In the blink of an eye, a month goes by. I have settled in exceptionally well. I like that I have a good routine.
On weekdays, I wake up early by 5:30am. I follow the exercise routine set up by the system for me.
I jog around the area for 30min. Stretch and relax my muscles. And then I usually do push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and planks. I do not do strength training at home. I leave it in the capable hands of the trainers at the club.
I am usually done by 6:30/6:45. Then, I get ready for the day, for school. I clean myself up, go down to have breakfast with the family. We have some nice conversations, eat nice food, and leave for school.
In a surprising turn of events, I am getting addicted to drinking coffee. The coffee here is absolutely amazing. I need to keep an eye on how much I am drinking.
My meals have changed a bit as well. I informed my parents about my training plan. I consulted with the trainers at the club and we changed my carbs intake. We decided to reduce it and increase protein intake. So, I am eating a lot of meat. Having a lot of chicken breast with veggies and a light dressing wasn't as bad as it sounded. I am getting used to it now. I still eat cheat meals. But, for now I put everything in the capable hands of the system and the club.
In the last one month, my height has increased by 2cm. I am 176cm now. Which is cool! I am also putting on some weight. Since I didn't have any baby fat before, it is taking a little time to put on extra weight. Since it is going to be muscle, I am not in a rush. For u17, my strength right now should be enough. I could compensate with my pace.
Training every day in the evening is going very well. My passing accuracy is increasing. Slowly but steadily, I am building up a rhythm. I am being noticed a lot for my playmaking ability.
I made the team for U15s. With my first official match coming up next week. I do not know whether I will start yet. But, it doesn't matter. Making the team is a great step.
My puberty also seems to have kickstarted.
I noticed the looks I was getting from the girls at school.
My height and weight have increased by a lot compared to last year, so I got the looks now.
I do not want to date anyone at school right now, but I would take it one day at a time. If I meet someone amazing, I will just wing it.
On Sundays, we go to Church. And I don't know if it is residual Kaka, or because of my existential conundrum, I feel at peace inside. I am not saying that I am a religious zealot, but if I am at peace, who am I to deny this. I pray for my health. For my family's happiness and most importantly, I am just thankful for my existence. I thank the greater powers for giving me this chance and I want to pay it forward.
Once I am rich enough and influential enough, I want to open a school. Which should be free of cost with all the provisions. I know I can't change the system. But, if I could make a small difference to even a couple of lives? I will take it.
So my days are filled with family time in the morning, fun times at school, an improved diet, and really good training with my friends in the evening. I feel like this is calm before the storm. Once I start playing matches, I feel like things will kick up a notch.
I was woken up out of musings by my father.
"I have some news for you Ricardo"
I just raised an eyebrow at him. Waiting for him to continue and give me the news.
"I have received word from coach Joao. He asked us to come to the club this Thursday. We shall be discussing your first professional contract. Well done Kaká. You have made it."
My mom let out a squeal and queue the waterworks. She hugged me to death and kept on mumbling about how proud she was of her little baby. My brother was smiling and just high fived me. Saying that he is next.
My father just had a proud smile on his face and he hugged me and gave me a kiss on my head. I felt really emotional. I could feel the love and could tell how proud they are of this.
"I want mamãe and the little shit to also come. Is that possible?"
"Thursday, we are just going to discuss the terms and all. We need to contact a lawyer as well. And maybe find an agent for you. I think it is time, we have a team setup for you. You're going to be a professional now Ricardo. These contracts are important. I don't want to rush it."
"Yeah, you're right. I will ask around and find out from other u17 players if they have agents and see if we can find someone good. You could deal with the legalities of it. We can go through the initial contract and see if we have any issues with it."
"I want Mamãe and Digão to be there for the signing. It is very important to me. I know the club wouldn't make a big deal of it, but I want these moments to be recorded. I want some nice photos and we can go celebrate afterwards."
My mom was all emotional, and I could tell she really appreciated that I wanted her there. With that done, I went to school thinking about football agents and contract terms.
