⚽ Football Reborn: The Manager from the Future
Chapter 18 – Academy Under Siege: The Phantom Syndicate Strikes First
Darlington, England.
The clouds were low, the air cold — typical for March — but the tension rising inside the Darlington FC training facility had nothing to do with the weather.
Ethan stood before a wall of surveillance monitors in the academy's newly outfitted AI security room.
Footage looped silently on-screen:
– A dark van idling too long near the youth gates.
– A training drone falling from the sky with its lens scratched.
– A scout's locker rifled through but not robbed.
It wasn't paranoia anymore.
It was war.
The AI had flagged the breach two nights ago, quietly at first:
⚠️ Suspicious Pattern Detected
External Surveillance Grid Access Attempt – Blocked
Unknown IP origin: Tier-3 encryption node (classified military-grade)
Probability of corporate intelligence agency: 81.3%
Whoever was watching them wasn't just a rival club.
They were something deeper.
And Ethan had a name for them now — whispered through anonymized chat logs from blacklisted scout forums:
The Phantom Syndicate.
An elite, off-the-books consortium of sports investors, ex-agents, and data brokers — the kind of people who didn't lose.
The kind of people who would kill a football dream just to protect the future they'd already bet on.
Greg stood at the edge of the room, arms folded.
"We're not equipped to deal with this level of attention," he said. "They're using military tech to track youth players."
"I know," Ethan replied.
"They've already seen our files. If we go public—"
"We don't. Not yet."
Ethan turned to the central console and issued a vocal command.
"Activate Black Mode. Limit biometric access to Level 1 personnel. Encrypt all youth data under Project Phoenix key."
The room lights dimmed.
The digital locks began sealing.
"From now on," Ethan said, "we act like a start-up hiding from tech giants."
"Like a rebellion," Greg said with a smirk.
Ethan nodded. "Exactly."
The first real blow came a day later.
Jude Bellingham, age 12 — the next in line to join Ethan's elite youth team — went missing from his Birmingham-area academy.
Gone.
No phone. No goodbye. No trail.
Just… gone.
Ethan was on a train to Birmingham within the hour. He met Jude's father in a small kitchen, the man white-knuckling a teacup.
"He's never run away," Mr. Bellingham said. "He loved football. Loved your offer. Said he couldn't wait to train next to Messi."
Ethan checked the AI.
📡 Signal Loss Confirmed: Jude Bellingham
Last ping: Near warehouse district outside Sutton Coldfield
Probability of Syndicate Abduction: 68.7%
Legal options: None
Recommended action: Recover quietly, avoid media
Greg called five minutes later.
"Ethan… there's more."
"What?"
"Every online mention of your youth project? Wiped. The Syndicate is erasing us."
Back at Darlington, Ethan gathered the boys.
Messi. Ronaldo. Neymar. Vardy. Fati. Small faces and big dreams, all lined up under the halogen lights of the indoor pitch.
"I won't lie to you," he said, pacing slowly. "You're not just footballers anymore. You're symbols. Of change. Of what's possible."
Messi tilted his head. "Are we in danger?"
Ethan smiled, but only with his mouth.
"You're in history. And that always comes with a fight."
That night, under black sky and driving rain, Ethan visited the secure data vault under Darlington HQ — a bunker the AI had helped construct in secrecy.
Inside were digital profiles, DNA maps, tactical growth models for every player he'd signed.
He opened Jude Bellingham's file.
Then he stared at the blank space beneath it.
A name that hadn't been added yet.
Kylian Mbappé – Not Yet Acquired
He sighed. "I'm going to need you soon."
And the Syndicate?
They wouldn't wait for him to finish building.
They would burn the house down before he could raise the banner.
As Ethan emerged from the bunker, a silent drone zipped by overhead, just barely visible against the clouds.
He glanced upward.
They were watching.
But now?
So was he.