Become A Football Legend

"The company is doing alright, but it's not very easy to get high net worth clients. There are several recognized and huge institutions in London that people like that go to for asset management." He paused for a few seconds as he stared directly at Lukas. "Also, this is me betting that you'll become a huge client. If you get as big as Marco believes you can get, then I'll be making a lot of money from this. And even if you don't, I'll get paid either way."

"I like your honesty," Lukas responded with a smile.

"I believe all expectations from a deal should be made clear as early as possible."

"I think so too."

"So how would you suggest we set it up?" Javi asked as he seemed to have finished thinking.

"I think we can create a holding company, 100% owned by Lukas, but held in trust by you or a professional trust company until he is 18." He then went on to explain the proposed set-up to them.

The holding company will own Lukas's image rights and also the shares of several subsidiaries like the image rights and licensing company—which would handle image rights negotiations with clubs and also manage deals with sponsors—and the investment company—which would be in charge of making investments in the market.

Down the line, when Lukas has gotten to superstar status, other subsidiaries like a merchandise company, a property ownership company, and a charitable foundation could be opened to handle different parts of his brand. They would all be owned by him unless he decides to sell some of his stake in them.

"I think this structure is the best because it would be the easiest to build a family office around when you get to that top level."

"Where do you think the holding company should be created?"

"For now, it's best if it's created in the UK. I would have chosen Germany, but the bureaucracy would make it twice as slow as it would take to do in the UK. Since the scale is still small, there's no financial justification to relocate it to somewhere like Ireland even with its low corporate taxes. As the company grows, though, redomiciling it for better tax advantages will become important and that can be handled at that time."

They went on to discuss Henry's contractual obligations to Lukas—overseeing the investment subsidiary—and his compensation. Marco would be in charge of the image rights company, while Javi would be the sole head of the holding company, at least until Lukas turned 18.

"I will talk to my lawyers to get everything started as soon as possible. We will be sending any relevant documents over for your signatures. Everything should be set up in the next three to four weeks," Henry said as he stood up and shook hands with Lukas, Javi, and Marco.

"I hope this will be the start of a fruitful partnership," Lukas said.

"It sure will," Henry responded as the group left the café.

It was already dark when they stepped out of the café. Marco bid farewell to Lukas and Javi and drove Henry to a nearby hotel. Javi had wanted to follow them to the hotel after dropping Lukas off at the ProfiCamp as Anne wasn't in Frankfurt at the moment, but Lukas insisted Javi stayed with him.

"Dad, there's no need to spend money for a hotel when your son has an apartment," was Lukas's argument.

Inside the apartment, Lukas had just finished showering and changing into his sleeping vest when he joined Javi, who was watching the news in the living room.

"So what do you think of him?" Lukas asked as he sat down on the sofa beside his father.

"Henry?"

"Yeah. Do you think he can be trusted?"

"I trust Marco. If Marco trusts him, I think it's worth giving him a chance. Of course, all the documents will be thoroughly read by our lawyers before we sign anything."

"We have lawyers?" Lukas asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, well, Anne introduced me to a law firm."

"That's great. Your relationship with her has gotten really serious I see," Lukas said jokingly as he nudged his father's arm.

As if that had been something weighing on his mind, Javi sat upright and turned to face Lukas. "Regarding that, there is something I want to talk to you about."

"What is that, Dad?"

"How... how would you feel if Anne became your... mom?" Javi managed to force the words out of his mouth.

"Oh wow! Really, Dad? That's wonderful news! I'll love that!" Lukas replied enthusiastically.

"You would? I'm glad."

"Have you proposed to her yet?"

"Not yet. I know it's something I want, but I don't know if it's something she'll want. She might want to focus on her career for now."

"You won't know until you ask. Also, I don't think there's a rule that says a married woman cannot have a career."

"Oh, look at this. I never thought the day would come when my son would be giving me relationship advice," Javi said as he moved closer to Lukas and playfully wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Let me go," Lukas protested as he squirmed out of Javi's headlock.

Just then, "Elon Musk with a controversial salute during U.S. President Donald Trump swearing-in ceremony," a news headline played on the TV screen. Trump doing the Nazi salute multiple times after his speech during Trump's swearing-in in Washington that day.

The smile was immediately wiped out of their faces as Javi and Lukas watched the news in utter disgust.

"There are still people on this earth who do something like this so brazenly?" Javi asked rhetorically, but his face scrunched up in disgust as the clip repeated.

"Unfortunately, there are. Remember what I told you about Tesla? This will most likely be the start of the fall."

"Wait, how did you know that, though?" Javi asked as he turned to face Lukas.

"I knew he'd do something erratic. I didn't know he'd do something like this, though."

"What made you think he'd do something erratic?"

"It's Elon Musk. He just spent 300 million dollars on Trump's election. I expected him to be put in some kind of position of power which he would abuse and cause the people to turn on him, not for him to do a Nazi salute in front of the world."

"We'll have to wait and see how the market reacts to something like this before I decide if I'll let you do what you want. Also, just being right once doesn't mean you'll always be right."

"I know that. But just trust me, Dad."

"We'll see."

They went back to watching the news detailing the incident before Lukas had to go to bed.

"Even though I knew it would happen, it is still disturbing to see," Lukas thought as he walked into his room.

* * *

"We are in the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt am Main for the Europa League match-up between Eintracht Frankfurt and Ferencváros. Welcome, everyone, I am Steven Wyeth and joining me tonight for live analysis is Clive Allen. Welcome, Clive," Steven Wyeth, the commentator for the match for TNT Sports UK, opened up the commentary.

"Yes, thank you, Steven. This is poised to be an entertaining watch. Frankfurt will look to seal their spot in the round of 16 without having to go through the play-offs—a win tonight will do that. Ferencváros will want some points to keep their hope of a playoff spot alive. I can't wait for the match to start."

"The starting lineup is up, and no surprise from either of the coaches—both fielding their very best lineup. The crowd is ready. The atmosphere has been this high for close to an hour now. The Frankfurt fans have really come out today in full voice; it is a fully packed stadium."

It was the 23rd of January, Matchday Seven of the newly created league phase of the Europa League.

Down at the pitch, Lukas walked out of the dugout with a little kid by his right-hand side. He was starting his first European match.

Immediately they stood in line. The ever-so-impressive Europa League Anthem played through the entire stadium as the fans chanted with full voice. The atmosphere was electric. The song, an instrumental, seemed to stir up something deep in Lukas's soul as the cameraman walked past him with his face briefly appearing on the big screen.

High up in the stands, in a VIP booth, the usual gang were joined by Mr. and Mrs. Gimenez, João's parents, as they were able to come watch the match after Lukas invited them.

They all watched in awe as the Lukas they had watched grow up was now in a Europa League group game—by far the youngest in the starting lineup.

After the anthem, the players completed the pre kick-off ceremony and were now ready for kick-off.

"And off we go for the 7th matchday of the 2024/2025 Europa League competition. Eintracht Frankfurt against Ferencváros."

A/N: How're y'all doing today. Just got news that my first real crush got engaged yesterday. It's a horrible day! I still had hope (⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠)

I hope you're having a better day than me, though.

Love y'all

-Writ