Now, I want a good agent. Call it bias, but I do not want an agent like Mino Raiola. I have seen interviews where Zlatan and Haaland praised Raiola that he has his client's interest first. But, what happened with Pogba, and how things went down, and the amount of money he was making on deals and stuff, that didn't sit right with me.
Since I didn't have enough information about other agents, I wanted to talk to the players at Sao Paulo first, see if I could find a temporary agent for the time being. My main goal is to make sure the Milan move happens. In my past life and Kaka in this life have been huge fans of Milan. AC Milan is where I want to be. So, the agent right now didn't matter too much.
I know where my father was coming from. He wanted an agent so that my future could be secured. He wants professionals dealing with the club. I get that. But, I also don't want to sign away my future and sign some deals with agents who could control my career. I need to be careful. I will talk to my father about this.
My parents background helps in this regard. Being an engineer and teacher, they know not to sign anything without thinking things through. They wouldn't risk anything for short term gains. They want structure and they want security. I really appreciate that about them. And they are really nice to sit me down and talk to me about all things.
I reached the club, and coach Joao pulled me aside as soon as I entered. He asked me to join the u15 first team for training. That was a nice change. I thanked him for the opportunity and told him that I wanted to talk to him afterwards and he said okay and asked me to meet him in his office.
The team drills were a bit different to the drills other prospects were out through. In a team, the training depends on team work, synergy and learning to play in the system. While we were making progress with our own training and passing exercises, being a part of a 11 and playing with people regularly makes a huge difference.
Sao Paulo youth teams have main teams and reserve teams. This is not including the senior first team and senior reserve squad. At each level, we have multiple teams. That's a lot of people. But, that works in our favour as well. Competition is needed to make people shine. Unless we were put under pressure, we wouldn't know who is a diamond and who is not.
So, for the first team training, we had a 11 vs 11 match today. It was a mix of first and reserves. I was not yet a starter, but I will soon be. I had a confident smirk on my face because most of the people here haven't seen my improvements over the past month. They knew the skinny short kid. Not the one I am now.
I am going to take my chances today and make a play for the first team spot.
As soon as the game started, I didn't rush into things. I wanted to keep things simple. I received the ball, I passed it forward to anyone I found in space. I moved into space to receive the return pass, if not, I would drag a defender with me to make space for the forwards. I didn't play any fancy stuff in the beginning as I wanted to observe how the kids played.
The first 20minutes went by like this. We were only playing 60min matches in training. So, there were 10minutes left for half time. With neither side making any progress, I decided to change the status quo. I dropped deep to receive the ball at the half way line in our half. Scanned the field, and instead of passing, I flicked the ball past the midfielder and took off.
This was the first time I decided to go full speed, I could control the ball very well while sprinting and if surprised the team and they were caught off guard.
For 20min they saw me make safe passes, so they were waiting for it. But, when they realised that I was running into the box, it was already too late.
I dribbled past their midfielders, slowed down a bit at the edge of the box, since I couldn't see an opening. I checked to see if anyone would make a move towards the near post, but my team's forwards haven't arrived there. So, instead I chose to go for it. I pulled the ball aside and I let it fly. I didn't put any curve on it. I made a sweet connection with my boot and the ball went through the tiniest of gaps between two of their defenders.
Their goalie wasn't ready for a shot and the two defenders were blocking his line of sight to the ball. He couldn't judge the speed, and was too slow to react. All he could do was hear the sound of the ball crashing into the net behind him.
I ran to the side, pointed my fingers to the sky and thanked the heavens. This was my first goal in proper practice, in front of all the coaches and new teammates. I was ecstatic. My teammates joined me in the huddle. And they clapped my back.
We found a new rhythm after the goal and kept attacking but they defended fiercely and the score stayed 1-0 at half time.
