[Football] Bad Boy Batty

After finalizing Messi's transfer, Manchester City began to negotiate with Villa on the other side. They were not in a hurry. The longer they dragged it out, the better it would be for them.

Finally, Villa couldn't bear it anymore. After Manchester City beat Manchester United 8-1 to win the Community Shield in early August, the two sides reached an agreement. The Villa captain will transfer to Manchester City for 0 million pounds, excluding floating clauses, and paid in one lump sum.

Later, a reporter revealed that there was a hidden clause in the contract between Manchester City and Villa: if Grealish scored 20 goals for Manchester City and won the Ballon d'Or, Villa would get an additional share of the bonus.

On August 8, Jack Grealish officially debuted in Manchester City.

Since he had no requirements on the number, the club chose No. 22 for him.

As the captain, Batistuta arrived at the club early to wait. In order to prevent the inconvenience caused by language barriers (Glarish has a very heavy accent), he also found an interpreter to accompany him.

"You really don't understand what Jack is saying?" Stones asked, suppressing his joy and trying to act normal.

"Of course, otherwise I asked you to come here just for fun." Batifi gave him a look, "Honestly, John, although you look like Tommy Shelby, the new guy is the real Birmingham person."

"That's true." Stones laughed. "The Birmingham people have a heavy accent, which is really hard for foreigners to understand. When I was in the national team, sometimes I couldn't understand what he wanted to say."

"Hey!" Batty looked over in surprise. "Did you promise, or should I find another British person to come over?"

"Oh no, no, no, no need." Stones quickly said that he could do the job. "Jack is always drunk, and no one can understand what he mumbles. He definitely won't drink at this moment. You can trust me, it's okay."

Of course Batty knew it was okay, he just wanted to tease Stones.

Ever since he made the problem clear last season, the atmosphere between them has become a little subtle. Of course, off the pitch, the England defender was still very normal during training and games.

"Oh, hey! Hello, are you waiting for me?"

A greeting from afar interrupted Batistuta's thoughts. He turned his head and looked over there. Today's protagonist Jack Grealish was walking towards this side accompanied by the team's cameraman.

"Hello, Jack." He held out his hand. "Welcome aboard."

Grealish shook hands with Batistuta with his droopy puppy eyes. Unlike their previous meetings during games or night clubs, he seemed a little embarrassed today, probably because of the cameras.

"I know everyone needs time to adapt, especially players like you who have never experienced a transfer." Batty patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, the people here are very good, you will get along with them."

"Thank you."

Stones: "He said thank you."

"I can still understand this, idiot." Batty rolled his eyes at Stones. "You are my translator today, not my babysitter, and I am not a baby who hasn't learned to speak yet."

Stones curled the corners of his mouth downwards in apology.

Grealish was amused by the interaction between the two people in front of him and finally stopped being nervous. However, what surprised Batistuta a little was that the sporting director Begiristain and the assistant coach who were supposed to be present were not with him.

"Where's Ettore (director)?" he asked. "Why don't I see him?"

"I don't know." Grealish said. Maybe because of his droopy eyes, when he said he didn't know, he seemed particularly clear and simple.

"We were originally going to go together, but they got a call halfway through, which seemed to be related to Arsenal, so they asked me to come alone," he said.

Stones did not respond.

Batty looked over.

He only vaguely heard the key words "phone" and "Arsenal" in the previous sentence, and combined with the sports director's reaction, it might be related to the transfer.

Stones looked down at him.

Batty: "Why are you standing there? Translate."

"Ah? Oh." Stones shuddered as if he had just woken up from a dream. "He said Eto'o got a call and left in a hurry. It might be a call from Arsenal."

It’s almost the same as saying nothing.

Batty kicked Stones in the calf: "What's the use of you!"

However, it is certain that the call from Arsenal that made the sports director anxious must be related to a transfer, and it was an outward transfer.

Everyone knows that since Arteta took over the Emirates Stadium, the relationship between Manchester City and Arsenal has reached an unprecedented friendly level.

So the situation is clear.

Arteta wants to poach players from his old club.

Although no transfer has been completed yet, there is still more than half a month before the transfer window closes. Batistuta has heard that Arteta has called at least five Manchester City players and Guardiola this summer.

Batty thought that he should take some time to call his old friend and give him a gentle warning.

"That--" Grealish suddenly said, "They said that I should go to the kitchen next and talk to the nutritionist and the chef to let them know what I can and cannot eat."

Stones (finally somewhat useful): "He's going to the restaurant to see the nutritionist."

"Yeah, you should do that." Batty gave Grealish a signature sunny smile. Arteta's matter can be put aside for now. What he should do now is to play a good trick on the newcomer.

"I'm so sorry, Jack, we can't go to the restaurant with you. We have to go to the training ground later to tell you about your business in advance." Batty said regretfully, "We will show you the direction. This building is big and complicated inside. We don't want you to get lost and be late for training."

His expression was very precise, he looked extremely apologetic, and if he hadn't known Batistuta for a long time, Stones thought, he might have been fooled.

