In the year 2025, football has lost its soul.

Once celebrated as the beautiful game, it’s now dominated by AI-managed tactics, cold data systems, and corporate control. Heart and instinct have been replaced by predictive models. Legends have retired. Creativity is extinct.

But one man remembers how football is meant to be played.

Noah Marlowe, the youngest tactical genius of his time, once built the AI Tactical System — a machine so powerful it could break down any opponent and rebuild football from scratch. But when his creation was stolen and used to sterilize the game, Noah was silenced, blacklisted, and forgotten.

Until the day he dies.
And wakes up in 2017, outside Camp Nou.
One day after Luis Enrique resigns.

Armed with the AI Tactical System, full memory of everything from 2025, and a second chance in a younger body, Noah Marlowe now has the ultimate advantage:

He knows everything that’s going to happen.

Transfers. Tactics. Breakouts. Collapses.
This isn’t prophecy. This is memory.

With every match, he applies knowledge no one else has.
With every win, Barcelona rises again.
The future may shift—but Noah Marlowe already knows how it ends.

This is his game now.
And he intends to win it.

June 18, 2017 – FC Barcelona Transfer Department, Executive Wing


The room was sleek and cold. Several sporting directors, financial officers, and technical staff sat in a half-circle, facing a large screen.


Noah Marlowe stood at the front, tablet in hand, flanked by a digital projection of the AI Tactical System's updated squad planner.


"Phase One: Functional Reinforcement – Maximum Impact, Minimum Cost."


"I've already listed the players for sale. I won't repeat myself. What I need now are three names — tactical tools, not market bait. Players who fit my system and Barcelona's philosophy."


Goal: Spend less than €30M total. Leave margin for winter flexibility.


Role: Right-sided inverted forward / tactical dribbler


Traits: Low center of gravity, dual-footed, engine player


"He'll replace Aleix Vidal's position with more intelligence, more pressing intensity, and better final-third reading," Noah explained. "Not flashy. But fluid. Perfect for false-wing rotations."


Role: Defensive wide hybrid (can play RB, LB, or wide midfield)


Traits: High work rate, excellent in double-pivot systems, tactically mature


"He allows us to rotate Roberto or Alba without fear. And he's versatile enough to play multiple systems. Future-proof depth."


Target #3 – Ángel Di María (Optional, Conditional)


Traits: Vision, diagonal runs, veteran IQ


Value: €15M (if contract enters final year)


"This one depends on movement. If we can't finalize a cheaper attacking piece before the window closes, I'll take Di María for one season only — as a plug-in stabilizer. No glamour. No ego. Just structure."


Bartomeu raised a brow. "Di María? He played for Madrid."


"I don't care," Noah replied. "He won't stay long. He's a system bridge, nothing more."


"You're avoiding big names," one said. "Fans expect action."


"They'll get it," Noah replied. "Not with fireworks — but with football."


Noah walked slowly under the arch toward the grass.


[AI TACTICAL SYSTEM – Phase One Status]


Recommended Signings: Rafa Silva, Henrichs


Optional: Di María (short-term cover only)


"Market moves approved. Efficiency maintained."


Chapter 8 - Chapter 9: Market Moves