Noah turned to Leo last.
The latter hadn’t opened his contract yet and had only mostly been listening to that of his friends.
"Yours," Noah said, "was the most interesting one to negotiate. Because it’s defined in some ways and not defined at all in others."
Leo’s brow went up slightly as Noah continued, not wasting any time.
"They came in at a hundred and thirty thousand pounds," Noah said.
The brow Leo had went even higher after that.
Noah smiled.
"Yeah. That was my reaction too."
"I think they lowballed, honestly, given everything," he continued, making Leo and the other duo scoff.
A low ball? What would a real deal for a young case like Leo be in his books, then, they thought as they looked at Noah.
"Yes, I know what you are thinking, but remember football isn’t as it used to be when the more time spent in the game meant what you got. Now, youngsters earn much more than their older counterparts because of one thing they have going for them, and that is youth. If you are good enough, you are old enough to play, and so if you are good enough, then you are old enough to get paid."
The logic was very sound, to say the least, when the trio thought about it.
"But," Noah continued after a while, "that’s how these things start. They make an opening offer, and you make the case for why it’s wrong."
He leaned forward slightly. "So I made the case."
"Which was?" Leo said.
"Pep Guardiola said publicly he’d want a player like you. You just took a Championship club to the Premier League and to an FA Cup final against the best team in the country. And your Instagram following." Noah glanced down briefly.
"You’re at a hundred and fifteen thousand now."
"For context," Noah continued, "the average top performer in the Championship sits somewhere between thirty and eighty thousand followers. Most of them. And the majority of talented prospects breaking into the Premier League for the first time don’t even touch those numbers. You’re already past all of them, and you haven’t played a single Premier League minute yet."
Realising he had leaned forward in excitement, Noah sat back down before continuing.
"So I used all of that. Pep’s comments, the Premier League status, the following and the trajectory you are going in to take it to a hundred and ninety-five thousand base."
Jake leaned back in his chair.
"A hundred and ninety-" he tried saying before pausing after he had to catch the frappe cup he had knocked over from falling
"Base," Noah said, looking at him briefly before turning back to Leo.
"Now. The reason I said defined and not defined."
Leo opened the contract.
"The bonuses they put in," Noah said, "are either they didn’t think it through, or they did and decided to be generous. I’m not sure which."
He paused as Leo’s eyes seemed to glance through the contract.
"They are offering fifty thousand extra if you make twenty Premier League starts next season."
Jake’s head came around immediately.
"Twenty starts? That’s just a little over 50% of Wigan’s games. They’ve got me at sixty per cent appearances."
"They’re not the same thing," Noah said, not unkindly.
"Twenty starts is a little over half of Wigan’s Premier League games, which means as it stands, Leo has to start in over 50% of Wigan’s games to trigger the bonus."
"For you, it was sixty per cent appearances, and that means coming off the bench counts. Plus yours stated 60% appearances in Wigan’s games, not just the Premier League."
"Oh," Jake said with a smile as he glanced back into his contract and read it again.
"My bad," he said as he nudged Leo in the arm.
"If Leo’s available," Noah continued, looking back at Leo, "he starts. That had been the pattern since the start of the year and a little before that. There’s no reason to think Dawson changes it. So twenty starts, assuming no serious injury, is not a difficult number."
Leo nodded, reading along.
"The other one," Noah said, "is a hundred thousand pounds if Wigan stay in the Premier League next season. Avoid relegation, and it triggers automatically."
The table went quiet for a second.
"They’ve tied that amounf ot money to something that isn’t really in my hands," Leo said with a scoff.
"I know," Noah said. "Which is why I said it felt like free money, though, for that, staying in the Premier League is something very few teams manage to do. Still, Wigan staying up isn’t your responsibility alone. Eleven players, a manager, a whole squad. But they’ve put it in there regardless." He shrugged slightly.
"I wasn’t going to argue them out of it since it doesn’t harm you in any way."
"Oh well," Leo said, almost to himself, still reading.
"I also want to point out," Noah said, looking at all three of them, "that Leo’s bonuses aren’t built around goals and assists the way yours are."
He nodded at Jake and then Ezra.
"What Leo does on a pitch doesn’t always show up in those columns. Seven goals and seven assists across all competitions last season for a defensive midfielder is actually a very good return, but his value is in things you can’t easily put a number on. Skechers understood that, which is why his structure looks different."
Leo closed the contract and set it back on the table.
"So," Noah said, looking at the three of them. "You’ve got time to think it through. Not a lot of time, because Skechers want to start the rollout before Harry Kane’s announcement in August, and they need everything confirmed before that process begins. But I think it’s enough time to read properly, ask questions, and come back to me."
He looked at each of them once more.
"Any questions now?"
The trio sat silent with their respective contracts for a while before they lifted their heads and shook them almost simultaneously.
"That’s good. Take it home and read it through with your families," Noah said while leaning forward again.
"Oh, and a word of advice, you guys have got to step up your game in these few months that you have, and I’m not saying this for jokes. The Premier League is a different beast, and if care is not taken, it will swallow you and your career might be over even before you make it!