Sitting on the sofa, the family seemed a little uneasy, as they had almost no contact with tycoons like McCabe in their lives.
Clermont poured a glass of red wine, raised his glass to McCabe, trying to appear as composed as possible, not wanting to embarrass Maël.
"Cheers."
McCabe could see what they were thinking and could only secretly try to bridge the gap between them, if only for Maël's sake.
He switched languages and began speaking in French, "I lived in France for four years in my early years, I hope you won't laugh at my accent."
In fact, he had his own plans for being here today.
After hearing from Joelson that Maël's family had arrived in Sheffield City, he realized that this might be an opportunity.
He might be able to influence Maël's decision on whether to stay or leave by winning over Maël's family.
Even if the inside news from the team was that Maël was ready to finish this season, everything was still uncertain during this crucial period.
What if he suddenly quit? What would Sheffield United do? He had to give the team some risk resistance and fight for as much as he could within his capabilities.
"They're coming out."
McCabe smiled and pointed to the field. He heard a relatively soothing league theme song playing, and the players from both sides were about to emerge from the player tunnel.
"Maël should be at the back."
He brought up an anecdote, trying to liven up the conversation, "Gareth Speed told me that Gilbert once told him that Maël's actions were to get more airtime.
"Haha... he's very aware of that, which is not easy at his age."
At the player tunnel below, the players from both sides walked out with the children, and as McCabe said, Maël was the last Sheffield United player to walk out of the tunnel.
Smiles appeared on the faces of Clermont's family. They could empathize with Maël's feelings and felt a sense of honor rising from the bottom of their hearts.
"That's great."
Bruno, the quietest of the younger brothers, was the first to speak. As someone of the same age, his envy for Maël was the strongest.
Appearing every week to the cheers of tens of thousands of people, the center of attention, living for what he loves.
If he had heard the story of a peasant uprising leader from the Far East, he might have repeated one of his famous quotes in French—'A real man should be like this.'
"I envy them too."
McCabe took out a box of cigars, handed one to Clermont, and lit his own after seeing the other man light his, "Young, full of vitality, respected both on and off the field.
"Unlike us businessmen, few people like us except for our partners."
He wasn't deliberately mocking himself, but rather leading into what he wanted to say next, "After the 2008 financial crisis, I was affected to some extent and reduced my investment in the club.
"But after the first half of this year, I saw the team's hope of returning to the top league again. I'm prepared to grit my teeth and increase investment, returning everything I owed the team before in the form of transfer funds and bonuses.
"I can tell you in advance that I will set up a 6 Million Pound Promotion to the Super League Bonus for the team."
As soon as this huge number was spoken, Clermont's family seemed to be choked. Some coughed a few times, and some suddenly stopped breathing.
Even if the five of them worked hard all their lives, they would not be able to earn so much money, and this was just the single-season bonus he was offering.
"In addition to that."
McCabe looked around and whispered, "I heard that Mendes has signed an agency contract with Maël. I will contact him and set up various bonus clauses for Maël alone, worth around 1.5 million pounds."
"Really?" Betty asked, her lips trembling, afraid that McCabe was joking with them.
"Absolutely true."
McCabe nodded, from his point of view, "The player will eventually return to London, to the Emirates Stadium. I hope he doesn't leave empty-handed this season, whether in terms of honor or wealth.
"Since he has brought us such strong competitiveness, we will naturally reciprocate. The essence of business is exchange.
"This is beneficial to the player in every way. If he can really lead the team to Promotion to the Super League, not only will he return to London full of honor, but he can also complete the initial accumulation of personal wealth at the age of 18 and have the ability to purchase quality real estate in London."
After speaking, he picked up his glass of red wine and looked towards the field, "It's about to start, let's watch the game."
Clermont and Betty exchanged a deep look, picked up their wine glasses. The children might not understand what this meant for their brother, but they probably understood.
This meant that their nephew could earn more money in this one season than the two of them could earn in their entire lives.
"Beep!!"
Inside the stadium, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the first half, and Evans kicked off from the center circle for Sheffield United.
Hull City, playing away today, lined up in a 3-5-2 formation, seemingly intending to retreat and play a defensive counter-attacking game. In reality, they played very aggressively from the start.
Their two side midfielders, who could also be called wing-backs, pushed very far forward. With their attacking midfielder also pushing up, the entire formation looked more like a 3-2-3-2 from a visual perspective.
Clearly, they wanted to seize the initiative. No one wanted to play a slow, methodical game against Sheffield United.
They knew very well that if the two teams engaged in a back-and-forth, conventional attacking and defensive battle, Sheffield United, with their star players, would be more likely to create clear-cut chances.
"Hello everyone! I'm honored to be commentating on this crucial match on such a day!"
In the commentary box, the Sky Sports commentator's voice was powerful and passionate: "We see that the match has already begun, and Hull City's pressure is very effective. Sheffield United are constantly passing back!
