20 Manager

As John walked on the streets of Buenos Aires along with Michael, he couldn't help but remember his meeting with Antonio Conte. John was almost certain that he could convince Conte to manage Leicester. But he asked for one thing John wasn't willing to give away, the authority to transfer players. John felt that it would've been alright if he was a normal chairman, but he was from the future. There wasn't a single person on the earth right now that could predict a player's future more accurately than him.

Now they were going to meet the next candidate, and perhaps the best suited candidate for EFL Championship- Diego Simeone. His football may not be attractive, that's why he was low on the list alongside the fact that Simeone can't speak English, but it was perhaps the best style for Championship. The football in Championship was very physical and unforgiving. Simeone would be like a fish in the water there.

John looked at Michael, "How many languages can you speak exactly?"

John asked Michael this question because when he was trying to find a translator, Michael told him that he could speak Spanish. Alongwith German, that's three languages John knew about. He wanted to make sure he knew about how many languages can Michael speak.

"Just those three" Michael replied in a slightly smug voice.

"Just three, huh?" John said in a sarcastic tone.

As they entered the place they were going to meet, Michael started looking around for a place to sit.

"What are you doing?" John asked Michael

"Searching for a place to sit and wait." replied Michael as if it was obvious.

"He's already here." John said as his gaze fell on a figure clad in black suit. He couldn't help but smile at seeing the gifted Argentinian manager in his trademark black outfit.

"Hello, Mr. Simeone" greeted John as he went to the table where Simeone was sitting.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Baker" Simeone replied in Spanish but John could understand that with what little Spanish he knew.

John had already told Michael that he would be the one negotiating this time. Michael had already been with him previously so he knew what conditions they would be willing to give.

"Hello, Mr. Simeone, I am Michael Edwards, Sporting Director of Leicester City." Michael spoke in fluent Spanish.

"Hello" replied Simeone.

"We watched your stint with Estudiantes last year and were impressed by the work you've done there in a short amount of time." Michael said to Simeone.

"We would like to invite you to Leicester to build something exciting. Even though we are in second division, the new leadership is willing to invest in the club. This year alone, a budget of 10 million is present to build a squad that is capable of challenging for Premier League spots." Michael grew more confident as he spoke.

"We are willing to build a squad that is suitable for your tactics and you will have our full support at the club. You will be the sole decision maker regarding match related matters like training, squad selection and tactics. You can also hire the coaching staff acc. to your preferences. You can also identify the kind of players you want, and we will do our best to bring in the kind of players that fit in your system."

Seeing Simeone listening intently, Michael continued, "We are willing to give you a five year contract worth 1 million pounds annually with a 20% increase every year along with other performance related bonuses."

At this Simeone was surprised. 1 million pounds salary was quite a high salary for a Championship manager, but he wasn't surprised at this. He was surprised at the length of the contract. Even though he achieved many things in his playing career and led Estudiantes to Apertura title, he hadn't achieved anything in Europe as a manager. So, to what led them to put this amount of trust in him, he didn't know, but he felt happy at the recognition of his abilities as a manager.

"Don't managers get the transfer rights at English clubs?" Simeone asked the young man who was apparently the Sporting director at Leicester.

"We've put together a system at Leicester to identify and recruit players that we need, so we will try our best in transfer market, but the transfer rights..." Michael realised that he lost his composure.

"Don't worry, I am quite alright with leaving transfers to you guys. I don't know much about players playing in Second Division in Europe anyways." Simeone reassured the young lad with a smile.

"I do have one concern though, I can't speak English" Simeone raised the only concern he had.

"We've already made arrangements for that. There will be a translator at the club until you learn the language." Michael replied as his confidence returned.

"Alright then, looks like you've come prepared. I am ready to sign the contract, but I will be bringing a conditioning and fitness coach with me" Simeone said, he was satisfied with the conditions he received and an opportunity to coach in Europe will be good for him.

Michael relayed that to John who asked with a knowing smile, "Who?"

"Oscar Ortega" replied Simeone.

"Done" John said as Leicester City will finally have a new manager.

Simeone will be flying to England in two days to officially sign the contract. He had also asked them to prepare the film of Leicester games from the last season so that he can assess the squad and changes he will have to make.

John was quite happy to provide that because the sooner he identifies the positions that need to be reinforced, the sooner they can begin making moves in the transfer market.