Maël took more than ten minutes to reach the training center's administrative building.
As he approached Coach Hans' office, a staff member who had been waiting there stopped him, "Please wait a moment, there's someone inside."
Maël nodded, and soon saw a trial player who had played in midfield today walk out, his face beaming with a joyful smile.
"Good brother, congratulations."
The other party was very happy, and naturally, this joy was transmitted to Maël.
"You too."
Maël smiled slightly, took a deep breath, and walked into the office.
About a month ago, he had been here once, when Coach Hans had taken care of him and specially lent him a pair of football boots.
After today, it was time to return those boots.
However, the favor he owed here definitely couldn't be repaid with just a pair of boots.
"You look good."
Hans couldn't help but smile when he saw Maël, "Looks like you knew something good was going to happen."
"Of course, staying here is very important to me."
Maël didn't deny it, stepping forward and sitting opposite Hans, "For me right now, nothing is better than this."
Hans, who was burly and looked fierce, couldn't help but tease Maël at this moment, "Aren't you worried that I called you here to say goodbye and offer some words of comfort?"
Maël raised his eyebrows, his expression confident, his meaning was clear, he wasn't worried.
"Alright."
Hans took out a contract from under the table and handed it to Maël, "Take a look at the contract the team is offering you."
Maël took the contract and began to read it.
Hans watched his progress as he turned the pages, explaining, "It's not Arsenal Football Club signing with you, it's the Arsenal Youth Academy, you can think of it as a youth contract, but many of the terms are the same as the first team's.
"If you can enter the Arsenal first team in the future, the person sitting opposite you won't be the ordinary me, but Mr. Wenger."
Hans smiled, paused, and continued, "£800 a week, it's the top salary for the youth team, in addition to that, there are appearance bonuses and goal bonuses for the Youth Team League, and there will also be bonuses for promotion to the first team.
"In short, Arsenal Football Club guarantees everything for young players, as long as you make progress, the club will immediately reward you with bonuses."
Maël turned another page and asked, "Why am I getting the top salary?"
He knew Hans wasn't lying to him, he had talked to Gilbert before, and the youth team's top salary was indeed £800.
Compared to the first team, this money wasn't much.
But in secular terms, a young man who is not yet 17 years old can earn over a hundred pounds a day by playing football, which is indeed very good.
At least, Maël didn't have to worry about football boots anymore.
As long as he liked, he could stare at a series and buy a pair a week until he bought them all! He also didn't have to live in dormitories with average conditions and environment anymore, as long as he wanted, he could rent a small house in the nearby London suburbs and decorate it in his favorite style! "Because of the potential you've shown recently, and your age."
Hans explained calmly, not forgetting to spur him on a bit, "Actually, you're already not young when you get the contract.
"If you only had a few hundred pounds in salary, we're afraid you'd worry about livelihood and conditions and couldn't concentrate.
"So, this definitely can't be your end point, I hope you can continue to move forward."
Maël nodded to show he understood, and after flipping through it again, he put down the contract, "I have no objections."
Hans got up from his seat and extended his right hand, "Happy cooperation."
"Happy cooperation."
Maël shook his hand, and then, under Hans' guidance, signed his name in several places and left his payment account and so on.
A few minutes later, he left the office.
Tomorrow, he would take some promotional photos and photos for the team media room, and he would officially join Arsenal U17! It was a small step in his entire career, but a big step in front of him.
Walking out of the administrative building, breathing the fresh air outside, Maël felt that everything was so beautiful, and even the air was filled with a sweet smell.
He really wanted to shout to release himself, but there were too many people around, and he was afraid of being treated like a madman.
"Uncle."
Maël was filled with emotion as he made the call to his uncle, feeling like he had so much to say, "I'm staying. My weekly wage is 800 pounds. I won't be back for a while; I'll only have winter break at the end of the year."
"I've received my first paycheck. I'll buy some clothes for my little sister and get you all something gradually. Remember to check when it arrives."
The voice on the other end was noticeably louder than usual, "Really? 800 pounds... That's more than I earn. Maël, you've made it! Congratulations!"
After a series of footsteps, his uncle seemed to have moved to another location, and the receiver sounded farther away, "Maël is staying, and he's earning 800 pounds a week!"
A burst of noise erupted on the other end, with his aunt's surprised exclamation and the excited shouts of his younger siblings jumping around.
Maël listened, unconsciously smiling. His facial muscles felt a little sore from smiling so much today.
"Maël! Maël!"
Suddenly, an anxious voice came from behind, "Maël, don't go yet!"
Maël turned around and saw Hans rushing after him with a phone in his hand, his expression both anxious and excited, with a hint of complexity deep down.
Ten minutes later, inside Hans' office.
Hans sat in front of the computer, constantly moving the mouse to print out contracts, the printer beside him continuously spitting out paper.
Maël and Gilbert sat across from him, looking at each other in a daze, feeling as if the whole world was shaking, incredibly surreal.
Sheffield United, the EFL Championship team that almost made it into the Premier League last season, wanted to loan them both? The club's sporting director had spoken with Wenger and agreed to their loan request? Maël really didn't know what to say. He had just signed his first contract in life, and now he was about to sign a second one.
Although he had anticipated this somewhat and even daydreamed about it.
But everything was happening so suddenly.
"Click! Click!"
Hans neatly arranged the printed contracts, then shook his head helplessly, "Anyway, that's how it is."
"The club now wants to sign a new contract with you. This time, it's a professional contract with the Arsenal first team. Your weekly wage will increase to 2,500 pounds, with a contract term of 3 years and a release clause of 5 million pounds."
Maël and Gilbert exchanged glances, then numbly took the contracts and began to read through them.
Hans didn't stop, reprinting another contract while explaining, "If you agree to the loan, this salary will be fully covered by Sheffield United, and there will also be additional salary bonus clauses."
"For example: if you play 10 games for the club, your weekly wage will increase to 8,000 pounds; 20 games, it will increase to 20,000 pounds; if you play for the team and the team gets 3 points, 3,000 pounds; 1 point, 1,000 pounds. A goal is 2,500 pounds, an assist is 1,500 pounds."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two across from him swallowed hard. "Agreed." *2
Hans was taken aback, realizing he probably didn't need to say much more. He just needed to get the contracts signed.
Indeed, the bonus standards and training value of a professional team were a huge attraction for these Youth Team League kids.
Was that an EFL Championship team? It was a great place to boost their value, a mountain of banknotes piled up with pounds!
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