[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"Ohhhhhh our Mr. Golden Globe is back!"
"Hail to the great King Batti!"
"We now have three Golden Ball winners!"

After returning to Manchester from France, the club prepared a celebration ceremony for Batistuta at the Etihad Stadium. Everyone was present and they stood in two rows to welcome the king holding the Golden Ball trophy.

Batistuta didn't stay here for too long. After having a drink with everyone, he called Loach and drove back to the training ground.

It wasn't because he was arrogant or indifferent to celebrating the Golden Ball. He was anxious to go back because Mario joined the team today and he had to do something for him.

Because of the kid's wooden character, he was called a freak in the enthusiastic Brazilian team. When he arrived in the UK, it would be hard for him not to be bullied by other teenagers.

But when he arrived at the club building, he didn't see Mario and his family, but instead saw the sports director who was showing another newcomer around the club's Hall of Fame.

"Hey, Alto." Batty greeted him, "Didn't they say Mario would arrive today? Where is he?"

"The flight was delayed due to weather conditions." The sports director shrugged helplessly, then he put his arm around the shoulders of the person next to him, "I had planned to have them come together today so that they could get familiar with the environment, but now he's the only one left."

Only then did Batty notice the young man next to him.

He was not tall and not very strong, probably a winger or something like that, he thought.

But when Batty really noticed his face—

"what!!"

The King of Manchester City let out the first laugh of the day.

The young player was frightened and looked at the sports director at a loss. Begiristain pinched his brows in the same way as Guardiola: "Laugh, laugh. A Kun told me you would react like this."

"Huh? Kun knew he was coming a long time ago?" Batty quickly grasped the key words and raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Of course." The sports director patted the player's arm, "Let me introduce you to Julian Alvarez, who is one year younger than you, an Argentine, and plays as a striker."

"Forward, yes, I'm not surprised at all." Batistuta said with a smile as warm as the sun, "With a face like that and an Argentine, I expected him to be a forward. Look, he looks exactly like Kun!"

When Alvarez heard the compliment (tease), he smiled sheepishly and lowered his head to scratch his hair.

"Don't be shy." Batty reached out and ruffled his hair, which looked softer than it actually was. "You're one year younger than me, so you're not my younger brother in the echelon, and you're here to be my substitute, right?"

Alvarez wasn't sure if the question was directed at him, so he hesitated for a moment. While he was organizing his words, the sports director took over.

"Almost." Begiristain said, "Kun left, and you let Jack go in the derby and asked Pep to see the benefits of a center forward. You know how picky he is. Julian is the best candidate we found after searching the world for him."

Batty nodded.

"Play well." He looked at the new Argentine and said, "I'm waiting for the day when you officially take over. Maybe I will have to give up my position to you."

hiss--

Alvarez was at a loss for words. He moved his back uncomfortably, then forced out a rather awkward smile.

"I'm kidding, hey! I'm...Oh my God!" Batty covered his eyes, "Otto, where did you find such a humorless guy?"

"Have you ever thought that your sense of humor is too scary?" The sports director easily resolved the crisis. He looked at Alvarez and then at Batistuta, and handed over the task.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. I still have a lot of things to do." He said, "Julian, you follow him in the next process. You can also take this opportunity to chat. He is the captain and the king. The whole locker room belongs to him."

Half a minute later, the sports director walked away, leaving only Batistuta and Alvarez in the corridor.

"Come on, I'll take you to the locker room first. They should have arranged your position." Batty tilted his head to signal.

Alvarez nodded and quickly followed.

Suddenly, Batty stopped as if he thought of something.

"Julian?" He called the newcomer's name. "Can I call you that?"

"Yeah, sure." Alvarez nodded, "You can also call me Spider, that's what my River Plate teammates call me."

"Spider?" Batty repeated, looking him up and down again. "You don't look that scary. You look more like a little spider, a cute one."

"...If you want, I don't mind." Alvarez said meekly.

The more Batistuta looked at him, the more he felt that he was like Mario at that time. This made him realize that something was wrong. What happened to the South Americans recently? Their personalities were more obedient than the other.

"Julian?"

"what's up?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Well, ask me, as long as I can answer me..."

"Are you listening to the song?" Batty interrupted him and asked anxiously, but Mario didn't listen. He was trying to find evidence that Alvarez in front of him was not as wooden as he thought.

