Norman promised that he was going to take the boys out for dinner the next day after their victory against Frono FC, and right now he was keeping that promise.
They had to go to one of the more expensive restaurants where they wouldn't be getting interrupted constantly by random people who recognizes them, and the restaurant they were in now was just perfect.
They did get interrupted by the waiter who was a big fan of Mateo but he didn't act all crazy and that was just it.
The players along with their coach were all dressed nicely and were all sitting around this large table that was brought so that most of them could fit into one table at least.
Not all the players came though, Jonas said he had something important to take care of that night and there was Martinez had plans with his wife, Harry had to go see his mother in the hospital and Pirlo was just out on a date.
Those weren't the only ones that couldn't make it but they were the only ones that gave a reason for not being able to come.
That said, the number of players that were there that night was still greater than the ones that couldn't make it.
They ordered some drinks before kicking off their feast with some barbecue.
Just before they started drinking, Minino had a toast to make, and just as he said that, everyone knew he was about to say something crazy.
"To making it to the round of sixteen of the Europa Conference League and also to dismantling Frono FC yesterday and making Darwin cry." He recited with his glass of drink raised.
That first part was okay and everyone thought he was going to end it there and act normal for once but he had to sneak in that last part with that smug expression on his face.
"We're definitely going to hear this somewhere later." Merino sighed.
The team ate and drank to their fill while discussing some matters.
They started off with matters regarding their personal life, that was when they found out that Dave was expecting a male child soon because Ferran just had to ask.
The discussion topics kept on fluctuating between casual and serious topics until Norman finally decided to bring up the topic of next season's transfers.
He had his gaze on Dave as he decided to ask his first question regarding the topic.
"So, Dave, I heard you were in Frankfurt during the break some say it was mainly because you're planning to move there next season, how true is that?"
"Well, if you put it that way it is sort of true since you didn't bring up anything related to contracts, I just went there to see how the atmosphere is because it is one of the clubs I am considering moving to but I haven't made up my mind yet." The goalkeeper replied.
"So, you're dead set on leaving at the end of this season I see," Norman remarked before taking a sip from his glass of wine.????????????????????????????????.????????????
"Yeah."
"Are you really sure you can't stay one more season? You know you'll get a better renewal offer with the things you've done so far this season."
"I know coach, but I have to leave, I'm sorry."
"Hmm, I see, I guess signing a new goalkeeper is on my to-do list for next season, I'll inform the scouts about that too." The coach muttered before turning his gaze to Mateo who had his glass on his lips for a while because Norman just kept looking his way. " What about you Mateo? I know you were in Madrid."
The winger almost choked on his drink after hearing him say that, but he was able to get a hold of himself and slowly drop the glass on the table. I think you should take a look at
"You already told me you were leaving at the end of the season I just wanted to know if you changed your mind."
"No, not really." The winger replied before shaking his head.
"Hmm, I see." Norman sighed.
Although losing Dave was quite a big blow to him and the whole team, losing Mateo was a bigger blow because, at the end of the day, he could just sign a good goalkeeper without all the extra stuff Dave came with.
Finding another player like Mateo was going to be pretty tough for him, the winger gave him the impression that he didn't need to sign another proper left winger but now it was finally time to make that move of bringing in two proper left-wingers.
If it was up to him, he would try his best to make the winger stay but not force him because it would be bad if he stays and plays for the club with no interest, but as long as his move was going to make a huge sum for the club which is a possibility with almost no doubt, then the board was going to push it.
"I guess that's another thing to note down."
"Don't worry coach, I'm still here! No matter what we'll still dismantle Frono FC whenever we meet them again." Minino declared.
He seemed to be getting a little drunk there because his voice sounded a bit drowsy.
"Yeah, we know," Merino muttered before letting out a sigh.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable dinner for everyone and they all had lots of fun, Norman was quite close with most of his players and maybe that was part of his secret in getting the most out of them.
______ ______
After the team dinner that night, the players went straight back to training the next day.
The training session was set to kick off by 3:00 PM, and right now, all the players were on the pitch hitting it out because it was 3:40 PM already.
Minino was still feeling the effects of almost drinking himself to a stupor last night but he couldn't mess up in training with Norman watching, this was one of those places where he had to take things seriously.
However, it was still a fun training session because Norman didn't like making training sessions too strict for his players unless it was really necessary, most of the time he just allowed them to do whatever they wanted as long as it was a form of training.
That was the reason why the players had just come up with a new activity targeted mainly toward improving Dave's goalkeeping and they called it ball barrage.
It was a fun idea from Minino where they had to linearly place ten balls near the edge of the box and have ten players stand over them.
The idea was to have the first player fire his ball toward the goalpost and just as Dave rushes toward that one and saves or fails to save it, the next person would immediately fire his own and it would continue like that till the tenth person.
This was a test to see how fast the goalkeeper was and how many balls he was going to save.
It was just like what Catherine had been subjecting him to in his dream.
"Alright, Dave, are you ready?!" Fredinho asked before raising his hand as he was going to be the first person.
"This is pretty wild but yeah!" The goalkeeper responded before raising his hand.
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