Chapter 351: Rumors

The day after Rosenborg's match against Viking, a very contradictory article started spreading on the web. It claimed that Zachary had fallen out with the Rosenborg executives after they rejected his request to spend more time with his sick grandma, who was in critical condition in a hospital in Zurich.

The article then described the close relationship between Zachary and his grandma, citing how she was his only guardian and the person who'd brought him up. Then, it concluded with a remark on how Zachary was unhappy at Rosenborg and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

The netizens who were Zachary's fans were shocked and incensed after reading the article. They took their anger to the internet and started calling out the Rosenborg officials to explain why they were hindering their star from spending time with his sick grandma. They even bombarded the club's social media accounts with hate comments to ensure that the people responsible would not ignore their case.

Coach Johansen was outraged after the public relations officer marched into his office and showed him the article and the hate comments from the fans. Of course, he didn't believe that the claims had come from Zachary himself. He was already sure that the assertions were simply a load of crap since Zachary would never make them in public. And since the young prodigy's professionalism was unquestionable, it must have been the reporter trying to create some chaos.

"Which idiot wrote this article?" He asked the public relations officer while breathing in deeply to calm himself down. The morning sun rays seeped into his office through the open window to illuminate his face brimming with rage.

"It's a TV2 Sporten reporter called Dag Asbjørn," Sigrid Berg, the PR officer, replied from the other end of the office table. "He published the article on his own personal blog yesterday night."

"Let's sue the idiot," Coach Johansen said with narrowed eyes.

"Easy, easy, there," the public relations officer said. "Let's take it slow and start with the damage control. First, we should contact Zachary and understand his stand on the whole of this farce. If the claims didn't come from him, we ask him to release a strong personal statement to dispute them."

"Of course, the claims didn't come from Zachary," Coach Johansen said with a sigh. "You don't know the boy. He's like a programmed robot who only cares about training and playing football. He wouldn't waste his time giving such nonsensical information to a reporter."

"Then, there might be another possibility," the PR officer said, creasing her brows. "There might be a third party trying to stir up some trouble between Zachary and us. They probably wish to plant a seed of conflict between our two parties so that Zachary can start thinking about leaving."

Coach Johansen raised his brow. "Can such a childish ploy even work? We all know that the information in the article is a load of bullshit. I'm sure that Zachary also doesn't care about the article. So, how can it create a conflict between our two parties?"

"You're looking at the whole issue with a narrow vision," Sigrid said. "Of course, the article itself won't actually spark off the conflict. But it will incite public anger and cause dissatisfaction among the fans. And if Zachary maintains his silence over the whole issue, the fans will slowly start losing trust in him, thinking that he's about to abandon them. They might even boo him and start attacking him through social media, and that will, of course, anger Zachary. That anger and dissatisfaction might be the elements that lead to conflicts with the club."

Coach Johansen narrowed his eyes. He remained silent for a few more seconds before saying, "What do you think we should do? The team doesn't have time for this crap, especially since we're busy preparing for Thursday's game against Lyon."

Sigrid smiled. "As I already said, the first step is to talk to Zachary and ask him to release a strong personal statement to dispute the claims. It doesn't need to be official. It can be a Twitter or even a Facebook post where he clearly states that the information presented in the article is false. Then we shall take up the reigns and ensure that the public gets the message."

"Okay," Coach Johansen said, picking up his phone. "I'll call Zachary now and speak to him about the issue."

"Great," the PR officer said, leaning back into her seat. "If he works with us, we should be able to neutralize the whole of this farce by today evening."

Coach Johansen nodded and immediately dialed Zachary's number. "Hello, Zachary," he said when the call connected. "Are you enjoying your day off today?"

"Come on, coach," Zachary answered in a vibrant voice from the other end of the line. "How can I rest when I didn't play even a single minute during yesterday's game? I'm already in the gym, working out with Coach Peters."

"I see," Coach Johansen said, not feeling surprised. The boy was a training maniac. It would be weird if he found him lounging on a beach instead of working out in a gym. "Zachary! Did you read the article about you that has been spreading on the web this morning? It has attracted a lot of attention, especially in Norway."

"Which article?" Zachary seemed confused. Going by his tone, he appeared not to know anything about the article.

