Harbinger Of Glory

Leo stared at Noah’s name for another second before finally answering.

”Hello?” he said, but there was no response.

Leo frowned slightly and pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure the call had actually connected.

It had.

”Hello,” Leo said once more before Noah came through.

”Ah yes, sorry. Didn’t hear you pick up.”

”It’s fine.”

”Anyways, I’m assuming you’ve seen what’s going around this morning.”

At that, Leo leaned back against the headboard, his mind returning to the article he’d glossed through a while ago.

”Yeah.”

”Hmm.”

Noah went quiet again, probably trying to work out how he was going to approach the conversation, and naturally Leo waited, not surprised by Noah’s attitude since it was something he’d come to know him by.

”How much have you seen?” the agent eventually asked, while Leo nodded.

”Haven’t seen much, but I think it’s enough.”

Another sigh came through the phone as a ruffling sound interrupted the call before going away.

”Then I suppose there’s no point dancing around it.”

”It’s all true,” he said.

”Before dawn even broke, around five, I was working when Wigan called. Manchester United had already been in contact with the club.”

Leo’s expression changed.

”Wait, how? Already?”

”Already,” Noah shifted on the other end.

”They didn’t wait for the morning reports to start circulating. I got a call from Wigan just before five. This past five.”

Leo looked at the time on his phone and realised he had been asleep then, but Noah, apparently, hadn’t.

”I was working on something when they called me,” Noah continued.

”And it all stems from the notion that Wigan have received an enquiry from Manchester United. Nothing formal enough to be called an offer at that stage, but the intention was pretty clear.”

Leo listened without interrupting.

”They want to move quickly,” Noah said.

”That’s the important part. They’re not talking about waiting until the summer or seeing how the season develops. They want to get things moving in January.”

Leo’s fingers tightened slightly around the phone as he found the statements in the articles becoming truer as Noah went on.

”As you’ve already probably seen,” Noah went on, breaking Leo out of his daze, ”Manchester United are reportedly ready to pay the full £105 million?”

As the words kept on being fired, Leo only listened, momentarily unable to do anything, but Noah wasn’t even finished.

”They’ve also told Wigan that if the club streamlines the process and doesn’t drag negotiations out, they’re willing to put another twenty million on top, you know, as a show of good faith or goodwill or whatever it is they are trying to put across.”

Hearing all those numbers made Leo just stare blankly at the

Leo stared blankly ahead.

”So... one hundred and twenty-five?”

”That’s what they’re putting on the table if everything moves quickly.”

The call went still, and Leo lowered the phone slightly without even realising it.

After what happened at Old Trafford, he could understand why a few clubs would be interested in his services, but Manchester United being willing to break their budget for him wasn’t on his bingo card.

Things were moving a little too fast for his liking, but unlike he did in games, he couldn’t slow down the tempo of all that was going around.

This had already reached Wigan, and there was an actual conversation happening between the clubs.

”Leo? Noah suddenly interrupted Leo’s thoughts after the latter wasn’t responding to his questions.

Meanwhile, Leo snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at the phone.

”Yeah?”

”Are you there?”

Leo blinked and then nodded.

”Sorry.”

”No problem,” Noah said with a quiet laugh.

”You disappeared on me there.”

”I zoned out for a second.”

”I noticed.”

Leo rubbed his forehead and then finally began addressing the matter ahead.

”I just didn’t think it had gone that far.”

”Neither did I when I first heard about it.”

”So what does Wigan want to do?” Leo asked after a while, and Noah took a moment before answering.

”As things stand, they aren’t particularly inclined to sell.”

Leo nodded slowly.

”Because of the money?”

”Not really,” Noah gave a short laugh.

”Money is the least of their problems at the moment.”

Leo understood.

Wigan had only recently changed ownership.

The club was in a completely different position financially, and they weren’t looking at Leo’s release clause as some lifeline that had suddenly appeared.

”They’ve been taken over,” Noah continued.

”They’re not desperate for the money. If anything, the feeling inside the club is that they’d rather keep you and see where this season goes.”

Leo looked down and nodded as that made sense.

”And then there’s the other side of it.”

”The fans?”

”The fans.”

Noah’s tone changed slightly.

”Imagine what happens if Wigan sell you in January.”

”They’d kill them,” Leo answered as Noah confirmed.

”Pretty much. They’d make sure that the club remembered.”

Leo laughed quietly as Noah chuckled before becoming serious again.

”Wigan are sitting on the edge of something they hadn’t even thought possible when they were promoted back into the Premier League after almost a decade, and you’re one of the biggest reasons they’re there.

If they let you walk away halfway through it, the supporters aren’t going to care how much money comes in.”

Leo nodded and then muttered to himself, ”Especially to United.”

”Exactly.”

There was another brief silence before Noah asked the question he had probably been waiting to ask since the beginning of the call.

”So, what do you think?”

Leo looked at the floor, realising the ball was now in his court.

”Me?”

”Yes, you,” Noah affirmed, and almost immediately, Leo went silent.

He leaned forward, elbows resting against his knees, and stared at his hands as the thought of a return to Manchester United banged at the back of his mind.

A/N: Another new month and I thought I’d put this here. Feels like I am ageing 2 years each time I write a Chapter. Thanks for the support and the patience even when sometimes I churn out things that aren’t up to par with the quality we’ve shown we can display. Thank you so much for sparing the time and money to read this and I hope y’all have a good month!