Chapter 986: Frohling’s Headache

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! In this fucking moment?! When I need all of my players to be healthy?! What the fuck is going on here?!"

Frohling didn’t know how many times he’d cursed in the last couple of hours. If he were still a child and his mother were present, he was sure she would wash his foul mouth for it by now.

Still, the coach couldn’t care less about that for now. No, even the win against Werder Bremen was far from enough to appease him, as his face was so dark with irritation.

The reason was simple. It all lay on a single sheet of paper in front of him, somehow carrying the whole weight of the team.

That was the result of the medical checkup for Omar Mascarell, as the captain had to be sent to the nearest hospital the moment he fell to the ground.

After reading it, though, Frohling could feel his stomach twisting, wondering what kind of a joke that the universe was trying to pull on him.

Omar Mascarell – 29 y.o. – 181cm/76kg

High ankle sprain – the tissue connecting the shin bones tears due to the foot twisting outward upon landing.

Recommendation: 12 to 16 weeks of recovery, with surgery required to prevent further injury in the future.

12 to 16 weeks... That meant his captain would have to leave the team for four whole months and could only come back around May, which should be around the end of the competition itself.

This was definitely a huge blow for the team, especially since Omar had been a constant figure on the pitch that ensured everything ran well and was organized just as Frohling planned.

The man’s role wasn’t just to dictate the tempo.

No, more than that, his vast experience and composure on the pitch was needed to guide the youngsters in the team, as sometimes, Morita, Fabian, Benito Raman, or even Matthew Hoppe always rushed things up when things didn’t go well for the team.

Losing him wasn’t just the team losing a defensive midfielder, but also a spiritual leader among the players.

This would definitely hurt them more than anything, and that was why Frohling was so frustrated right now.

"Well, it is too late to regret anything." Waldoch once again became the voice of reason, just dissecting everything with his cold logic. "Now, what do we do? Shall we use our limited budget to get a new player, or shall we just use all the resources that we currently have?"

Frohling went quiet immediately at that question, facing a big dilemma in front of him.

With the team’s financial state being in trouble, the management couldn’t even give him that much of money. After a tough negotiation, Frohling finally had 4 million Euros to sign a new player, with the salary of around 250,000 Euros at max to use.

The number might sound like a lot, but in this economy, where all the players’ prices have gotten inflated, 4 million Euros would only get him a young player from outside of the top five league, far from being ready to face the competition.

Before this, Frohling wanted to use that amount of money to add more strikers, as he only had Paciencia and Matthew Hoppe as his options right now. With the competition still being half a year before its end, only having two strikers would definitely not be an ideal state for a team.

However, Omar’s injury forced him to rack his brain once again, trying to find a solution to get out of this loophole.

"What is our option to fill up Omar’s role right now? I mean, the one that we currently have in the team." Frohling asked while rubbing his forehead in a headache.

"Well, you have Amine Harit, Suat Serdar, and Jonas Hofmann as options. If you want to stretch it to the second team, you will have Schopf as well."

Frohling’s face darkened instantly when he heard that. Out of everyone else, the only one that he could use was Jonas Hofmann, and that boy lacked the organizational skill that Omar had.

Other than him, everyone seemed to have a problem, either from their lack of discipline or any little problem that would affect the whole team’s performance on the pitch.

"No, no, we really need to get at least one new player!" The coach stated.

Unfortunately, with his budget being restrained like this, there were not a lot of options to take.

The timing was also the worst, as they were just one week away from the end of the winter transfer session. With that short a period, it would be difficult to get one decent player that could be used for the team.

"So, is it fixed that we are searching for a midfielder?" Waldoch suddenly asked.

Even in confusion, Frohling just sighed while shrugging helplessly.

"Yeah, that is our only option. As for the strikers... Let’s just hope that Hoppe didn’t get injured. Also, I can probably take Luca Schuler from the second team. At least, that will be a decent option for us."

The Polish man just nodded lightly before finally saying, "There is still an option to take here, but it will be a gamble."

This time, Frohling snapped his head immediately, looking at his assistant with hopeful eyes.

’Sure enough, it has to be you, Tomasz!’ The coach celebrated inwardly. "So, what is the option here? Make sure that it is also in line with our timeline, okay? It will be stupid if we can get a player just for him to be able to play next summer." He didn’t forget to remind the assistant.

"Don’t worry, I am sure it will be worth considering. The only problem is whether we can get one who is ready for our team or not."

"Just spill it out, Tomasz! Don’t make me wait like this!" Frohling finally couldn’t bear with all the teasing, almost snapping at his assistant.

In the end, Waldoch just let out a deep sigh before finally saying, "Well, the solution is simple and cheap. How about we look on the Japanese market again?"