When we went for the break, I looked out for our team's two forwards. I went up to them and told them that next time I had the ball, I wanted them to run towards the goal, and that I would pass it to them. They raised an eyebrow at that, but I told them that I would make a long pass to them over the defense and they should be through on goal if I succeed. I asked the coach permission as well, since I didn't want to disrupt anything. He said that I had two chances and if they don't work out, we play normally.
I was happy with that. Two chances are all I need.
In the next half, the opposition came at us with full force. They attacked relentlessly and I found myself having to defend more than I would have liked to. I kept clearing the ball since I wasn't too comfortable with tackles yet. In the 50th minute, after one of their attacks, the ball came to me at the edge of our box. I collected the ball calmly and started running. The counter was on.
I looked up and saw that one of my forwards on the right side, Mario, didn't join us in the defense and he was making a run. I pinged a ball into the free space behind the defensive line. He ran to it, controlled the ball and he cut inside. I didn't stay idle and I ran as quickly as I could to lend support. He was one on one with the keeper. He tried to go around the keeper, but put too much power on the touch and the ball went out for a goal kick.
But, after the play he gave me a thumbs up. The plan was sound. My pass was perfect. If he were to finish it, we would have gone 2-0.
Luckily for me, a chance came in the 58th minute. At the half way line, their midfielder made a bad pass and our team intercepted it. My DM passed it to me quickly. I was maybe 40 yards away from the goal. I had two choices, I could drive up and try to score again, or I could go close and try to find a pass. There were too many bodies for my liking to attempt a long shot. So, I kept a close control of the ball and I threaded a pass between three defenders. My left side forward Ricardo was in the right place, he made the perfect run, and didn't even need to take a touch, he just hit it first time around the keeper. The ball rattled the far post, but went into the net. 2-0.
I pumped my fists and Ricardo celebrated wildly. And once done he pointed to me. I received the acknowledgement for the pass. Even the coaches were happy with what they saw.
The game ended 2-0. Ricardo was the first team striker. Mario was in the reserve. Ricardo appreciated how I played the game and how I waited for the chances instead of forcing things and he said that if we played regularly, with some chemistry, these kinds of passes would be lethal. I agreed wholeheartedly.
With that done, we dispersed after some feedback by coaches. They didn't have anything negative to say about me, other than the fact that my defense needs to be worked on. I wasn't aggressive enough. I accepted the feedback. I freshened up in the showers and went to find coach Joao.
Once in his office, I went straight into it, and told him that my father told me about the contract discussion.
"Thank you coach, for the opportunity. I am extremely happy about it"
"We have been watching you closely Kaká. We don't miss those extra training your group has been doing. We could see the improvement. We could see how good you are at playmaking. We could also see that your physicality had a remarkable improvement. We are sure of this. You deserve to be in the squad. With more matches under your belt, we will see you perform in competitive matches, and we can see how to improve"
"Thanks coach. I will do my absolute best to not let you down"
"I wanted to talk to you to know if you know of any good agents. I wanted to know if I should get one for myself now or once I start making regular appearances. I do not want to rush into it, and since this will be my first professional contract, I want to be thorough"
"There are a couple of good agents here I could refer you to Kaka. But, off the record, they wouldn't be the greatest agents. They are good for now, for here. But, would they be able to help you for your whole career? I don't think so. Speak to them. It is good to have a second opinion on these contracts. And having a representation shows the club that you're serious about things as well."
He pulled out a couple of cards and handed them out to me.
"These three are the ones who work regularly with our u17 players. You should also talk to the players and find out about their agents as well"
"Thank you for the advice coach. I will consider it."
I didn't linger much longer and took my leave after that.
I went home, told my family about the match, about my performance, 1 goal and an assist. They were very happy.
I pulled the cards out and gave them to my father and asked him to inquire about them. He liked that I was following up on taking initiative and he knew I was serious about this. He nodded and took the cards.
Dinner ended with some good family time, talking about our day and some jokes.
I went to sleep, thinking about the contract and my first official match.
Watch out world, a storm is coming!