Chapter Five: The Thirty-Two-Million Substitute

Sadiq's club demanded four million. When Lin touched the offer, the numbers were startling. [Compatibility: 97%.] [Projected half-season: fastest sprint in the league; 9 assists; estimated value €16m.] [Seller's true intent: tax payment required within 72 hours. Minimum acceptable price: €1.1m.] Lin offered nine hundred thousand, a two-hundred-thousand survival bonus, and eight percent of a future sale. The seller accused him of exploiting a crisis, then signed eight minutes before its tax deadline. Sadiq did not score on debut. He made thirteen sprints down the right until the opposing left-back cramped. In the eighty-fourth minute he cut the ball back, and Marcus drove it home. 1–0.