Godfather Of Champions

Nottingham Forest rose by one spot in the rankings after winning the match. They had risen from fifteenth to fourteenth, while Reading fell from tenth to eleventh due to their loss.

However, the greatest take away from the match was still George Wood\'s rapid growth. Tang En no longer had to worry about the issue of only having two defensive midfielders. Now, he had three defensive midfielders: Brynjar Gunnarsson, Eugen Bopp, and George Wood. Those three players should be more than competent enough to handle the next few month\'s matches.

Because this was only a normal English League One match, its influence was nowhere near that of an English Premier League match. Therefore, Wood had not succeeded countrywide. But still, he had become the new pet of City Ground Stadium. He had already become famous in Nottingham.

Of course, if that sixty meter long shot had directly flown into the goalpost, things would be different. Tang En was sure that Wood would have become famous throughout England overnight. People would definitely have compared Wood to David Beckham—in the past, the now world-famous Beckham\'s amazing long shot had made everyone remember his name and his bright smile.

Becoming famous too early was not necessarily a good thing. At the very least, Tang En would have to start worrying about lots of other teams asking the club for a price, or doing to Wood what Nottingham Forest was currently doing to Ashley Young.

The most urgent matter at hand was giving Wood a new contract, and the contract had to express sufficient sincerity.

Tang En decided to find Evan to discuss Wood. He knew that Evan had seen Wood\'s performance that day from the suite. And as for the contract, Tang En could decide it completely on his own. Still, there was still one other matter that required further discussion with Evan.

Tang En had just left his office when he saw Evan appearing from the staircase exit. After seeing Tang En, Evan waved happily at him and said, "Looks like I came at the right time. Are you going out, Tony?"

"I was actually about to go find you, Evan," Tang En said.

"We really do have a connection, Tony," Evan said, laughing. "I\'m here to find you as well."

Tang En smiled. "Well, let me guess why you\'re trying to find me… I think I know."

Evan nodded and said, "I know why you wanted to find me too."

After that, the two of them said simultaneously, "George Wood."

Tang En snapped his fingers and said, "Very good. I was planning on giving him a new professional contract."

"I agree, that kid\'s future should be with Nottingham Forest. Tony, give him an eight-year contract."

Tang En became silent for a while after hearing this. The longer a contract was, the better it was for a club. But for the player, it would become slightly more difficult for his salary to increase.

Evan knew what Tang En was thinking about, and said with a smile, "The contract may be slightly longer, but you may do as you see fit for the rest." This clearly meant that as long as the contract period was long enough, everything else—from the salary, to the prize money—was up to Tang En to decide.

Tang En understood what Evan meant, and lightly nodded his head before saying, "There\'s still one more thing that I want to discuss with you."

"Speak your mind, Tony."

"The match that day, did you see Wood\'s mother in the suite?"

Evan nodded his head and replied, "I didn\'t expect his mother to be that young and pretty… she doesn\'t look like the mother of an eighteen year-old."

"Yeah. She loves her son a lot. Wood\'s performance is great, and she seems to be in good spirits too. But did you know? His mother\'s body has actually always been in a poor state."

Upon hearing Tang En, Evan was slightly shocked. "I really couldn\'t tell…"

"The main reason that Wood plays football is to earn money to treat his mother\'s illness. He loves her a lot. His family situation is pretty complex. To put it simply, he and his mother lead a hard life. Do you understand what I\'m trying to get at?"

Evan stroked his chin, not giving Tang En an immediate reply.

"Evan, if you want a player to stay in the club, the effect of a contract is relatively small," said Tang En. "As long as someone else wants to snatch our people, there\'s always a way for them to do so. And Wood\'s situation is very special, so I think his mother is a very good way to-"

"I understand. You can go and offer Wood the contract, and tell him that the club will arrange treatment for his mother\'s illness. Not to mention, a new star staying in the slums… I\'m a little worried about that. Let him move out of there; the club will provide the house."

Tang En was elated. "Thank you, Evan, on Wood\'s behalf."

"Don\'t thank me, Tony. You\'re right. Players need to feel like it\'s worthwhile to be on the team. If they\'re working for the club, then the club has an obligation to take care of them and help them resolve their problems. I also have another piece of good news to tell you."

