CHAPTER 101: THE CAT

A couple weeks ago, 10th February, 2025.

The afternoon sun slanted across the Adidas campus in Herzogenaurach, casting long shadows through the glass offices. Inside one of them, Martin, a regional scout, slid a tablet across the desk to Ingrid, head of athlete partnerships.

"Watch this," he said, his voice low but urgent. The screen lit up with clips of Lukas — dancing through defenders, finishing with clinical precision, celebrating with a composure that seemed far beyond his age.

Ingrid watched silently, her brows tightening. When the clip ended, she set the tablet down carefully. "Lukas Brandt... I’ve heard about him. He’s... impressive," she admitted. "Too impressive for someone who just turned professional."

"Exactly," Martin pressed. "He’s polished already. It’s not hype — it’s real. We should move now, before anyone else does."

But Ingrid shook her head, leaning back in her chair. "A month into his senior career, Martin. That’s all. Do you know how many talents we’ve seen burn bright for six games, then vanish? If we commit too early, and he falters..." She tapped the Adidas logo stitched into her blazer. "The stripes don’t gamble. Not like that."

Martin tried again, frustration creeping into his voice. "Nike will look at him. Puma, too. We’ll lose him."

"Then let them be reckless," Ingrid replied firmly. She pushed the tablet back across the desk. "If he’s real, he’ll still be shining in two years. Then he’ll be ours."

Martin left the office with the highlight reel still looping in his hands. Out in the corridor, through the glass, he caught a glimpse of the Puma campus in the distance. And for the first time, he wondered if hesitation might cost Adidas more than just a player.

Over 5 kilometers away, though, a completely different conversation was going on.

The Puma headquarters hummed with its usual creative chaos—design sketches on walls, sneakers laid out like works of art donning the black cat in all of its valor, and murals of Pelé, Maradona, and Neymar reminding everyone that the cat had always found its stars.

Inside the round-table boardroom, the air was focused. On the wall, Lukas’s highlight reel played again: goals taken with calm precision, clever passes, the kind of composure you’d expect from a veteran, not a 16-year-old barely a month into his senior career.

Davide, the scout, gestured at the screen. "Look at his body language. Look at his decision-making. He plays like someone who’s been here for years. He’s polished— too polished for his age. That’s not luck. That’s mentality."

Lena frowned, pen poised over her notebook. "Polished, yes. But one month in senior football is not a résumé. Nike will hesitate. Adidas will say: let’s wait two seasons, see if he lasts. And maybe they’re right."

Jamal, the lifestyle lead, leaned back with a grin. "Which is exactly why this is our chance. They’ll wait, we move. By the time they realize he’s the real deal, he’ll already be ours. And if he keeps playing like this, he’s not just a footballer — he’s a statement. He has already won the player-of-the-month award in just his first month of professional football and his performance hasn’t dropped the slightest in the second month. How long do you think it’ll take before those two realize he might not just be a flash in the pan and give him an offer that’ll be hard for him to turn down?"

The reel paused on Lukas’s face after scoring against Hoffenheim: calm, confident, not a trace of nerves. Markus, the veteran executive, finally spoke, his voice low but steady. "Pelé was young. Neymar was young. All of them had people saying ’too soon.’ But those who move first don’t just sign players—they shape eras. If we let the stripes or the swoosh have him after he’s proven, we’ll always be second. This —" he nodded toward the frozen image on the screen — "is the moment Puma wins by believing first."

The room went quiet. Then, one by one, heads began to nod. Lena sighed, but closed her notebook. Davide smiled faintly. Jamal’s grin widened.

"I will contact his agent right away and set up a meeting as soon as possible," Davide said as he walked out of the conference room.

* * *

"Puma?" Javi asked, his eyes wide open as he listened to Marco explain the call he had received a while ago.

"Yes. They seem serious. They want to meet soon to discuss concrete terms, but it seems they’re trying to get your signature before ’the big two’ start circling," Marco responded as he stared directly at Lukas causing Javi to look at his son sitting beside him.

Lukas sat in silence as he listened to Marco talk about interest from Puma.

He already knew it was only a matter of time before a sponsorship offer from a sportswear brand came, but he never quite expected how soon it would be.

Although they were undoubtedly third in the sportswear business behind the hegemonic presence of Nike and their ill-fated neighbors, Adidas, they were still a huge company.

"There is no need to not hear them out," Lukas said after about a minute of sitting in silence. "When do they wanna meet?"

"They had wanted to meet during the international break, but after your performance yesterday, I received a call this morning urging to push the meeting date forward. They’re probably in a hurry to open concrete talks before Nike or Adidas decide to come in. They know you have an important game against Leverkusen on Saturday, so they suggested meeting over lunch or dinner on Sunday in Frankfurt to open talks."

The father-son duo listened attentively as Marco went on about the details of the scheduled meeting. Puma had already prepared the preliminary proposal and it would be shown to Lukas — of course in Javi’s — on Sunday and the negotiation phase would start.

"That works. We’ll be there on time," Javi responded after Marco’s instructions. "In the meantime, don’t worry Lukas, I’ll look up everything relevant to Puma and their endorsement deals that I can find online, just focus on your game," Javi said to his son.

"Well that’s part of my job, I’ll send you the information I have so far. The help is always appreciated," Marco chimed in.

"Thanks dad," Lukas said with a smile, confident that he has trustworthy people with his best interest at heart while he focuses on what really matters.

"By the way, you said multiple sponsorship offers? What other offers came in?" Javi asked.

"Puma is by far the biggest company that has shown interest in having Lukas on as an ambassador. There are a few Frankfurt-based businesses that have inquired about the possibility of a sponsorship. You’re basically a star in Frankfurt, and with how fast your stock is rising, it wouldn’t be very long before some of these businesses are unable to afford you. There are a few clothing companies — although one of them is neither small nor Frankfurt-based, a beverage company, and a company that describes themselves as a Fintech company."

Marco started bringing out some documents from his bag and placing them on the table. They were some proposals from companies looking to get Lukas’s signature.

* * *

At the same time the business conversation was going on at the Brandt’s household in Darmstadt, another business-related conversation was just about to start at the top floor of the ProfiCamp administrative building.

"Please have a seat, Dino," Krösche said as he shook hands with coach Toppmöller and pointed him to the sofa. "Coffee?"

"A cup of tea will do. I’m cutting down on the caffeine. For now, at least," Toppmöller replied as he sat down.

"That’s a good choice. Unfortunately, I cannot follow in your footsteps for now."

Buzzz.

"Bring in a cup of tea and a cup of espresso, please," Krösche said into the telephone on his desk after pressing a button, then stood up and walked to the sofa opposite where Toppmöller was sitting.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Dino?"

"I’m sure you have seen the post-match press conference after yesterday’s match at Bavaria. Bayern Munich is already lurking."

"I saw it. But there’s no real proof that Bayern was behind, is there? It could just have been the reporter fishing for headlines or quotes. It can be nothing at all."

"You know well enough that something like that doesn’t happen at a club like Bayern Munich for no reason. It is quite likely that was done to sow a seed in Lukas’s mind about his prospects of playing in Bavaria."

Krösche looked at Toppmöller for a few seconds without saying a word until a lady dropped the cup of tea and coffee on the table between them and left.

He then broke the silence with a deep sigh.

"Haaaaa... Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to sell him as soon as possible?" Krösche said as he unbuttoned his jacket and took a sip from his coffee.

"Huh? You can’t be serious, right?" Toppmöller asked, completely surprised at the words that just left the CEO’s mouth.