Full Moon Scimitar ( Beckham )
---
On the football field, Liam Carter put forward his own opinion.
"Luca, I think we should do more speed training, and we can also increase some free kick training."
"Is this your preparation for playing in Scotland?"
"Yeah, I've thought about it carefully. I believe my technical characteristics may be more suited for playing on the wing, so I plan to try that in Scotland..."
Liam had always been trained as a midfielder at Crystal Palace's youth academy.
But now, with his talent system, he had already activated two talent cards: Swift Winger (Joaquín) and Full Moon Scimitar (Beckham). Looking at these two abilities together, he was clearly more suited to being a winger, so he decided to develop in that direction.
While Liam was training, two middle-aged men stood under the shade of a tree, observing him.
"Why is he training here instead of at the club's training ground?"
"I don't know. Maybe because it's the offseason and the club coaches are on holiday."
"That kid doesn't seem untalented. At the very least, his free kicks look decent—seems like he's imitating Beckham's style."
"Yeah, well, if he had no talent, we wouldn't have offered him a professional contract in the first place."
...
At the end of training, Luca Savage walked over, handing Liam a bottle of water.
"There were two guys watching you from under that tree," Savage said.
Liam turned to look in the direction Savage pointed, but he saw no one.
"They already left, but I got a good look at them. One of them seemed to be the director of your youth academy at Crystal Palace. I've seen him in the newspapers before."
"Stephen Highham?"
Liam had met Highham before when he signed his first professional contract.
According to sports media, Stephen Highham was a highly capable academy director. Before he took over in 2007, Crystal Palace's youth system had been in poor shape. But since his arrival, the club had improved significantly, even producing young stars like Wilfried Zaha.
However, Liam's personal experience didn't reflect much of this improvement. Either he was too deep in the system to notice, or he simply hadn't been given much attention.
Liam guessed that Kate must have contacted Crystal Palace about his potential transfer, which likely caught the club's attention.
Still, he hadn't expected Highham to personally come and watch him train. That was surprising.
As for how Highham knew he was training here, it was most likely Kate who had told them. After all, she had never been keen on him moving to Scotland to play football.
---
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
On this day, Crystal Palace, a club in the English Championship, officially announced that they were loaning 17-year-old Liam Carter to Dundee United in the Scottish Premier League for a season.
This news attracted little attention.
Across the English football pyramid, thousands of loan deals happen every summer. This was just another name on a long list.
At most, a few Crystal Palace fans who saw the announcement were surprised to learn that their youth team had a player named Liam Carter.
But years later, this transfer would be talked about countless times, criticized for one reason—the deal included a buyout clause, but no buy-back clause.
---
Seated in a car heading for Dundee, a small city in eastern Scotland, Liam sat in the backseat while Old John talked nonstop.
Kate was driving.
"I already spoke with the club," Old John said. "If the transfer fee was around £500,000, they would've let you go outright."
"But then that damn youth director had to get involved. That guy is a real piece of work. He flat-out refused to sell you for £500,000. Said they wouldn't accept anything below £1 million." Old John huffed in frustration.
"John, it's fine," Liam reassured him. "I just want more game time. Whether I'm loaned out or transferred directly doesn't really matter."
"And there's still the buyout clause, right? I can transfer next year."
"Yeah, but listen, Liam. Dundee United is a small club. They don't have much of a transfer budget. If you don't perform..." Old John hesitated. "£1.2 million is what a decent backup striker costs in the Championship. You need to play well enough to be worth that much."
Liam smirked. "John, are you doubting my ability?"
"Of course not! I believe in you completely. But you're only 17, and you still need time to develop."
"Then trust me," Liam said.
Kate, growing impatient with their chatter, spoke up from the driver's seat. "Both of you, shut up and get some rest. I need someone to take over driving later."
The drive from London to Dundee was about 8 hours. To avoid fatigue, they planned to take turns behind the wheel.
Old John finally stopped talking, and Liam leaned back to rest. But instead of sleeping, he entered the system.
---
Previously, Liam had unlocked his second blue talent card:
Full Moon Scimitar (Beckham).
> Effect: Grants Beckham's free kick talent. When integration surpasses 50%, free kick accuracy increases by 20%.
This was an excellent ability. Beckham's free kicks were legendary. But when Liam first unlocked the card, his integration was only 16%. Even with constant training, it had only increased to 19% so far. He still had a long way to go.
After Kate drove for three hours, Liam took over.
As he drove, he casually said to Kate, "You should consider getting a sports agent license."
Kate glanced at him. "Why?"
"So you can handle my contracts and deals in the future," Liam said, eyes still on the road.
Kate stared at him for a moment, then finally said, "I'll think about it."
Liam had given this serious thought. He knew he would succeed in football, and in the future, he'd need an agent to manage his career.
The relationship between a footballer and their agent was crucial. A good agent could make a player's career, and a great player could make an agent famous.
Rather than trusting a stranger, why not let Kate handle it? Many top players had family members as their agents—Lionel Messi, for example, had his father managing his career.
It was a logical choice.
And so, with that decision made, Liam continued driving toward the next chapter of his football journey.
---