God Of football

Chapter 901: Pre- Preseason.

The chartered plane carrying the Arsenal team and staff touched down with a soft thrum, tires skimming across the Singapore runway before easing to a stop.

The players inside, flung to their feet as the plane seized its movement, with some saying their silent prayers and others stretching out of their sleep.

What came next was routine, with the players going through all the various checks, and after nothing out of place was found, they made their way outside, where their transportation, in the form of a long string of vans for the players and a bus for the staff, was waiting.

Once outside, Izan slid his phone from the pocket of his jacket, just as Miranda’s message pinged.

”Did you get a message?” it read.

Izan frowned slightly.

”No,” he typed back, glancing up at the bustling people who were staring at them, trying to get a few pictures in, before setting his head down and typing again.

”What message am I to expect?

Her typing bubble appeared almost instantly, the ellipsis lingering longer than usual.

He raised a brow at it, curiosity flickering, and after what felt like an eternity, a single line finally appeared.

”Hang on.”

Izan furrowed his brow, unsure what to make of it, when Odegaard called from the front of the van.

”Izan, we’re good to roll.”

He nodded, sliding the phone back into his pocket, and moved to leave his luggage with the storage crew waiting behind the van.

Sliding into his seat, he pulled the phone out again, ignoring the tropical humidity pressing against the windows.

The screen lit up with another message from Miranda.

”It should come now.”

Just as he read it, a file appeared, a receipt.

His eyes widened and his breath hitched as he glanced at the content on it.

There it was in crisp detail: an offshore account in his name had received the full 400 million euros from Adidas.

The numbers blurred slightly as he processed it.

The largest transfer he had ever received had been a 40 million signing bonus, plus a few other seven-figure payments, and although they weren’t small even for a footballer, it was still minuscule compared to what this was, and that was ten times that.

His thumb hovered over the screen before scrolling down to the next part of Miranda’s message: ”We were able to structure it so that you won’t be burdened with unnecessary taxes. Adidas planned it all meticulously, even before the offer. They said they wanted you to just focus on football. After taxes, you’re looking at 387 million euros in your account. The 13 million held back will be added back automatically in six months, as per the contract.”

Izan exhaled slowly, leaning back into his seat.

His fingers found the text box, and he typed the simplest response he could: ”Thank you.”

He received another buzz from his phone, a reply from Miranda, and he knew what it read without even opening it.

He set the phone aside, eyes closing briefly as a heavy sigh escaped.

The van moved through the traffic, the city lights of Singapore flickering past like tiny stars.

From the corner of his seat, Saka was absorbed in his Nintendo Switch 2, thumbs flying across the buttons.

Then he glanced up, a teasing grin spreading across his face.

”So... missing your girlfriend yet?”

Izan rolled his eyes, half-smiling, and ignored the jab.

He leaned back further, letting his eyes drift shut, the reality of the sum slowly settling in as the van curved through the streets, finally approaching the hotel where they would be staying for pre-season.

.....

”Okay, guys,” Arteta said as they got to the lobby of the hotel.

”It’s been a long flight, so let’s just have a bit of rest. That goes for you too, Saka and Nwaneri, R.E.S.T.”

The duo standing together beside Izan turned as they heard the message meant for them, before saluting Arteta who could only manage a smile.

”The other arrangements will be communicated through the group chat!”

The players nodded at their coach’s words before splitting towards Albert Stuivenberg, who stood at the reception, taking notes of all the players who came for their room cards.

Once in his room, Izan set his things down, taking out all the necessary things like his toiletry bag before setting them on the sink in the bathroom.

He came back into the room, continuing his unpacking before his phone buzzed with a call from Komi.

He picked it up, propping it up on a small stand he had brought, while Komi’s face filled up the screen.

”So,” Komi began, a teasing edge in her voice, ”should I just retire now? I mean, your my son’s account... four hundred million euros. You could retire yourself and still have more than most people see in a lifetime.”

Izan chuckled, the sound soft but amused.

”If you want to, then you can. But I can’t just yet.”

”I just turned forty-three. Retiring now? I’d die of boredom.”

Izan laughed, leaning back further.

”Then retire with Miranda. Double the fun.”

Komi raised an eyebrow, leaning closer to the camera.

”Who’s going to handle your deals, then? I know a lot of agents must be waiting to swoop up and take you from her, but still, she’s proven her bit hasn’t she?”

Izan tilted his head, fingers running through his hair.

”Yes. She should stick around a few more years, then hand things over to Hori. She wants to be a lawyer anyway. Can put those skills to use.”

Komi let out a chuckle, shaking her head.

”So you want to give your money away.”

From the side, Hori’s voice cut in, light but sharp.

”Excuse me, I heard that.”

Komi turned to glance at her before shifting her gaze back to the call.

”Alright, I’m handing the phone over to Olivia. Looks like she’s about to start crying if she doesn’t get in on this.”

From off-screen, Olivia’s voice screeched, half-laughing, half-protesting.

”Hey! What are you doing?!”

Komi shoved the phone toward her, and Olivia’s face filled the frame, bright-eyed but smiling.

”Hey,” she said, voice lighter now, but the corners of her mouth twitching as she saw Izan’s familiar grin.

”Hey,” Izan replied, his voice carrying the warmth of familiarity.

Miko, perched on the bed beside Olivia, suddenly leapt forward with impeccable timing just as she heard Izan’s voice.

Her four-legged enthusiasm was impossible to resist, and she pressed her wet nose and paws against the screen, licking the phone’s screen filled with Izan’s face with abandon.

From the background, Olivia squealed, laughing while Izan joined in, chuckling a bit.

”Miko! Enough!” he called out, but with the next lick, Miko ended the call, ending the chaotic but lovely scene Izan had just watched.

He shook his head afterwards before swiping the screen to initiate an audio call.

”Get off me, Miko,” came Olivia’s voice from the other end as she picked up, before Izan heard the sound of bare feet tapping against glass, with him guessing Olivia was probably making her way up the glass cantilever stairs.

”Finally away,” she said sharply, a bit out of breath as she pulled away the phone to see if Izan was still on the line.

”I think you should start joining Miranda for her morning jogs,” Izan said with a little snort.

”That short distance shouldn’t have you wheezing like this,” he said, but he could almost hear Olivia rolling her eyes.

Just as Izan was about to speak again, a firm knock on the door echoed through his hotel room.

”Yo, Izan!” Nwaneri’s voice called from behind the door, playful and upbeat.

”We’ve set up an FC 25 tournament, plus a couple of other game tournaments to pass time. You wanna join, or what?”

Izan leaned back against the wall, stretching an arm above his head.

”You go first. I’ll follow soon enough,” he replied.

”Alright, fair enough,” Nwaneri said, laughing from the other side of the door.

”Don’t take too long, man.”

There was a shuffle of footsteps as he walked away, leaving the corridor quiet once more.

Izan let out a soft sigh as he picked up his phone again, tapping the unmute button to resume the call with Olivia.

”I’ll call in the evening, yeah? Got a couple of things to sort out first.”

”I’ll hold you to that,” Olivia said, her voice carrying warmth and teasing at once.

There was a soft click as she ended the call, leaving Izan with only the faint hum of the air conditioning and the distant city noise filtering through the glass windows.

He slipped the phone into his pocket, eyes scanning the neat spread of his luggage before taking his key card and then making his way out of the room.

A/N: Guys, I think ReadNovelFull is having troubles or something because I released this Chapter a while ago and checked to see ig it had uploaded well, but nothing changed. It says that I had released the Chapters on Inkstone but nothing was showing on the app, so sorry for whatever lateness this might cause.