"Unbelievable! Genius! A wonderful Cut Inside Curved Shot goal!! I'm numb to Maël's goals on this field!!"
"If someone had told me before that a 17-year-old player could achieve a double-10 record in the EFL Championship before the halfway point! I would have asked them if they were kidding me? But look now, he really did it!"
The Sky Sports commentator stood under the commentary booth, wearing a headset microphone, wanting to find someone to share the passion at this moment, but he was all alone, so he could only shout, "Arsenal, are you watching? Mr. Wenger, are you watching? He should be on the Premier League stage! Only the top leagues and the European Champions League are his stage!"
In the heated atmosphere, Zaha, who had just run back to his own backcourt sideline, stood blankly in place, a mess in the wind.
He looked at the team's defender Klein, and then at the goalkeeper, his expression seemed to be asking, it just went like that, and a goal was scored just like that?
"Don't rush too far forward."
Klein said with a bitter face, discussing with Zaha, "I can't defend him, you have to stay closer to me."
"Oh." Zaha nodded blankly, put his hands on his hips and looked back at the team's coach, wanting to hear if he had any instructions.
As a result, their coach was angrily scolding something towards the Sheffield United coaching bench, and had no time to pay attention to him, "Still quibbling! That assistant just ran over to celebrate, are you provoking us?!"
"Who ran over?"
Gareth Speed looked around innocently, spread his hands and said, "Don't make trouble, our people are very well-behaved, watch your mouth."
"Bullshit!"
The Crystal Palace coach was being held back by several people, but his combat power was still fierce, and he kept rushing forward, "Don't let me find him, don't let me see him, it's best if he gets out of here now!"
Zaha was very close to them, and rubbed his forehead with one hand, feeling even more confused.
He walked towards his position, waiting sluggishly for the restart. Already 2 goals behind, this game is likely gone.
"Beep!"
After the referee blew the whistle to restart the game, the first half entered a 1-minute stoppage time period.
Time passed quickly, and both sides returned to the locker room for halftime rest and adjustments.
Before the start of the second half, Gareth Speed withdrew midfielder Lotton and defender Karl Way, and replaced them with two substitute fresh troops to continue the fight.
"Bang."
In the 52nd minute of the game, Gilbert's long pass found Maël on the wing, who controlled the ball with his chest and launched an attack towards the opponent's defense.
This was already the unknown number of times in this game, every time he charged, the Crystal Palace defense would suddenly face a formidable enemy, and varying degrees of riots would occur.
"Another level of player, the EFL Championship monster is up again!!"
This was the evaluation given to him by the Sky Sports commentator, who had been deeply impressed by Maël, "Klein can't defend him, Zaha is very close, he's catching up!
"Cut Inside into the penalty area! Just a feint! He's rushing towards the baseline, going to the bottom, fighting for Speed!!"
On the field, Maël dribbled the ball towards the baseline position, it was a burst of speed, he had already made it clear that he was going to eat Klein and Zaha alive.
Klein's Speed was mediocre, and he was directly thrown off by a body length in the first two steps.
Zaha thought he had a chance to fight, but in reality, he was already at the end of his rope, he directly threw his center of gravity forward, driving his body to stagger forward to chase, a bit similar to Antony's fainting shot.
It's just that one is a fainting shot, and the other is a fainting chase, if there is any common point, it is that they are equally embarrassed! "Pa." Maël suddenly stopped and buckled the ball, Zaha couldn't stop the car, and directly 'fainted' out of the field, almost hitting his head on the billboard.
Afterwards, Maël aimed at Janu Hans in the inverted triangle position, and sent a short pass back, the latter followed up and pushed a shot into the far corner of the goal!
Three to zero! Janu Hans scored!
"Oh!" Everyone at Sheffield United celebrated again, a victory was already firmly in hand.
Maël held Janu Hans's shoulders, and the two sang together and rushed to the sidelines, roaring and waving their fists towards the fan stand.
Zaha, who had ended his fainting state, stood up, scratched his head, and carefully looked at the coaching seat on the sidelines, observing the coach's expression.
This time he didn't have any good luck, the coach was glaring at him, his eyes full of disappointment.
Two minutes later, Zaha was replaced by a more experienced forward player, and he covered his face with his jersey on the bench, as if he had no face to see anyone.
Maël was also withdrawn by Gareth Speed in the 70th minute of the game, leaving work early to rest, Gareth Speed definitely wanted to preserve his strength for the next game.
In this game, he didn't get too many shooting opportunities, but he still created 1 goal and 1 assist with his personal ability.
And he also tested the feeling of lv3 Speed and Curved Shot in the official game, and scored 1 goal with the new skill.
Overall, he was quite satisfied and had no regrets.
"I just remembered something."
Gareth Speed laughed as he high-fived Maël, shaking his head, "When you first said you wanted 10 goals and 10 assists, I wanted to make a bet with you, thinking of motivating you.
"Now it seems, it's a good thing I didn't, or my wallet would have been lighter."
"Haha." Maël smiled brightly, raising an eyebrow, "How about we bet now, on whether I can be number one on both EFL Championship charts?"
"Sure."
Gareth Speed didn't back down, holding up five fingers, "500 pounds, you in?"
"Deal."
Maël reached out and high-fived him again, sealing the bet, then returned to the bench to sit down.