Coach Johansen sighed, once again not feeling surprised. He then described the article's content to Zachary in as few words as possible. He ended his narrative by talking about how it was inciting public outrage and causing the fans to attack the Rosenborg management on social media.

"I'm sorry to hear about all that, coach," Zachary replied. "But, I can assure you that the assertions in the article didn't come from my side. Neither myself nor my agent wishes to incite conflict between us and management. You have my word on this."

"I don't doubt you, Zachary," Coach Johansen said. "I only called to propose a way of how we can deal with the article. Otherwise, it will continue causing dissatisfaction among the fans."

"Go ahead," Zachary said. "I'm listening."

Coach Johansen exchanged glances with Sigrid before going ahead and asking Zachary to release a personal statement to dispute the article.

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Surprisingly, Zachary was very accommodating towards the whole idea. He even promised to utilize his social media accounts to release the posts before the end of the day.

Coach Johansen thanked him on the club's behalf and ended the call. He then pivoted his attention onto the PR officer again. "It's done," he said with a smile. "He has agreed to release a personal statement disputing the article through his social media accounts."

  "That's a great first step to dealing with the issue," Sigrid said as a soft smile outlined her face.

Coach Johansen was startled. "Is there a second step?"

"Of course, there is," Sigrid replied, tone matter-of-factly. "Next, we'll sue the reporter who published the article. We'll attack him on several fronts until he comes out himself to apologize."

"That's a bold move," Coach Johansen said. "You know: When I said that we sue him before, I was only speaking with rage. I didn't expect you, people, to actually launch a lawsuit against him."

"The club chairman is paying close attention to this issue," Sigrid remarked. "He's the one who instructed us to launch the lawsuit. He really doesn't want anyone to mess with his star player's relationship with the club."

"I understand," Coach Johansen said, finally seeing the light. If the club chairman was involved, then the reporter who published the article was in for a tough time over the coming days.

****    ****

After ending the call with Coach Johansen, Zachary immediately called Emily and told her about the article. He expected her to at least react harshly after hearing about the entire farce. But surprisingly, she took the matter a bit too lightly.

"Why don't you seem surprised?" Zachary asked, settling down on one of the benches in the gym. His t-shirt was drenched in sweat as he'd just ended his workout with Coach Bjørn Peters.

Emily sighed audibly from the other end of the line. "Zachary! It's normal for such articles to keep popping up on the internet as your fame grows."

"Moreover," she continued, "the big teams might even start paying reporters to release such articles so as to sow discord between you and your current club as the transfer window approaches. Their intent is, of course, to encourage you to consider the option of transferring out of Rosenborg by whatever means possible. So, you have to learn to ignore such articles. Otherwise, you'll have to keep running up and down, suing every journalist that reports wrong information about you."

"I get you," Zachary said. "But what about the club's request? They asked me to release a personal statement discrediting the article."

"You shouldn't waste your precious time on such issues, Zachary," Emily advised. "Focus on your training, and let Kristin handle the entire issue. She's your publicity secretary. Her job is to manage your public image."

"She can release a post on your social media accounts disputing the claims in your stead. She can even contact the club's public relations office to arrange how best to handle the matter. So, you, as a player, don't need to waste your brain cells and precious time on such miscellaneous issues. I'm even surprised that the club asked you to do this."

Zachary was startled by Emily's sharp tone. "I understand," he said. "I'll let Kristin handle the issue."

"Great," Emily said from the other end of the line. Her voice had taken on a relaxed tone. "You also have to understand that I have been moving around a lot, making arrangements for the upcoming transfer window. I have even had meetings with several executives from some top European clubs during the previous week. The reporters following your case know that I'm your agent. They can easily deduce that I'm trying to organize a transfer for you, and they will obviously report the info in their articles."

"So, just like you have been doing, continue to ignore the media attention, especially since it's going to increase between now and the upcoming transfer window. If you have some free time, you can even consider taking a vacation to relax instead of caring about what the press is writing about you."

"I understand," Zachary replied. "Thanks for the advice. Is there anything substantial among the arrangements you've been making?"

"Not yet," Emily said. "But when there's a good offer, I'll immediately inform you."

"Okay, Emily," Zachary said. "Thanks for everything. I have to go now as I have to call Kristin immediately. As you advised, I'll let her handle the entire issue."

"That's for the best," Emily said. "Have a good day."

"Have a good day, too," Zachary said before ending the call.

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