"Ah, it's okay. It's not a bother for you." Grealish immediately acted reasonable. It was his first time at a new club, and he certainly hoped to leave a good impression on the future captain.

The cameraman was trying not to laugh the whole time as he watched Batty giving random directions to the newcomer.

Poor Jack, he thought.

No one (newcomer) can escape the fate of being pranked by their playful king. Oh, of course, it is not ruled out that they will encounter double pranks from people of a higher rank than him.

For example, a little flea that looks gentle but is actually very naughty. Messi: (smiles shyly)
……

Under Batistuta's misleading, Grealish was naturally late. He was very embarrassed for interrupting Guardiola's speech, and then cast a resentful look at Batistuta who was at the front of the crowd.

Guardiola immediately understood what was going on.

"Come back to the team, it's okay, Jack, I know what you've been through - Batty, don't tease your teammates next time," he said.

Barty stuck out his tongue.

With the support of the head coach, Grealish's steps became much lighter. He walked to Batistuta and ruffled Batistuta's newly styled hair.

But before Batistuta could do anything, the head coach spoke again.

"At least, tell me in advance next time you play a prank on him," Guardiola said, "otherwise you'll always be interrupted and the meeting will be extended."

Aha!

The smile returned to Batistuta's face, he relaxed his shoulders and hooked his arms around Grealish's neck.

'Look, who is backing whom now?'

Grealish suddenly became listless, and Batty patted his face. The touch felt good. He must have taken good care of his beard this morning.

Oh, he really looks like a depressed dog, even more so than Lucas.

Batty pursed his lips to suppress his smile.

That’s great, he thought, with Jack around, there will definitely be a lot of fun in the future.

……

However, before the fun started, Batty fell first.

In mid-to-late August, the new season was about to begin. As fans were eagerly waiting, the Manchester City captain tested positive for the virus before he even played a single game and was sent home for quarantine.

Manchester City urgently screened everyone in the club, and the results showed that there was only one positive case in the entire club, including Batistuta.

After investigation, it was determined that he was infected by a pizza delivery man.

There were dozens of people at the party, and they ordered a total of 7 boxes of 12-inch pizzas, but in the end only Batty was hit.

Batty: ...

So he received a lot of ridicule from Jack Grealish that day.

"I told you not to lie to me!" the England striker from Birmingham sent Batistuta a string of laughing emojis in a private message, "You got what you deserved!"

Batty: ...
Batty (weakly): Get lost! Cough cough cough cough!
……

He had no choice but to stay at home and watch his teammates' game on TV. Fortunately, he had Niu Qiu and Qiao Lin to chat with him, and he heard a lot of gossip from Qiao Lin.

For example, the rumors about Manchester United's No. 7.

"I remember that when Mbappe left, they called him the successor," Batistuta said hoarsely while lying on the sofa. "Now that Ronaldo is coming back, should the number be returned to him?"

"That's what happened at the beginning. Ronaldo wanted to take back the No. 7 jersey from Mbappe, and Mbappe regarded him as an idol, and it would also show his humility, so of course he agreed." Qiao Lin nodded with a mask on, "But then Messi went to your place and chose the No. 30 jersey, so--"

"Ha! If the Portuguese player wears No. 7 again, he will definitely be compared with Leo." Batistuta smiled and said he understood. "So what happened in the end? Which number is he going to wear?"

"Not sure yet." Niuqiu said while browsing his tablet. "I guess we won't know until the official announcement. I heard that the negotiations have reached the final stage, and Mendes still wants a higher dividend, so he hasn't given in yet."

"That won't be delayed until the last day."

"We can't rule out this possibility." Loach watched the time and handed the painkillers to Batistuta. "After all, signing early or late will not harm either side. If something goes wrong, only Manchester United will be -"

Before he could finish his words, Batti's cell phone rang.

Just as they were talking about Ronaldo and Manchester United, several more transfers were officially announced in the Premier League.

First, Lingard transferred to the Hammers, followed by Griezmann confirming his transfer to Manchester United and inheriting the No. 10 jersey, and then Zinchenko and Jesus announced their transfers to Arsenal.

Barty sat up suddenly.

He forgot about it!
On the day of Grealish's training, he originally planned to call Arteta to discuss transfer issues, but he later forgot about it and only remembered it today.

As a result, they lost two good players (although not directly related)
So Batistuta quickly called the former Manchester City assistant coach and current Arsenal head coach.

"Don't think about our players, Mikel," he warned in a joking tone. "Even with Messi, we still have to ensure the depth of the bench. He can't be split into two people."

Arteta thanked Manchester City and Guardiola for their help, and told Batistuta that Arsenal's transfer was over. He believed that they had the strength to compete with Manchester City in the new season.

Batty believed it.

It was two days later that the Manchester City captain realised how wrong he was.

On August 8, Arsenal officially announced that Manchester City striker Mahrez had joined the team for a transfer fee of 26 million euros, payable in installments, with (almost) no additional terms.

Batty: ...

In a forum on the other side of the ocean, fans commented:
Brother Tazi, are you here to purchase goods?

(End of this chapter)