He glanced at Zaha on the opposite bench, who was hunched over with his head covered, looking pitiful. Was he crying?
Colney Training Base, the first team manager's office.
Wenger and a group of assistant coaches were sitting here, with a EFL Championship league broadcast playing on the big screen, specifically Sheffield United versus Crystal Palace.
Watching Maël leave the field, everyone gradually lost interest and their attention drifted.
"I plan to recall him as soon as the winter transfer window opens, to let him experience the Premier League sooner."
Wenger looked around, seemingly consulting the others for their opinions, but it was expected that no one would object to his decisions.
"What about his tactical role?" one of the assistant coaches asked curiously.
"Haven't decided yet."
Wenger shook his head, frowning as he thought, "What I can guarantee is that he'll often get playing time to adapt to the top league, but the rest, he may have to fight for himself."
Arsenal was a team fighting for the top four, and with the Premier League becoming increasingly competitive, they were under a lot of pressure to perform.
It was unlikely that they would recklessly train young players without regard for results.
"He definitely has the potential to compete."
Philip had already returned from Sheffield United, and he still vividly remembered the scene when he watched the game live, "His competitors in the team for the same position are Arshavin and Nasri.
"Arshavin's form hasn't been very stable this season, and his attitude towards football has gradually become less serious, which is well known.
"His real opponent may only be Nasri, who is in his prime."
He didn't continue, as the specific decision of who to use would still be up to Mr. Wenger.
"It's settled then."
Wenger decided to change the subject, mentioning Maël's contract, "The player asked for a weekly salary of 38k, with a total contract length of 4 years. After discussing it with the Sporting Director, I plan to cut it down to around 34k.
"We'll agree to the rest, and design more generous bonus clauses as an incentive."
The assistant coaches exchanged glances, then shook their heads, indicating that they had no objections and supported the decision.
A weekly salary of 34,000 pounds wasn't low for an Arsenal first-team player.
They were a team whose strength and financial resources didn't match. While other teams could casually spend tens of millions of pounds on players, they could only pick players under 20 million pounds.
Being able to offer a 17-year-old player a weekly salary of 34k in the current situation meant that Wenger had high hopes for his future.
But thinking about it, he had double 10s in less than half a season in the EFL Championship.
If they didn't have high hopes for him, who would they have high hopes for?
At this moment, footsteps sounded from outside the door, and a person quickly walked in, holding a few pages of faxed documents.
"Everyone's here."
He sighed as he looked at everyone, handing the documents to Wenger, "These are the inquiry faxes sent by many clubs during this period. I saw that many people were asking about Maël, so I brought them over first."
Wenger took them, reading through them page by page, then handed them to Philip next to him.
His expression gradually became serious, as if the worries in his heart were surfacing. He didn't want to see something similar happen.
"Ajax, Dortmund."
Philip was reciting the names of the clubs like he was reading off a list: "Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Reading..."
Someone interrupted him, frowning, and asked, "What's this about? Everyone wants to buy Maël? Tottenham is joining the fun too?"
"Yes."
Philip gave a wry smile, handing over the fax from Chelsea to everyone. "Chelsea even made a direct offer, starting at £12 million."
Everyone present understood the market value of £12 million.
Generally, when an offer is made at this price, the real intended transaction price should be between £14 million and £18 million.
Truly generous!
"Are these people crazy for a 17-year-old player?"
An Arsenal assistant coach expressed his incomprehension, sneering, "They used to target Arsenal's established stars, but now they're starting with the kids."
Everyone calmed down for a moment, carefully considering the matter, and the atmosphere fell into silence.
Originally, they were locking themselves away, enjoying their own little world, thinking that since he was their own player, they could discuss it slowly and decide as they pleased.
But now, it seems the situation has changed.
Many European teams know about him, and some teams have even thrown out sky-high tentative offers! "I think,"
Philip broke the silence, taking the lead, "Is it because the player belongs to Arsenal that we are not objective when looking at him and positioning him?
"In fact, we should imagine, if we wanted to sign him, how much would we be willing to pay?"
Everyone started to imagine, and it really opened up a new world.
A 17-year-old with 10 goals and 11 assists in 18 EFL Championship games, if he belonged to another team, and they could spend more than ten million pounds to buy him and unleash him in the Premier League... there would be a high probability of unearthing a top star.
It seems quite appealing? People's judgment of things is indeed easily limited, because there are too many excuses.
What he's still young, what he hasn't played in a top league yet, he might not adapt, what his characteristics are relatively simple.
It's all nonsense, purely because they were too comfortable before and didn't have a sense of crisis! "40k Weekly Salary."
Wenger pondered for a long time, finally speaking, "But the release clause must be increased to £55 million, and I will redraft the additional bonus clauses to ensure our sincerity."
He lit a cigarette with a 'snap', took a puff, and said heavily, "We can't delay any longer, immediately sign a new contract with him, and clearly tell the player that we will recall him in the winter window.
"And, I promise to give him some playing time."
He made this decision seriously. People like him can't speak carelessly. Once they say something, they can't easily change it.
Those present were shocked. Wenger's personal promise was rare.
It seems that these clubs' interest in Maël has aroused Wenger's sense of urgency.
ps: Wrote all night, a bit of writer's block, the update won't be less, will write again after waking up.
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