Maël watched Sheffield's away game against Hull City at home on October 20th.
Evans, who had recently been in a goal drought, scored a brace in this match, helping the home team win 2-0.
Not bad! Three games into October, with 2 wins and 1 draw, they've gained another 7 points.
Including the previous 16 points, they now have 23 points, slowly securing a spot in the EFL Championship promotion playoffs.
This ranking may drop later, but it's basically impossible for them to fall back into the relegation zone, unless the Sheffield higher-ups suddenly poach a young Dutch coach named Ten Hag from Eindhoven at this time.
After watching the game, Maël went to the training base for extra practice on long shots.
After completing the morning's special training, he was only one step away from the final breakthrough.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Successive shots rang out, occasionally accompanied by the sound of the ball bursting, with footballs constantly flying towards the goal, the quality of the shots was very high.
A figure with sleeves pulled up to the shoulders took shot after shot, running to the sidelines to pick up the ball again and again, until one shot ended.
[Skill: Cannon Shot lv4]
[Proficiency: (1/2000)]
[Effect: Through countless practices, everything about shooting is deeply imprinted in your mind. This is a new stage. Your long shot level is not inferior to any long-range master in any period!]
Upgraded! Looking at the brand new lv4 interface, Maël couldn't help but smile, his heart full of accomplishment and joy.
He seemed to be back in the days of the Arsenal youth team, sitting on the playground, feeling the enhancement of his physical attributes, and looking forward to the future.
After putting this skill down, he didn't take the time to practice it for a long time.
But he never forgot that everything he has today was initially achieved through long shots.
It can be said that he definitely has feelings for this ability of his.
"Not inferior to any long-range master in any period."
This is the evaluation given by the proficiency panel, which means that Maël's long-range shooting ability is infinitely close to shooting masters such as Gerrard, Batistuta, and Carlos! Standing up and taking a couple of long shots to try, he did feel a big difference from before.
In the past, before shooting, he would spend some time measuring, thinking about how to exert force, shooting skills, etc.
But now, he won't!
Everything seems to be as smooth as if it were innate, he will no longer have any thoughts, and can instinctively unleash a powerful shot! In addition, the lv4 ability also corrected some of Maël's previous bad habits, such as the supporting foot sometimes deviating from the target at the moment of shooting, and occasionally stumbling on the grass when shooting.
This undoubtedly greatly reduced his risk of injury and provided him with an extra layer of insurance.
As for the rest, the potential improvement of force exertion skills and aiming skills, goes without saying.
"Lv4 is so powerful, I can't help but look forward to lv5."
Maël sighed from the bottom of his heart, he was increasingly looking forward to his future upper limit.
Withdrawing his thoughts, his brain started working again, the lv4 level skill is basically enough.
Now, he should think about whether to train new skills, or pull out some of the skills that he had previously trained to lv3 and upgrade them to lv4.
The proficiency of 2000 is currently not suitable for spending time to grind hard.
With that time, he must have already trained 3 lv4 skills, greatly improving his comprehensive ability and securing a starting position in the Premier League.
Only when his comprehensive abilities are all sufficient, at this time, can he come out to upgrade the lv4 skills to lv5, impacting the highest human level and his personal highest upper limit.
"Crosses can be added to training, this ability is of great help to me, and it is also very useful."
Maël made his first decision, most of his 8 assists were made through crosses, and he knows the role of this ability.
He can try to grind it to lv4, and even if it's still a bit short of Beckham at that time, it will surpass most other top wingers.
"Speed is slowly increasing, you can consider skills related to cutting inside and shooting."
He had a new idea, a chic and elegant cut inside shot is the heart's desire of every winger.
And his brutal long shot, although it has a certain ability to cut inside and shoot, it always feels not so suitable, and it is not easy to exert when facing the goal sideways.
This can also be seen from his 5 goals, most of them are hits from frontal attacks, and very few are hits after cutting inside.
"Curved Shot!"
Maël knew what he should practice: the curved shot, a shooting method that perfectly suited wingers.
It could be used not only in cutting inside to shoot, but also in free kicks!
It could be said that this was the skill he needed most at the moment.
Making a decision, Maël began training on the spot, and only stopped to pack up when the 'Curved Shot' panel appeared.
...
On October 22nd, Maël, who was still practicing, received a phone call inviting him to a coffee shop.
After learning that the other party was the head of Mendes' agency, he agreed and stopped training to go to a coffee shop in the city center.
The agent issue was something every player had to face.
Players couldn't spend time learning about various clauses and agreements, and knowledge of football agencies. They had to find someone to assist them in this area and reach a cooperation.
A good agent was enough to solve most of a player's off-field problems.
"I'm very glad you accepted the invitation so readily. I'm sure you've heard of Mendes."
The person who came to meet him was a refined middle-aged man in a black suit. According to his own introduction, his name was Pepino, and he was French.
"Yes."
Maël didn't hide it, answering sincerely, "Mr. Mendes' achievements in business are amazing."
He really thought so. His biggest demand for finding an agent was to see his ability to solve problems and make money.
From this point of view, Mendes was almost the best choice.
As for whether the two personalities were compatible, whether Mendes' other players and coaches were too famous, and what happened to this person later... Maël didn't really care. He just hoped that the person who hadn't been in contact yet would come with the intention of discussing cooperation.
"Mutual appreciation is the key to the best cooperation."
Pepino's eyes lit up, and he raised his coffee cup to touch Maël's. "Mr. Mendes also appreciates you very much. He sent me to make initial contact first. If the talks go smoothly, he will definitely come to Sheffield in person.
"Or, go to London."
He was showing his understanding of Maël. Anyone who knew Maël could see that he probably wouldn't stay in the EFL Championship for too long.
Next, Pepino said a lot, from negotiating with clubs to commercial endorsements, from the operation of personal fan circles to public relations, etc. He talked about almost everything a player could encounter.
He also gave many examples of Ronaldo and Mourinho, the essential purpose of which was to show the value of the company.
"If you choose Mr. Mendes as your agent, he will treat you equally in terms of commission."
Pepino finally got to the point, smiling, "I don't know if you know, in his contracts with many Portuguese players, he gets 2.75% of the player's salary and 15-20% of the endorsement fees.
"As for the commission on transfer fees, that's more between him and the club, and has nothing to do with the player."
Maël nodded slightly. This commission rate was indeed relatively reasonable. He wouldn't feel the pinch, and he would feel that such cooperation was profitable.
As for the second half of Pepino's sentence, he also knew something about it.
Someone once said that Mendes' biggest goal was to control the team through players and make more money between clubs.
A very clever business tactic, but destined not to be liked by team managers.
"I need to consider it for a while."
Maël finally ended the discussion with this sentence. He really had to think about it carefully.
Or rather, use better performance to make them more anxious, so as to give up more benefits.
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