Chapter One: The One-Euro Verdict

He picked up the offer. The instant his fingers touched paper, silver words burst across his sight. [TRANSFER VERDICT ACTIVATED.] [Seller's true intent: unload chronic knee-cartilage risk.] [Squad compatibility: 19%.] [Next season: 7 league appearances; 1 goal; cartilage surgery in Round Nine.] [Hidden clause: all remaining wages become guaranteed upon relegation.] Lin found the clause on page seventeen, shrunk to six-point type. “This isn't a gift,” he said. “It's a coffin with a timer inside.” Laughter circled the table. Hall ordered him out, but acting chairwoman Su Man raised a hand. After her father's collapse, she had inherited forty-six million in debt rather than a club. “Evidence.”