Chapter Two: The Four-Million Blind Spot

【WARNING: Signing in isolation will not materially improve squad completion.】 That was why nobody saw him. Recruitment departments liked virtues that could be displayed alone—pace, goals, duels. Vidal's value appeared only in other players. Lin had no seat at Monday's recruitment meeting. He emailed a fourteen-page report to Banks. It was marked read but unanswered. That afternoon, the printout returned to the basement with red ink across its cover: SAMPLE BIAS. STOP BYPASSING AUTHORITY. On the training pitch, Bello and Adrian Kane argued for the first time. They arrived at the same receiving point on the left and neither recovered after possession was lost. Manager Marcus Veer stopped training with a whistle; his voice carried across two pitches.