"Yes?"

"We got that young lad that you wanted." Evan clenched his fists and continued, "Allan gave his family one hundred thousand pounds, and they agreed to convince their son to cooperate with us. Now, we can officially make an offer to Watford. But.. Tony, do you think this kid is worth that price?"

Tang En thought about Ashley Young\'s value in the future and smiled. "Evan, rest assured. In a few years time, you will be very happy that we bought him. Freddy Eastwood, George Wood, Kris Commons, Wes Morgan, and Ashley Young; those kids are the future of Nottingham Forest. If we get promoted to the English Premier League, I will continue to find more young people… when that time comes, I will shock all of England!

"That\'s awesome!" Evan clapped his hands and continued. "If you require any assistance from the club, contact me immediately. I believe in your foresight, Tony."

Tang En laughed. You should, he thought. My foresight goes three and a half years into the future!

※※※

After the morning\'s training ended, Tang En called Wood into his office, where there was a stack of papers on the desk. Tang En stuffed a fountain pen into Wood\'s hand and pointed at the stack of papers. "George," he said, "this is your new contract. Want to take a look?"

Wood approached the desk and picked up the contract. He saw that they were all legal provisions that he did not understand. "Where\'s the salary portion?" he asked.

As expected, simply hearing about the new contract was not enough to excite Wood. He only cared about his weekly salary. That was Wood\'s style.

Tang En approached him and flipped two pages before pointing to a line in the middle of the page and saying, "Here, you want me to read it to you?"

Wood nodded and passed the contract back to Tang En.

"Your weekly salary from now on will be two thousand five hundred pounds." After reading to that point, Tang En looked up at Wood. He saw that the expression on his face had changed slightly. Tang En continued, "But this is only your salary, and only the first year\'s. In the future, your weekly salary will increase by fifteen percent every year…."

"How much is that?"

"Umm…" Tang En grabbed a calculator from one of the desk\'s drawers. After tapping furiously on it for a while, he raised his head and told Wood, "For the first year, your weekly salary will be two thousand five hundred. Second year, two thousand, eight hundred and seventy-five. Third year, three thousand, three hundred. Fourth year, three thousand, eight hundred…. and so on and so forth."

Wood did not object. Right now, earning three thousand eight hundred pounds a week was like a dream to him.

"And that\'s not all," Tang En added. "For the first two years of the contract, there\'s an additional reward every season when you play twenty matches. Sounds pretty good, right?"

Wood nodded his head. It did sound much better than that contract he had signed for the youth team.

"There\'s still more." Tang En removed a credit card from the drawer and passed to Wood. "The club made this for you. There\'s already ten thousand pounds on it. That\'s your signing fee. In the future, your monthly salary will be transferred to this account at the right time."

Wood received the card from Tang En, and started to grip it tightly. His thumbs slid up and down the card as he felt its texture. His name and card number were on it. This tiny little card contained ten thousand pounds. This was not a dream; the card was really in his hands.

Seeing that Wood was interested, Tang En smiled and said, "George, now your credit is also guaranteed by the bank."

Hearing those familiar words, Wood raised his head and looked at Tang En.

Tang En patted his shoulders and said, "There\'s still another piece of good news for you. The club has decided to fund your mother\'s treatment and find new lodging for you two. The club will pay for half of the monthly rent. Soon, the two of you can move out of that slum."

Wood stared at Tang En with his eyes wide, as though he dared not believe what he was hearing. Tang En nodded his head and said, "Are you intending to stay nearer to the training grounds, or further away from it?"

George Wood was agitated, and stuttered when he spoke. "I…. I don\'t know."

Tang En passed the fountain pen over to him and said, "Sign your name here, then go home and discuss with your mother where you want to stay. Tell me tomorrow when you come for training."

Wood grasped the pen tightly in his hands, and the tip of the pen stopped on the contract. The last time he had signed his name like this was at the side of the training field. He had done it in order to satisfy the request of a child he hadn\'t known, named Gavin Bernard. Later, the boy died, while Wood became a professional football player.

He hesitated for a few moments, then signed his name.

From that moment onward, he was an official member of Nottingham Forest\'s first team.