[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In the end, I had no choice but to go. After all, it is an honor for the club when the players win awards, and Manchester City, as a "nouveau riche" that has only gradually stood up in the new century, needs these awards that can add to its foundation the most.

After the win over Watford, Batistuta was reluctantly dragged into the job by Sam Elysium.

The Ballon d'Or was easy to deal with, because Neymar was there too, and it was a chance to relax during the busy schedule. Batistuta was always with him, and he treated the award ceremony as his own living room, so the fans who were so excited happily added this part to the editing material.

Batistuta was not so lucky at the FIFA awards ceremony. He accepted the Golden Boy Award and the Puskas Player of the Year Award with a fake commercial smile on his face the entire time. His photo with President Infantino was made into an emoticon package that said "Why haven't you gotten off work yet?" and was widely circulated.

Anyway, after Manchester City took the opportunity to market themselves, the league has to go on.

Just when "No one can stop Manchester City" was about to become a common topic among Premier League fans, Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the season, only 49 games away from surpassing Arsenal's 3 unbeaten games, and their opponent was——

Liverpool.

2018年1月21日，曼城做客安菲尔德球场挑战目前英超排名第4的利物浦，两队积分相差20分。

Prior to this, Manchester City had drawn 15 and lost 5 of their last 10 visits to Anfield without a win. Since 2003, Manchester City has not won a game there. They had a chance to win last season, but Batistuta's injury and weak defense still led to them being equalized in the final moments.

Not today, Batistuta thought, crossing his arms in the tunnel. Three points, that's what they want, a draw won't do. Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane, they've won them all this season, and Anfield is no exception.

However, although the idea is good, it is difficult to implement.

With the fans singing the team song "You'll Never Walk Alone" enthusiastically, less than 10 minutes into the game, Chamberlain broke into the penalty area, shook off Otamendi and shot into the far corner, helping Liverpool take a 1-0 lead at home.

Although Manchester City relied on the cooperation between Batistuta and De Bruyne on the edge of the field to force Lovren to score an own goal to equalize the score before the end of the first half, at the beginning of the second half, Liverpool striker Firmino used his personal ability to squeeze out Stones who had returned from injury and scored to overtake the score.

"John! How could you let him pass!" Batty retreated to Stones to complain, and then scolded him, "Go back and lie down if your injury hasn't healed yet, don't come up and waste time!"

"Got it. There won't be a next time." Stones rubbed his forehead. He certainly knew that he had to adjust his condition. There was no need for Batistuta to come all the way to tell him, "Go back quickly. They are about to kick off."

Batty gave him an 'I'm watching you' gesture and then went back to the frontcourt.

Just as Manchester City players tried to stabilize the situation and launch a counterattack, Laporte made a pass error in the backcourt and was intercepted by Salah. Mane shot from the edge of the penalty area and the ball went into the net. Less than 5 minutes later, Manchester City's midfield was intercepted again. Salah passed the ball directly to Mane. Ederson made a mistake in his attack. Salah got the ball in the frontcourt and lobbed it into the empty goal. Ederson had no time to chase.

In less than 70 minutes, Liverpool led by 3 goals, 4-1 Manchester City.

"What's going on? What's wrong with you guys?" Batistuta, who watched the ball being intercepted in the midfield, started to put pressure on himself and first directed his attack at De Bruyne. "Don't let that Egyptian guy act like he's in your own garden. If Dinho goes up, you just retreat to protect him. It's that simple!"

"Don't rush at me!" De Bruyne did not hesitate just because it was Batistuta, "We had a great chance just now, you didn't grab it, I passed it to you, but you gave the ball away."

“I was in the middle!”

"Why are you in the middle, you should be on the right!"

"What? Did I not catch your pass because there was something wrong with my positioning?"

"Yes!"

When De Bruyne and Batistuta started arguing on the court, you knew things were serious.

However, quarreling occasionally does have its benefits. Six minutes later, De Bruyne and Batistuta made a wonderful two-pass combination in the frontcourt. Batistuta dribbled into the penalty area and made a sudden cross pass. Aguero successfully scored in front of the goal and Manchester City equalized.

"Just from that wave, not bad." Batty trotted over and raised an eyebrow at De Bruyne, "Maybe it's because we had a quarrel, Kevin, do you want to quarrel more?"

"...No, still not." De Bruyne pursed his lips and returned to his seat. Only at this moment did he feel the age difference between him and Batistuta.

In the last 15 minutes, Guardiola replaced Sane with B Silva. Less than 2 minutes after B Silva came on the pitch, he got a free kick for Manchester City. De Bruyne took the free kick and Batistuta headed the ball into the goal to equalize the score to 4-3.

