Emilio exists

❗This is the English version of the post - Emilio esiste -, originally published in Italian in the ITALY community

Emilio was the kit manager of Madame FC. When the club’s head of human resources hired him, the decision was based on the excellent performance the man had delivered while carrying out his duties within other professional sports organizations.

Reports from Emilio’s superiors had always described him as an exemplary professional, someone with a maniacal attention to detail. Under his management, everything was always precise and in order, starting from the arrangement of the equipment, all the way to the care with which he stored jerseys and other garments intended for the players.

His colleagues, as well as the athletes themselves, had always adored him. Emilio was universally recognized as a real heavyweight within the club, not for decision-making or managerial skills, but for the spirit and dedication he transmitted throughout the entire environment.

_{Image created with Leonardo.ai}

Such a figure was inevitably courted by the top clubs in Europe and, after a period of work in England, it was Madame FC that ultimately won him over. Everyone immediately proved enthusiastic about having him on the team, and even the fans took the time to wish him well on the day of his arrival.

However, Emilio—whether due to an unexpected personal crisis or poor adaptability—never managed to perform at the level of the high expectations that had accompanied him. Trust within the environment never faded, but after the first mistake came another, then another, and then a series of errors that in some cases even compromised the overall quality of the work.

At a certain point, Emilio went on sick leave. Some whispered that he was even suffering from depressive episodes, others that personal problems were affecting him to the point that he could no longer focus on work, and others still that he had fled to return to his homeland.

_{Image created with Leonardo.ai}

Days passed, turning into weeks and then months. Emilio was no longer seen and, after a while, everyone even began to forget about him. At the end of the year, the valuable kit manager was allowed to change department, returning to work in the country where he had grown and made a name for himself, but even in this new adventure he no longer seemed to be the same as before.

People began to wonder whether the initial enthusiastic assessments had been the result of a collective illusion, whether Emilio had ever truly been such a valuable worker, and to raise other similar doubts. Until one day, Emilio delivered yet another sensational workday.

Just one, among many dull and inconclusive ones, but enough to give fresh oxygen to the pink newspapers, ready to pull out the article prepared and kept warm ever since the day of his departure: “Regretted Emilio. Madame, look at that performance!”

_{Image created with Leonardo.ai}

Emilio’s special day, as mentioned, remained just one, but naturally the pink newspapers were never interested in pointing that out. They were waiting for the single opportunity to bring out that article; after all, they never truly cared.

Now replace Madame FC with Juventus, Emilio with Douglas Luiz, Savona, Arthur, or any other player sold in recent times, and the pink newspapers with the bovine pink rag, and you will have the perfect snapshot of Italian sports journalism.

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