Rise of a Football God-Chapter 288: Transfer news

1 week later…

Sam and Emile Smith Rowe were still in Nigeria, and again, they made the news in Nigeria but it was not because of something that they did to enjoy their holiday, rather it was because of their career.

(Breaking News:)

(Emile Smith Rowe signs a contract extension with Fulham FC!)

(=Fulham have managed to come to an agreement with the English winger, coming to a 7-year contract agreement with him. Emile Smith Rowe is set to become a true legend of Fulham if he maintains his level.)

…

(Breaking News:)

(A summer of transfer speculation finally comes to an end!)

(FC Barcelona signs a 5-year contract with Sam worth millions of Euros!)

(Sam receives the no. 11 jersey!)

After the end of the 2024/2025 season, a chaotic period in the transfer market arrived but none of the news was as big as the one generated by Fulham.

After the legendary season that Fulham created in the 2025/2025 campaign, a lot of people expected the Fulham squad to be dissolved as big clubs would definitely come on a raid, looking to buy their star players. Enjoy exclusive adventures from novelbuddy

The big clubs did come, but not all of them left.

Of them all, the most shocking one was Emile Smith Rowe’s contract extension with the West London club.

It was no news that Emile Smith Rowe never wanted to make the switch to West London. The boy was Arsenal-bred through and through but since he was not in Mikel Arteta’s plan, he was ruthlessly forced to leave.

Smith Rowe never wanted to go to Fulham but in his first season at the club, his fortune turned around completely as he won his first premier league trophy.

A premier league trophy!

Even for the Arsenal squad that he once played for, staying at the periphery of the team, this was a trophy that still eluded them.

As strong as that Arsenal squad was, the best they could do in the past few years was playing runner-ups to an imperious Manchester City side, a machine created by the coaching genius, Pep Guardiola.

In the one season that Manchester City finally faltered, falling off their ridiculous standards, Arsenal just had to fumble in that same season, losing the title race to Fulham of all clubs.

This was why winning the premier league with Fulham was so special to Emile Smith Rowe. They say sometimes, a disappointment can be a blessing in disguise.

His move to Fulham was a perfect example of that.

These memories, they stay for a lifetime.

And to preserve them and build even more memories, stacking them on top the existing memories, this was why Emile Smith Rowe decided to sign a 7-year contract extension with Fulham, tying the best years of his career to the club.

His peak years would be spent playing for Fulham.

Sam was the biggest of those that decided to stay put at Fulham FC, while Sam was the biggest of those that decided to leave the West London club after their legendary 2024/2025 campaign.

After years of professing his love for the Catalan giants, and months of speculation, it was finalized, Sam signed for FC Barcelona.

That morning, social media went ga-ga as football fans discussed with the main trending topics being ’Samuel Moses’ and ’Emile Smith Rowe’.

Smith Rowe got a salary raise in Fulham but compared to what he was earning, Sam got far more in Fulham as he got an initial weekly salary of 275,000 Euros in FC Barcelona with a clause in his contract to raise his salary if his performances matched the price tag.

After Sam’s first season in Fulham, due to his performances, he got a salary raise but even at that, his weekly salary at Fulham was approximately 50,000 Euros.

Just like that, Sam’s weekly salary more than quadrupled!

But this was not what created the most frenzy on social media, what created the greatest frenzy was the signing money that FC Barcelona forked out for the Nigerian attacking midfielder as they were thoroughly convinced of his talent.

FC Barcelona priced Sam away from Fulham for a ridiculous amount of 80 million Euros!

After the end of the 2024/2025 season, on the wake of leading Fulham to an unprecedented double of the English premier league and the English FA Cup, Sam’s transfermarkt value rose exponentially again.

From 60 million Euros, his transfermarkt value doubled to 120 million Euros.

This was how much he was valued.

But due to his love for the Catalan club, Sam imposed his authority as soon as FC Barcelona came knocking, helping his dream club save an upward of 40 million Euros as they managed to secure his signature.

The caveat in that though was, where did FC Barcelona get the money?

Afterall, the fact of FC Barcelona being broke and deep in dept was no longer news in the footballing world.

It was a reality that had followed the Catalan club for the past half a decade, forcing them to focus on and rely more on their academy players even as the incredible La Masia academy kept on producing first-team worthy talents.

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A lot of football fans attacked FC Barcelona after they secured Sam’s signature, accusing them of signing the Nigerian attacker through dubious means, demanding an investigation to be made by the Spanish football authorities.

In the end, when FC Barcelona eventually released a statement after Sam’s signature was secured, all the doubters were temporarily silenced.

Joan Laporta, the FC Barcelona President was under a lot of pressure as he led a bankrupt club who was still striving to remain at the top of European football.

The FC Barcelona fanbase did no care that their club was bankrupt, they were the demanding type that wanted trophies nonetheless.

This was why the President was under a lot of pressure.

In the previous season, more controversy was created due to his inability at some point to register the likes of Dani Olmo and Pau Viktor after securing their signatures earlier but somehow, the shrewd President did it.

Due to this and a lot of other reasons, FC Barcelona fans refused to get their hopes high in the prospects of securing Sam’s signature until it happened.

It was a Joan Laporta masterstroke.

And just like that, Sam was no longer a Fulham player.

Sam was now an FC Barcelona player.

’Finally!’

That night, he drank and merried with family and friends.