Then later Manchester City never found a chance to break through Liverpool's goal.

At the end of the game, Liverpool defeated Manchester City 4-3 at home to narrow the points gap to 17 points, and broke Manchester City's unbeaten record this season.

It can only be said that Anfield is the most difficult stadium to break among all the home stadiums in the Premier League, and even Batistuta has to admit this.

Guardiola was very calm after the game. Facing the media, he said that the defeat came at a very timely moment.

"The team cannot keep winning, as that will increase the psychological pressure on the players and cause problems," he said.

What's more, there are things more terrifying than losing.

That's the injury.

In the match against Liverpool, Delph, who replaced the injured Danilo at the left back position, was also injured. At the same time, Laporte, who has performed stably this season, also had some problems with his calf. Jesus in the frontcourt tore his knee ligament and will not be able to play for at least two months. So the only center forward who can play in the front is Aguero (Bati can also make a cameo appearance, but the effect is not ideal).

This is closely related to the intensive match schedule of the Premier League.

"It's like the FIFA virus has struck again." - Guardiola.

……

Therefore, signing a qualified central defender in the winter window became Manchester City's top priority.

Before the start of the season, Guardiola had already talked about this with the club's chairman and chief operating officer. He gave them a list of all the players he thought could be bought, but at that time they were making long-term plans. Those players might come to Manchester City in the summer or in the next 1-2 seasons. No one expected that the injuries this season would be so serious that they could not wait until the summer.

"So, we can only activate the termination clause." In the conference room, the COO said in a heavy tone. Next to him sat the equally heavy-hearted CFO, who opened a player profile and tapped his fingers on it irritably. "He's almost at the end of his contract. We could have negotiated for no more than 5000 million yuan, but now we have to spend 6800 million yuan. This is not a good sign."

"We have no choice," the chairman said. "Everyone saw how we performed in the first half of the season. We were 15 points ahead of Manchester United. But if we collapsed in the second half because of the defender's problem and lost the Premier League, the Champions League and two other trophies, we would become a laughing stock."

"I support the chairman. The money must be spent." The financial officer moved his shoulders and said, "We have already suffered a loss once with Van Dijk, and there is also Sanchez. I don't understand Guardiola's principles of employing people. All I can do is to keep the club's financial situation good. If we don't activate the liquidated damages now and bring this player to Etihad, it may cause a chain reaction in the future and cost more money."

The Chief Operating Officer stared at the document and pondered for a long time. Finally, as if he had finally compromised, he sighed and stood up.

"Call the lawyer and we'll go to Madrid."

……

Batistuta had just finished his shower and was sitting on a gaming chair with wet hair, playing a solo match in CSGO. He was so into the game that even Neymar didn't expect it. Suddenly, his phone rang.

Batty originally didn't intend to answer the call, but when he saw the caller's name, he hesitated for a moment, used his explosive hand speed to complete the endgame 1 vs 3, and then pressed the connect button before hanging up.

"Hernandez? That's strange, why are you calling?" Batty asked.

"Why do you sound so strange? You called me Lucas in Korea." A happy and innocent voice came from the microphone. It was Lucas Hernandez, the French defender whom Batistuta met at the World Youth Championship. "Hi Batistuta, it's been a while since we last contacted each other. I hope I didn't disturb your sleep."

"I'm not a person who likes to be polite. What can I do for you?" Batty crossed his legs on the table. Although he and Lucas were not close friends, they were not strangers either. He decided not to bother with the small talk. "You missed me, didn't you?"

"What would you do if I really said I missed you?" Lucas asked with a smile.

"Oh, I'll hang up then."

"Hey - don't! Don't hang up, I don't just miss you, I have something serious to tell you." Lucas hurriedly called Batistuta. His voice was quite nice, and thinking of that silly but particularly pleasing face, Batistuta was willing to give him a few more seconds to explain, "I just want to ask you, what is Manchester like?"

Ok?
Batty raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

"Hey, nothing, just tell me." Lucas smiled shyly, "I want to know what it's like to live there, what people eat, what the environment is like, and..."

Lucas went on and on, as if he was going to immigrate from Spain to England - or, not immigrate but better than immigrate, like a transfer or something.

Batistuta got interested. He took his feet off the table and interrupted him, "Wait, Lucas, are you coming to Manchester City? Manchester City is the club, not the city." He asked directly, "At this time, you are coming in the winter transfer window?"

