Even seeing it written down looked ridiculous.

João, who somehow still sat quietly in the corner despite absolutely nobody officially inviting him into the negotiations, stared at the number for a second.

"Three hundred million pounds?" he repeated.

Aaron smirked slightly.

Marco looked completely serious.

"If one day another club wants him badly enough," he said calmly, "they can pay it."

Hugo rubbed his forehead lightly.

"You know," he muttered, "you nearly gave our legal department a collective heart attack arguing for that clause."

Marco shrugged.

"That means I did my job."

Javi stayed mostly silent throughout all of it, though Lukas occasionally caught him staring at the figures on the page with a look that still hadn’t fully processed what his son’s life had become.

Eventually, Hugo looked toward Lukas again.

"Everything okay?"

Lukas sat back slightly in his chair, still holding the papers.

Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola.

The Premier League.

The Champions League.

A £300 million release clause.

It all still felt slightly surreal.

Then he looked toward Javi.

"You good with this?"

Javi looked at him for a second before nodding slowly.

"If you are."

That was enough.

Lukas reached for the pen.

Signed his name at the bottom of the contract.

LUKAS BRANDT.

Marco signed after him.

Then Javi.

Then finally Hugo Viana signed on behalf of Manchester City Football Club.

The moment the final signature hit the paper, Hugo closed the folder with a small smile.

"Congratulations," he said.

And just like that—

Lukas Brandt officially became a Manchester City player.

The rest of the day disappeared into media work.

By the time Lukas finished signing the contract officially, an entirely different machine took over.

Manchester City’s media department.

And unlike the negotiations earlier—

this machine moved fast.

The first stop was interviews.

Short introductory questions at first.

Simple things.

"How does it feel to join Manchester City?"

"What convinced you to make the move?"

"What are your goals here?"

Lukas sat beneath bright studio lights wearing a plain black training top with the Manchester City crest stitched over the chest while cameras rolled from multiple angles.

"It feels unreal honestly," he admitted during one of them. "Manchester City is one of the biggest clubs in the world. Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches ever. So... I’m just really excited to get started."

Then came another interview.

Longer this time.

Questions about the Nations League.

About Germany.

About pressure.

About wearing the number seventeen shirt.

The media team clearly loved the way he spoke. Calm. Confident. Not overly polished. Still young enough to feel genuine.

After that came the photo sessions.

And those somehow took even longer.

Pictures with the home kit.

Pictures with the away kit.

Pictures sitting down.

Pictures standing.

Pictures holding the shirt.

Pictures looking serious.

Pictures smiling.

Pictures with crossed arms.

Pictures on the training pitch.

Pictures beside giant City crests.

The kid nearly exploded from excitement.

Then came the announcement video shoot.

The most carefully planned part of the entire media day.

Smoke machines.

Lighting rigs.

Slow-motion camera setups.

Different angles.

One shot had Lukas walking through a dark tunnel wearing the full Manchester City kit for the first time, the number seventeen visible behind him.

Another had him standing in front of a massive digital display screen with his image projected behind him in blue.

BRANDT.

17.

MANCHESTER CITY.

The media director handed him a marker afterward.

"Alright," he said, "one more."

In front of the display stood a giant presentation board with his City shirt mounted onto it.

Lukas stepped forward.

Signed the shirt carefully.

Then underneath it—

2030.

And below that—

his signature.

The cameras flashed immediately.

"That’s the shot," somebody behind the cameras said excitedly.

* * *

Hours passed before everything was finally completed.

By the time they left the City Football Academy, the sun had already started lowering over Manchester.

Aaron drove them into the city afterward to get dinner.

Nothing overly formal.

Just a high-end restaurant near Deansgate where everyone finally had a chance to breathe properly after the chaos of the day.

João spent most of dinner talking about how ridiculous the City facilities were.

"I’m serious," he said while pointing his fork dramatically. "Their gym alone is bigger than my entire school."

"That says more about your school," Joanna replied calmly.

After dinner, Aaron finally took them to the temporary apartment arranged for Lukas.

A luxury apartment complex in Deansgate.

Modern.

Quiet.

Expensive enough that João immediately stopped talking when they entered the lobby.

The apartment itself sat high above the city with enormous windows overlooking Manchester at night. The interior was sleek and minimalist—dark wood flooring, soft lighting, modern furniture, clean kitchen design.

Three bedrooms.

Three bathrooms.

A massive living area.

Floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the skyline.

João walked into the living room and immediately whistled.

"Okay," he admitted. "Yeah. Footballers are rich."

Aaron smiled slightly.

"This will be your temporary residence for now," he explained to Lukas. "Over the next few weeks I’ll help prepare options for something permanent if you decide you want to settle here long-term."

Lukas nodded.

"That makes sense."

"The players will help too," Aaron added. "Once you settle in and start meeting everyone properly, you’ll get a better idea of the areas you like, where teammates stay, privacy levels, commute times, all of that."

After another few minutes of explaining smaller details, Aaron finally stood.

"I’ll let you all settle in," he said. "Tomorrow’s lighter. The official announcement goes out in the morning. After that, you’re free unless you want to come by the facility again."

"And then America," João muttered dramatically.

Aaron laughed lightly.

"Then America."

After saying goodbye, he finally left the apartment.

For the first time all day—

it became quiet.

Really quiet.

Marco stretched slightly before looking toward Lukas.

"Congratulations."

Lukas smiled.

"Thanks."

Marco shrugged casually.

"Just doing my job."

João immediately pointed at himself.

"You know you’re also my agent, right?"

Marco blinked once.

"So?"

"So now you’re going to get me my own £2.5 million-a-year contract."

That made Javi laugh from the kitchen while Marco shook his head.

"Keep improving first," he replied calmly. "Then we’ll talk."

João grinned.

"So you’re saying it’s possible."

"I’m saying stop talking."

Eventually, even Marco left for the night.

Then slowly everyone split off into their rooms.

João claimed one immediately.

Javi took another.

And Lukas and Joanna disappeared into the last one together.

By then exhaustion had finally started catching up to him.

The adrenaline from the day was fading.

The apartment was quiet except for the distant sounds of the city outside.

Lukas lay back against the bed while Joanna rested beside him, her head against his chest.

For a while neither of them spoke.

Then quietly—

"How are you feeling?"

Lukas stared up at the ceiling for a second before answering.

"Tired."

She laughed softly.

"No kidding."

"But..." He exhaled slowly. "Good."

Satisfied.

That was probably the better word for it.

The stress.

The travel.

The negotiations.

The cameras.

The expectations.

Everything had finally become real.

And as he lay there in the darkened apartment high above Manchester, listening to the distant noise of the city that would now become part of his life, there was a strange feeling settling deep inside him.

Not relief.

Not excitement either.

Something heavier.

Something more permanent.

Because although Lukas Brandt had already established himself as one of football’s brightest young stars—

this move felt different.

Eintracht Frankfurt had introduced him to the world.

But Manchester City?

Manchester City was where legends were expected.

Where greatness was demanded.

Where every season carried pressure heavy enough to crush players far older than him.

And somewhere deep down—

Lukas knew this was the first real step toward proving whether he truly belonged among the greatest players the sport would ever see.

*******

Vol 2. The Debut Season is over! Finally!

Thank you all for your support so far, let’s keep going forward strongly!