A stable wage structure was one of the foundations of any football club's long-term health.
It also reflected how the club valued each player's contribution.
Once that structure collapsed, the entire dressing room could quickly descend into chaos.
New Manchester United's current wage system was extremely stable.
Juninho was the club's highest-paid player, earning just over £30,000 per week.
Kaká, Hleb, Terry, Curtis, and several others were also in the top salary bracket.
The club was preparing new contracts for Drogba, Essien, and several other players that summer, which meant their wages would rise as well.
Redondo was a special case.
When he joined, he had asked for only half the salary he had earned at AC Milan, leaving him on less than £30,000 per week.
More unusually, whenever he was unavailable to play, he refused to collect his playing salary and accepted only the wages attached to his part-time coaching role.
Beckham was in a completely different financial category.
His current salary was around £90,000 per week after tax.
That meant approximately £4.5 million a year.
Over a four-year contract, wages alone would cost roughly £18 million.
Add a transfer fee of around £20 million and the total investment would already approach £40 million.
And that still excluded taxes, appearance bonuses, performance incentives, signing fees, and other expenses.
The sheer cost of acquiring Beckham was exactly why so many clubs were reluctant to move.
Everyone understood the danger.
Once one player's wages completely shattered the existing salary structure, the transfer could cause far more damage than his performances were worth.
In Ethan's previous life, Real Madrid had generally managed their superstar salary structure relatively well during Florentino's first presidency.
Florentino had been very disciplined about controlling the wages of his biggest names.
The problem was that he had underestimated the importance of less glamorous players such as Makélélé.
In effect, Real Madrid had been using the wages that players like Makélélé deserved to help support the enormous salaries of their superstars.
That was why Makélélé eventually became so dissatisfied.
"How confident are you that we could recover a £40 million investment in Beckham within four years?" Ethan asked with a smile.
Before deciding whether to enter the race, he needed to know whether New Manchester United could actually support such a deal.
Whether Beckham would agree to join was a separate question.
There was no point trying to sign him if the club itself could not carry the financial burden.
"David and I have already run the numbers," Gardner replied confidently.
"We can afford it.
"The only real disaster scenario would be immediate relegation from the Premier League."
He paused.
"And if Beckham agrees to give the club fifty percent of his image-rights income, we could recover the investment within two years.
"That's before considering the support we'd likely receive from sponsors such as Vodafone, Audi, and Adidas."
Manchester United's kit supplier was Nike, Adidas's fiercest rival.
Their automotive partnership also conflicted with Audi.
That gave Ethan confidence in Gardner's assessment.
If New Manchester United seriously pursued Beckham, those sponsors would have every reason to help make the deal happen.
"What about the wage structure?" Ethan asked.
That remained his biggest concern.
"As players like Robben, Cristiano Ronaldo, Essien, Kaká, and Curtis continue improving, raises are inevitable," Gardner said.
"Our operating costs will rise significantly over the next few years.
"Especially with elite talents such as Kaká, Robben, and Cristiano.
"If we want to keep them once they become established stars, we'll have to pay accordingly."
Gardner actually approved of Ethan's concern.
Thinking about those problems before they arrived was exactly what responsible ownership required.
"In theory, a player's salary should rise with his performances," Gardner continued.
"If the players improve, the team should improve.
"If the team improves, revenue should rise.
"But football doesn't always work that neatly.
"Look at AC Milan and Inter.
"They already use an enormous percentage of their revenue simply covering operating costs, especially player salaries.
"In the long term, that's one of the reasons Serie A will struggle to keep its best talent."
He leaned forward.
"But we're different.
"We don't rely only on football results.
"We've built a strong commercial operation as well.
"Over the last few years, we've developed very close relationships with our major partners.
"If Beckham joins, our commercial operation takes an enormous step forward.
"We have the people and the infrastructure to manage his brand properly."
That was not empty confidence.
Even Florentino had spoken highly of several executives in New Manchester United's commercial department.
Investment banks, funds, and major corporations had tried to recruit some of them after seeing the results they had produced over the previous two or three years.
Managing Beckham, however, would be their biggest challenge yet.
Ethan remembered something Florentino had once told him.
If New Manchester United were treated like a company, then its commercial growth had reached a bottleneck.
It needed something capable of pushing it into the next stage.
Beckham could be that breakthrough.
Gardner's commercial philosophy was actually quite similar to Florentino's.
A superstar imposed a major financial burden.
But he could also transform the club's commercial appeal.
More sponsorships.
Higher merchandise sales.
Greater international exposure.
More valuable partnerships.
At the same time, if that player also improved the team competitively, better results could generate even more revenue.
If both sides developed together, the commercial gains and footballing gains could offset the cost of the superstar.
New Manchester United's financial position also resembled Real Madrid's in one important respect.
Neither club was under pressure to generate profits for an owner.
Ethan did not need New Manchester United to make him money.
If necessary, he was perfectly willing to subsidise the club.
Gardner's explanation also eased another concern Ethan had carried for years.
Kaká.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi.
Three players who, in his previous life, would all become World Players of the Year.
Keeping all three in one squad would eventually create enormous wage pressure.
But if they truly developed into global superstars, their rise would also transform the club commercially.