The Argentine was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "I listen, often."

"Can I see your playlist?" Batty asked. "If possible, I would also like to see what apps you use and what you like to do. Do you watch movies? What movies do you watch?"

This series of questions made Alvarez a little confused, but he quickly reacted and handed over his mobile phone, which was the quickest way to answer the above questions.

When he first saw his wallpaper was the Argentine flag, Batty's eyebrows jumped, but after clicking on his playlist and Netflix app, Batty's concerns were mostly dispelled. "You also like Ozuna." The king clicked on the song Alvarez was listening to recently, "Good taste, much better than Kun."

"Yes, I have always liked him and those with similar styles to him," Alvarez replied mildly.

Good, at least I know he is not a potato like Mario, Batistuta thought, maybe he is just shy, just like his predecessor Messi.

Ok?
and many more.

Aguero's face and Messi's personality, suddenly an idea jumped into his mind.

"Julian." Batty turned and looked at Alvarez seriously. "The last question, you must answer me honestly. You can't lie. Do you understand?"

The Argentine was stunned by his sudden burst of momentum and nodded quickly: "I promise, as long as I can answer, I will never lie to you."

"Very good." Batty cleared his throat, then bent down and held Alvarez's shoulders, and asked solemnly: "Are you the illegitimate child of Kun and Leo? What kind of magic did they use to transform you? I need this!"

Alvarez: ...

……

"You really asked that?"

"uh-huh."

"My God, you are such a bad guy."

"Thanks for the compliment, Qiao Qiao."

"I'm not flattering you, Barty dear."

"I just thought you were complimenting me."

When they got home in the evening, Batistuta and Joline talked about what happened during the day. It was really fun to tease someone, especially when that person was a newcomer, a shy Argentine who looked like a mix of Aguero and Messi.

"Anyway..." Batty took a sip of hot tea, "I'm really looking forward to my future life."

Qiao Lin looked up and gave him a smile that could be described as doting.

Batty felt uneasy when he saw this smiling face.

Every time Jolene smiled at him like that, something would happen that would make his brain explode, like some kind of fan fiction. To protect himself, he didn't even tell her what happened between him and the French lunatic next door at the Golden Globes dinner.

"What do you want to do now, Jojo?" Batty asked warily.

"Well, you can tease others, but you also have to allow others to tease you." Qiao Lin's smile widened. "You know it's Chinese New Year, right? The internet is full of players' New Year greetings. I mean the videos with AI-swapped faces."

"so?"

"So take a look at this." She handed over the phone.

Batistuta looked at the screen, which was still the fan app. The video title was in Chinese characters that he couldn't understand (Leading by the Little King, all the Manchester City players wish you a happy new year!)

He clicked play, and a few seconds later he saw his face appear on the body of a girl wearing a red traditional Chinese cheongsam.

Batty: ???
In the next two minutes, he saw the faces of various Manchester City players replaced with Chinese girls who were greeting the New Year, speaking Chinese that he could not understand, and the background music was full of strong Chinese style.

This is a, uh, new way to play.

Batty's eyes gradually lost their highlights, and then his brain stopped functioning.

The video ended soon, but the Manchester City king's brain was still stuck.

"What do you think?" Qiao Lin asked.

"Great," Batty commented soullessly.

"Then can I post it on Twitter?" Qiao Lin asked again.

"No." Batty refused decisively. The comments section of his various social softwares were already bad, and if this video was spread, the situation would only get worse.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, my hands are shaking." Qiao Lin clicked the send button, "It has been uploaded successfully, dear, I'm so sorry, but I still have to say - wait for it to become popular!"

……

That night, a New Year's greeting video from China became a trending topic on Twitter. Not only Manchester City, but all Premier League clubs were not spared. However, the good news is that Batistuta's outfit received the most likes.

"I never thought he would look so good in that stuff, guys, gotta find a way to get him to wear it," one person commented.

In second place is Neymar, who has won praise from many netizens for his affectionate gaze as the No. 1 Brazilian. Following him are Foden, B Silva and Messi.

Looking at the entire Premier League, Richarlison's score is actually at the bottom.

Highly praised comments on Twitter:
My goodness, one looks at everyone affectionately (Neymar), one looks at everyone ruthlessly (Richarlison), and there is a captain who looks at everyone as if he is flirting. What's wrong with your Brazilian team?

(End of this chapter)