Lucas Hernandez seemed startled and stopped talking for a moment, but he didn't hang up the phone. After a long while, he stammered and spoke again.

"Well, that's not the case. I just asked." He said in a low voice.

Batty rolled his eyes. "Don't be so pretentious, honey. If I didn't notice such an obvious problem and thought you were here for a trip, then I would be a fool." He said bluntly, "If you really don't want others to know, then you shouldn't have made this call."

After hearing this, Lucas let out a long breath like a deflated balloon: "Okay, then I won't hide it from you. Batistuta, yes, my agent told me that Manchester City is going to activate the termination clause in the winter window. I thought they would wait until the summer window."

"That's good." Batty clapped his hands after receiving a positive response. "Welcome to join us."

"Thank you, but I still have a lot of things to solve, like the environment and food I asked you about just now, and the house." Lucas said a little depressed, "Although the club will definitely not let me sleep under a bridge, I prefer to live in a house I like. I wonder if you have any news in this regard. It would be best if I could be closer to you. You are the one I know best in Manchester City."

Oh, that's not difficult.

Batty raised his lips and said, "Don't worry about the house. I can give you one, but it's an apartment. I still have dozens of empty rooms here. Of course, if you prefer a villa, there's nothing I can do."

"Really?! You didn't lie to me?!" Lucas jumped up excitedly, "You really have dozens of floors of apartments, so doesn't that mean - the whole building is yours?"

"Hmm, don't you read the news? This is a transfer gift my godfather gave me last year." Batistuta said proudly, "How about it, do you want it?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lucas wanted to get through the phone screen and hug Batty and kiss him a few times, "You are so nice, Batty!! I knew that calling you would solve the problem, I love you so much! Thank you, thank you! In return, you can let me do anything! I will definitely do it!"

……

How cute, Barty thought. He could already imagine them training together in the future. It would definitely be a joyful scene.

After hanging up the phone, Batistuta looked at the screen and laughed for a while, then went to find Loach to share his joy. What he didn't know was that in a house far away in Madrid, Lucas put away his silly smile, put on a fox expression of having successfully stolen some fish, and cheered in front of the mirror.

"The plan worked."

……

On January 2018, 1, with 30 hours left before the closing of the Premier League winter transfer window, Manchester City signed Atletico Madrid left center back Lucas Hernandez at the last minute for a transfer fee of 48 million euros. He will wear the No. 6800 jersey and sign a five-year contract with an annual salary of 22 million pounds (after tax).

That night, the media reported that Lucas Hernandez rushed to Batistuta's apartment with his belongings after completing a series of activities with the club. Batistuta promised that he could live there until he found a satisfactory house. So far, he became the third Manchester City player to live in Batistuta's apartment after Ederson and B Silva.

Many netizens joked that they didn't know how much discount Batty could give to his teammates. However, in the eyes of another group of fans, this matter has changed into a new rising couple.

While there was a heated discussion about Manchester City's new signing on the Internet, the new signing himself went to Batistuta's house and openly invaded in the name of a familiar teammate. Within half an hour, Batistuta's room was full of Lucas's dolls, toys, and game discs.

"You're still playing CS? I feel like it's almost outdated." Lucas was leaning against the computer with half a watermelon in his arms, eating while watching Batty's game, and commenting from time to time. Just when Batty was about to hit him with his headphones, he recommended a new game, "Why don't you play this new one with me? It's also a shooting game, and it's much more playable than CS."

Batty scoffed at this.

What could be more fun than CS?

"You won't understand just by listening to me. Come on, log in to my account, download the game and I'll play it with you and you'll understand." Lucas grabbed Batistuta's mouse, logged out of the FACEIT account that Neymar gave Batistuta, opened Steam, logged into his own account, and then downloaded the game skillfully. "Wait, I guarantee you'll love it in 10 minutes."

Then Lucas moved another computer and table from Battie's e-sports room to his side as if he was decorating his own home. He quickly sat down and repeated the action of downloading the game. At the same time, he turned his head and kept praising the game and laughing at Battie.

"You're going to love it! I promise!"

Batty narrowed his eyes.

What a silly big dog this is.

Samoyed?

Lucas Hernandez, this is probably the most autonomous dog he has ever met. Batistuta raised his eyebrows. Surprisingly, he didn't hate this feeling.

Watching the game called PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds loading on the screen, Batty thought, why not - give it a try, maybe he will fall in love with this game as Lucas said.

"You have to believe in the law, Batty. New games are always more fun." Lucas patted Batty's shoulder with a smile like the sun. "By the way, call me Luki. It's closer this way."

(End of this chapter)