The additional revenue could help absorb the salary increases required to keep them.
Ultimately, though, everything depended on one thing.
Results.
No matter how brilliant a club's commercial operation became, football was still football.
Results came first.
"You should trust our commercial department, Ethan," Mark David said with a smile.
"I do."
Ethan smiled back.
"I'm just thinking about how we're going to convince Beckham."
Everyone in the room laughed.
David and Gardner especially.
Mourinho was clearly in favour of the signing as well.
From a footballing perspective, he believed Beckham could offer New Manchester United even more than Juninho.
And Mourinho was confident he knew how to use him.
Ethan looked around the room.
"Now I understand.
"You've already discussed all this without me, haven't you?"
He shook his head, amused.
"Fine.
"Tell me exactly what you're planning.
"And José, tell me how you'd use Beckham."
David and Mourinho had indeed talked beforehand.
Both supported the idea.
David saw the commercial upside.
Mourinho saw the footballing upside.
In both areas, Beckham offered something exceptional.
"Do you know how much Beckham earns every year away from football?" David asked.
Nobody answered.
David smiled.
"His Vodafone deal alone is worth around £2 million a year.
"Pepsi pays another £1 million.
"Then there are clothing brands, sunglasses, hair products, and several other endorsements.
"Altogether, his annual sponsorship income is already close to £10 million."
He continued.
"If the club received half of his image-rights revenue, that's roughly £5 million a year.
"That alone could effectively cover his salary.
"And we've carried out a detailed commercial analysis.
"If we worked closely with Beckham's representatives and expanded his sponsorship portfolio properly, his annual endorsement income could exceed £20 million.
"So even if he surrendered fifty percent of his image rights to the club, he could still come out ahead."
Image rights had already been one of the biggest issues during Beckham's previous contract negotiations with Manchester United.
Before that renewal, United had effectively been able to exploit much of his image commercially without paying him separately.
Afterwards, the club had to pay Beckham an additional £20,000 per week for the right to use his image.
Even then, Beckham arguably received less than the commercial value he generated for Manchester United.
"And there's more," David said.
"We'd work with Adidas to develop Beckham's global image.
"Adidas are prepared to offer him sponsorship worth around £5 million a year.
"If we qualify for the Champions League and everything develops as expected, that figure could eventually reach £10 million annually.
"And that's before shirt sales."
Shirt revenue belonged to the club.
But the potential £10 million personal sponsorship package alone was enormous.
The estimates were not unrealistic.
A professional commercial consultancy had calculated that Beckham's Asian tour that summer could generate between £10 million and £15 million in commercial value by itself.
Ethan shook his head in amazement.
"He's an absolute money-making machine."
At that moment, Beckham was far more than a footballer.
He was one of the most recognisable celebrities in the world.
Vodafone did not even need to put him in a football shirt for its advertisements.
Casual clothes were enough.
They were buying Beckham the global lifestyle icon, not merely Beckham the Manchester United midfielder.
He had become as much a pop-culture figure as a football star.
Ethan turned towards Mourinho.
"What about you, José?
"The money clearly isn't the problem anymore.
"What about the football?"
Mourinho shrugged.
"I don't see a problem.
"We already have excellent depth in central midfield.
"De Rossi.
"Essien.
"Yaya Touré.
"And Cesc can eventually play there too."
He leaned back.
"Beckham came through Manchester United's academy.
"His understanding of movement without the ball is exceptional.
"Cassell believes he'd adapt to our system almost immediately."
Ethan laughed.
If Juninho left, there would undoubtedly be some disruption.
He had been central to New Manchester United's football for years.
But if Beckham could assume the main creative responsibilities, the team's ceiling might actually rise.
His passing range could add another thirty or forty metres of attacking depth.
And New Manchester United possessed no shortage of quick forwards.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hleb.
Robben.
Kaká.
Even Drogba was fast once he got moving.
Beckham's ability to hit long diagonal passes into those runners could completely change the team's attacking options.
His set pieces were also at least comparable to Juninho's.
That was why Mourinho was willing to let Juninho leave if Beckham could be brought in.
Still, this would be the largest and most complicated transfer in New Manchester United's history.
Everyone understood the importance of handling it properly.
Ethan imposed one immediate rule.
Nothing was to leak.
Not one word.
Until Beckham had actually agreed to join, nobody outside the room was to know New Manchester United were interested.
At the same time, negotiations over Juninho had to remain frozen.
Ethan had no intention of selling his captain first and then discovering that Beckham had chosen another club.
That would be disastrous.
He also instructed David and Gardner to prepare a complete commercial proposal.
Mourinho was asked to postpone the start of his holiday.
Beckham was due to finish his American vacation that day and return to Manchester before leaving for Asia a few days later.
Ethan wanted everyone to meet face to face.
No intermediaries.
No rumours.
No games.
Just an open conversation about what New Manchester United could offer him.
Yes, they had only just been promoted to the Premier League.
But they had ambition.
They were reigning UEFA Cup champions and would play European football again next season.
They had a clear sporting project.
Ethan already had a strong personal relationship with Beckham.
And perhaps most importantly, New Manchester United were one of the very few clubs in Europe that could actually afford to sign him.
(To be continued.)