"Boss, please don't be so angry," his assistant, Alexander, said calmly. "Didn't we kind of expect this to happen? Even if we didn't get the team, our company, Wald Pictures, is all over the news in the UK. That's still a good thing for us, right?"
"I know," Zane sighed.
He wasn't really angry that they had said no. He was frustrated that they had been so rude and disrespectful about it. They didn't even pretend to think about his offer. "They didn't take us seriously at all!" he grumbled. "Even the royal family got involved! It just messes up all our plans."
But Zane wasn't a quitter. "Now that the big show is ruined," he said, a new fire in his eyes, "I've decided to change the plan!"
Change the plan? Alexander and his team waited, curious.
"If they won't let me buy a top team," Zane said, his voice full of new energy, "then I'll go buy a lower-level team. I'll buy a League One, or even a League Two team. Let's see them try to object to that!"
That's right. Zane was frustrated, and he hated being disrespected. He decided he would buy a small team, build it up, and one day, he would lead them all the way to the top. He would beat all the big teams and make the FA and all those angry fans eat their words. He just had to vent this frustration.
...
As the World Cup was ending, Zane found his new target. On July 11th, he made a deal to buy the Manchester City club.
This was a perfect move. Manchester City was from the same city as Manchester United. They were deadly rivals.
But their stories were totally different. In 1998, Manchester United was the best team in the world. But Manchester City? They were in big trouble. They had just been "relegated" (kicked down) to the third tier of English football. Their rivals, the Man United fans, were dancing with excitement.
Zane just thought, "If I can't buy Manchester United, then I'll buy their biggest rival and beat them with it!"
He paid £52 million for the whole club. £30 million was for the team, and £22 million was to pay off all its debts.
To be honest, this was a very high price. In the future, another person would buy this same team for just £80 million after it was already back in the top league. But Zane was smart. He knew the new season was about to start. He'd rather pay a little extra now to get the deal done fast, so he could start building the team right away.
The news of the sale didn't make a big splash. Everyone was busy watching the World Cup. And besides, who cared about a third-tier team?
The few British fans who did notice just laughed.
"Hehe, look at the big-spending Yankee," one said. "He got put in his place. He could only buy our country's third-tier team."
This time, the FA didn't try to stop the deal. They helped it happen. They were probably all thinking, "This young kid has no idea what he's doing. He'll get tired of losing, sell the team in a few years, and we can all have a good laugh."
But they all didn't knew one very important fact: Zane was a time traveler.
...
On July 15th, right after the World Cup, Zane made his first move as the new owner. He invited a 35-year-old assistant coach from Spain to be the new head coach of Manchester City. His name was José Mourinho.
Right now, Mourinho wasn't famous at all. But Zane knew that in the future, everyone who loved football would know his name. He was going to be one of the greatest, most famous champion coaches in the world.
Mourinho was excited. He had never been a head coach before. And Manchester City, even though it was in the third tier, was still a famous old club. He agreed.
Zane didn't know that much about soccer. But he was a time traveler! He had a secret plan:
Hire the best coach in the world (before he's famous).
Use his future knowledge to sign all the best young players (before they're famous).
With a team like that, how could they not win? It might be hard to win the championship right away, but getting promoted out of the third-tier league?
Zane smiled. "No. That's not difficult at all."
------------------------------
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter.
Please drop a Stone to support the story!
Want to read 100+ chapters ahead of everyone else? Check the link in my profile bio!