Jack Sherborne has never had a bank account his mother didn't also have access to. It started when he was fourteen and travelling three hours each way to academy trials she paid for on a single wage after his father left. It never really stopped.
Marion Sherborne still handles his diary, his sponsorship enquiries, and — increasingly — her opinions on his contract renewal, now two years and several pay grades on from where this arrangement made obvious sense.
Nobody at Sheffield Blades thinks Marion has done anything wrong. Several staff describe her as fiercely protective and, by any reasonable measure, the reason Jack is a professional footballer at all. That's exactly what makes this hard.
Jack has started asking, quietly and indirectly, how other players' families have handled this conversation. So far, he hasn't found the words to have it with his own.