is very different from the play style you are looking for and it would need to be the case of testing the players out in training."
"That is fair, I don't plan to just arbitrarily decide to let them all go, and everyone will be entitled to an opportunity, how about youth team players we can integrate?"
"A lot might have gone wrong in the club over the recent years, but the academy has still been able to produce talent, I am sure that a few of them could make the transfer up, I'm still in the process of analysing everyone but Paul will have a better understanding for now."
" Adin is correct, Nico Gordon shows a real composure in the defence and has all the physical attributes to play in the senior game. Jordan James is technically very gifted and fearless in the midfield. On a personal note, he has impressed me with his work rate and maturity at such a young age as well. I'm not sure I need to say too much else, but we also have Jobe…"
"I've watched him in training a few times and it isn't hyperbole to suggest he has everything it takes to become one of the best." Henke added in having been quiet so far.
"Will he be one of the best at us though, much like his brother the big clubs have been sniffing around and I don't know how long we'll be able to keep him?" Maxi questioned, fearing the sniping of youth which is so common in football.
"The main concern of youth players is getting enough minutes on the pitch and receiving the right sort of coaching. At Birmingham, I mean to provide every opportunity to any player who has what it takes. The environment will be one of the best for young players to improve and that will be how we keep him. As far as ambition, this club is headed straight to the top, so I'm not worried about us being a poor match for him."
"The allure of the big teams is often too great, what is to stop him ignoring all of that and snapping at the first opportunity?"
"Nothing really and if that happens, we get the best possible price for him and reinvest that into other players, I have no intention of forcing players to stay against their will."
The lack of concern in the voice of the new manager surprised most of the people in the room especially considering who was being talked about. Jobe Bellingham was the younger brother of Jude who had broken every record at Birmingham City. In his debut season where he had become the youngest ever first team player for the club and youngest goal scorer, he had also managed to win the EFL Young Player of the Year. The accolades and his performances had resulted in him securing a move to the famed Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of twenty-five million making him the most expensive seventeen-year-old ever. He had since become a starter for the first team and any attempt to sign him now would likely be north of eighty million. The reputation of his brother clearly drew attention to him, but Jobe was considered to be equally talented, and all the big teams were interested in him. The staff had expected that the new manager would do everything he could to keep him but the nonchalance told them he was entirely confident taking this team to where it needed to go irrespective of any particular player.