"Passed back to the goalkeeper! Careful, almost intercepted! Robert kicks the ball out of bounds!" Hull City has committed a lot of attacking players, with everyone except the three center-backs pushing past the halfway line.
"They need to be careful of Sheffield United's counter-attack! Kilbane's through ball! Lotton's sliding tackle intercepts it, and the ball falls to Janu Hans!
"Long pass to the wing! The hidden danger has erupted right from the start. There's no one in Hull City's backfield. Maël's Speed is very fast, and the chance for a counter-attack is here!"
On the field, a high ball flew towards Hull City's backfield wing, where there was a very obvious gap.
"Bang, bang!"
Maël burst into action, reaching the ball's path in seven or eight steps. He received the ball and moved forward, seeing one of the opponent's side center-backs moving over to defend.
The opponent's midfielders definitely couldn't catch up in a short time, and the other two defenders were defending Evans and Bologanovic.
He was considering how to handle the ball when he saw a red and white jersey enter the penalty area.
It was Gilbert, who had started sprinting to prepare for a counter-attack from the moment Lotton made the sliding tackle. He was the first to arrive.
"Bang!!"
Maël didn't hesitate any longer, and from a certain distance from the baseline, he directly sent the ball towards the open space in front of Gilbert.
45 Degree Bomb!
He didn't choose to dribble past his opponent, even if he succeeded, it would waste time and slow down the attack.
It was better to trust his teammate and launch a high-altitude bombardment! "Maël! The pass is very precise. Hull City's goalkeeper Mannone prepares to come out, he judges the situation, and finally doesn't dare to come out!
The Sky Sports commentator stood up from his seat, looking towards the penalty area: "Gilbert! Let everyone see your header skills! Diving header!!"
"Bang!!" As if wanting to shoot himself into the net like a sharp arrow, Gilbert stretched out his body and flew out, smashing the ball towards the goal with great force.
This was a header with no less power than a shot, and the goalkeeper had no chance. The ball hit the side netting of the goal! "Oh ah!! Gilbert!! A diving header gives the team the lead. Sheffield United easily sent the ball into the net with a simple 45-degree cross!
"Hull City may regret it. They wanted to take the risk of a weak defense to apply high pressure, but they immediately paid the price for their aggressiveness, thanks to a precise pass from Maël!!"
On the field, Gilbert got up and ran towards the corner flag area near Maël, looking at Maël with a beaming expression as he shouted all the way.
Maël arrived soon after, and the two jumped to their highest point, waving their right arms towards the Sheffield United fans in the stands.
"Yeah!!" The fans quickly responded with the most enthusiastic shouts, and countless arms waved in the stands. The fans near them even wanted to reach out and touch them.
A frenzy of chaos erupted in the stands as fans pushed forward towards the barriers, moving closer to the two.
"Fack!"
Gilbert shouted loudly, releasing his excitement, and then high-fived Maël, "How did you pass that? I just flew in place and scored, it was so accurate!"
Maël smiled and didn't say anything. Naturally, he couldn't tell him that his Cross had undergone another major improvement.
He then looked towards the box area of the stadium, waving towards that row of boxes.
He knew that his family was sitting up there at this moment, cheering for his brilliant assist.
"Oh!"
Inside the private box, Clermont was the first to open his eyes wide and stand up. When he saw his wife get up, he hugged her tightly.
"It's in!"
"So beautiful!!"
Seeing his nephew make an assist and run to celebrate with the fans in person was a completely different feeling from watching it on TV.
The cheers echoing throughout the stadium, the emotional climax of tens of thousands of people, all made it even clearer to them just how wonderful Maël's strike had been.
"Goal! Goal!"
Ava didn't really understand the intricacies of football, but seeing her brother celebrating made her happy. "Brother scored!"
"It was an assist."
Her second brother, Bruno, explained to her, as he could understand the game. "But the brilliance of that pass should account for at least 50% of the goal's credit."
"I think it's 70%."
McCabe shook his head in delight. His team had scored, so naturally, he was beaming with pride. "Let's toast to him!"
"Cheers."
Clermont and Betty sat down, clinked glasses with McCabe, and then turned their attention back to the field, eager to catch their nephew's every move.
Just then, Maël turned his gaze in their direction and waved.
"He's waving to us."
Clermont was radiant, this special treatment filling him with excitement. "Fantastic, I wish we'd come to see his games sooner."
"Yes."
Betty's cheeks were flushed, feeling undeserving of the special gesture from someone who was the focus of attention on the field.
Even though that person was her nephew, whom she had helped raise since he was little, she still felt flattered.
"What a wonderful trip."
Maqi ate her snacks and said with a smile, "When I grow up, even if you don't come, I'll come to watch his games by myself."
Without a doubt, just a few minutes after the start, they had already fallen deeply in love with this feeling, utterly captivated by the experience of watching Maël play live.
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