"None of us do," Thomas admitted, "which is exactly the point, he came from nowhere, Fiorentina academy reject who didn't even have a club four weeks ago, and now he's viral for one of the most technically brilliant goals of the opening weekend, the narrative practically writes itself."

"One game doesn't make a career," David interjected immediately, his tone dismissive. "We have the Generation Pack launching in November and the Next Gen program starting right after, we can't afford to waste a roster spot on someone who flames out after fifteen minutes of fame."

"That's exactly what people said about Haaland after his Salzburg debut," Thomas countered smoothly. "And about Vinicius after his first Madrid goal, and about half the players we're currently paying millions to represent our brand, everyone starts somewhere and viral moments are how you build brands in the modern market."

"Viral moments fade," Jennifer added, shaking her head. "TikTok fame doesn't translate to sustained performance, by November this kid could be riding the bench and by next August he could be back in the lower leagues, we need stability not lottery tickets."

"We need both," Marcus said slowly, and his expression shifted as he stared at the screen where Thomas had pulled up Demien's Instagram profile—162,000 followers and climbing. "If the Next Gen program is about capturing the next generation of talent before they become expensive, then this Walter kid fits the exact profile we're looking for, young, talented, viral, and cheap."

"Cheap isn't the same as valuable," David argued. "His contract with Atalanta is probably minimal, but that doesn't mean he's worth our investment when we have limited slots and every signing needs to justify itself against quarterly targets."

"How many slots do we have?" Elena asked, turning to Marcus.

"Six for Next Gen, globally," Marcus replied. "Two already allocated to prospects in South America, one in Germany, one in France, which leaves two spots for Europe and we're sitting here debating whether to fill them with proven commodities or take risks on volatility."

"What's the downside?" Thomas pressed, leaning forward now. "We approach his agent, express interest, offer a small lifestyle deal that positions him in Sophia's line for training and content while he wears Mercurials for matches, if he crashes we're out maybe three hundred thousand euros over two years, if he succeeds we own the next viral football star at a fraction of what he'll cost six months from now."

Jennifer scoffed. "Three hundred thousand isn't small money for an unproven prospect, and if he fails it reflects poorly on our scouting judgment and undermines the entire Next Gen brand positioning that we're betting on intelligence and data-driven selection."

"Intelligence and data-driven selection is exactly what got us beaten to Yamal," Thomas shot back, and his voice carried an edge now. "We spent eighteen months tracking metrics and building reports while Adidas moved on instinct and relationships, we can't keep being reactive in a market that rewards speed over precision."

The debate spiraled again; Marcus pulled up video footage of Demien's debut, the rainbow flick playing in slow motion, the celebration with his mother through the fence, the post-match interview where he dedicated goals to "a special girl" and the internet exploded with speculation.

"The content writes itself," Thomas said, pausing the video on Demien's face—young, composed, articulate beyond his years. "This is exactly the kind of athlete who builds brands in the social media era, he's not just talented, he's marketable, relatable, and he has a story that resonates with the demographic we're targeting."

"Stories don't score goals," David muttered, but his tone was less certain now.

"No, but they sell shoes," Marcus replied, and he stood up, hands on the table. "Here's the reality, everyone, we're three months from launching a program that's supposed to compete with Adidas and Puma for the next generation of football talent, we've already lost Yamal, we can't afford to lose momentum by playing it safe."

"So we chase every viral player who has one good game?" Jennifer challenged. "That's not strategy, that's desperation."

"It's not chasing everyone," Marcus corrected. "It's identifying moments when opportunity aligns with narrative, and Walter right now is a moment, whether he sustains it or not isn't relevant yet because we're not committing ten million euros, we're committing minimal resources to explore potential upside with manageable risk."

"What about Sophia's line?" Elena interjected suddenly, and several heads turned toward her. "We've been discussing the need for an athlete to anchor Sophia Athletics, someone young who can validate that the shoes work for real performance instead of just lifestyle, Walter could fill that role while we test his viability for the broader Next Gen program."

The room considered this; Sophia smiled slightly from the back, waiting for the perfect moment.

"That's not a terrible idea," Thomas admitted. "We split the risk, he wears Mercurials for matches which positions him in the Ronaldo legacy narrative—same boots, next generation—but for training, lifestyle, and content he's Sophia's athlete, we build him together and if he pans out everyone wins, if he doesn't she absorbs the lifestyle side and we're not overexposed on the football operations budget."

"Does Sophia even want an athlete yet?" David asked, glancing around the room. "Her line just launched the deal two weeks ago, we're still in pre-production for the fall collection, adding an athlete this early could complicate messaging if we're not ready to activate properly."

"I want him."

Every head turned; Sophia pushed off the wall and walked to the table, her voice cutting through the room like a blade, and she moved to stand beside Marcus near the screen.

"Demien Walter is my first brand ambassador for Sophia Athletics," she said clearly, and she met each executive's eyes in turn. "And here's why this works for everyone."

She gestured to the screen, to the frozen image of Demien's face mid-celebration.

"You're launching Next Gen to compete with Adidas' young roster, Marcus just said it, you need athletes who validate the program exists beyond product innovation, I need an athlete who validates that my shoes work for real performance and not just fashion influencer partnerships, and we both get him at a fraction of what he'll cost in six months if this moment turns into sustained success."

"Sophia—" Marcus started, but she raised a hand.

"Let me finish. Put him in Mercurial Superfly Nines for matches, position him in the Ronaldo legacy exactly like Thomas suggested, same boots, next generation, that's your football operations narrative and it connects him immediately to Nike's most iconic player partnership. But for training, lifestyle, and content, he's mine, we build him together through Sophia Athletics, we create content around his journey from academy reject to Serie A, we position him as the anti-establishment success story that resonates with Gen Z and younger millennials who care about authenticity over polish."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.