Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 209: Half-genius Sean Long! The gun that decides fate! The big player steps onto the Arsenal stage!

On May 5th, a sunny day, the entire Arsenal team set out for West Bromwich Albion's Hawthorn Stadium to play their first game after winning the Premier League championship.

This is their 37th round of the Premier League. After this game, they only have the home game against Norwich on May 5th left.

"Clap clap clap!"

Before the game, West Bromwich Albion players lined up on both sides of the entrance and clapped their hands to welcome the new Premier League champions.

This is a unique tradition in football games. If a team wins the championship early, then every subsequent opponent will clap and welcome the champion into the stadium.

Of course, it is not absolute. It depends on whether the two teams have any historical grudges and the temperament of the opposing team.

West Bromwich Albion is undoubtedly very magnanimous. They acknowledged Arsenal's dominance this season and acted like a submissive inferior.

"Pa pa pa!" Their fans were then also mobilized and gave the most sincere respect to the Arsenal players.

Just like that, the 11 Arsenal starting players stepped onto the grass with glorious steps amid applause.

They feel at ease because this is the glory they have earned through victory after victory!

When Maher entered the field, he saw Sean Long in the opposing team, who was his old rival in the Championship last season and was as famous as Graham.

He still remembers the song composed by Sheffield United fans - "Sean Long? Graham? Be careful, Maher is catching up from behind!"

After a year, the old friends met again. Both of them had some emotion on their faces and they high-fived and hugged each other.

Sean Long's mentality was much better than Graham's, but his mood at the moment was inevitably a little complicated, and he didn't even say the words he had prepared.

Maher scored 40 goals and 27 assists in the Championship last season, and he also had 25 goals and 16 assists, which is basically half of Maher's.

He originally thought that the gap between him and a genius was just that his data was cut in half, so he could be considered half a genius.

But when I came to the Premier League this season, I found that it was not the case at all.

The 17-year-old Maher is not at the same level as the 18-year-old Maher!

The most terrifying thing about this player is not that he emerged at the age of 17, but his astonishing growth rate!

Look at this season, after coming to the Premier League where the overall level is higher, the competition is more intense and the difficulty is greater, he only scored 8 goals and 2 assists, and the data barely broke 10.

But Maher continued his dominance from last season, scoring 40 goals and 20 assists, which is 6 times as much as his!
Sean Long couldn't count how many times he had been lost in confusion while reading news on data websites on his mobile phone. Compared with Maher, he, a striker who once claimed to be half a genius, seemed like a joke.

"Beep!!"

The game started at 5:30 pm, and both sides lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.

Wenger tried putting Gervinho in the center position today to see if it would have a good effect.

"Oh!"

In the 4th minute of the game, Maher cut in from the left side of the penalty area and his shot hit the upper right corner of the goal.

One to zero!

Arsenal easily took the lead!
"OhAaahh!!"

This was a smooth start that no one had expected. The visiting fans cheered as if they had already seen an undefeated season waving at them.

Maher was also very happy after completing his 41st goal. He came to the edge of the field and did a somersault in celebration under the bright sunshine.

"Yeah!"

Another breakthrough!

This has surpassed his number of goals in the Championship. It seems that even if he changed to a stronger league, he still achieved more dazzling achievements than last season.

Next season, with the support of level 5 skills, he will definitely reach 50+ or ​​even 60+!

He wants to make Suarez, who later experienced a data explosion, feel far behind, make Uncle Kane and Pharaoh Salah, who later won the Asian Championship, feel unattainable, and make the Norwegian beast Haaland give up chasing records!
His name will be forever linked to this stadium and become a legend!

Of course, he couldn't say for sure what kind of stories would happen in this stadium in the future. This could only be regarded as his imagination at the moment.

Maybe, he will use his feet to kick out a more exciting and brilliant future. His imagination has never been right, because he can always do better!

"Beep!"

After the restart, Arsenal players smiled and enjoyed the game, but West Bromwich Albion's wave of offensive reinforcements caught them off guard.

James Morrison, the focused midfielder, assisted Sean Long to score a goal in the 12th minute of the game!
Then in the 15th minute, he stole the ball from Koscielny and assisted Dolans to score the goal that reversed the score!

Two to one!

"Oh!"

"Snapped!"

Fortunately, Kyle Walker's follow-up shot in the 30th minute of the game hit Macaulay's leg and changed direction and flew into the net. Arsenal equalized the score and entered the halftime break with a score of -.

The team played a little relaxed, and everyone could feel it.

Even though they told themselves countless times to hold on to their last breath and win the last two games to end the game successfully, humans are complex animals. After achieving great success, it is difficult for them to really treat the game the same way they did before.

"I will not repeat what I said before, and I will not accuse you."

In the locker room, Wenger stood in front of the tactical board, looked at the ground and said to the players: "But I want to say that the choice of what kind of person you want to be and what kind of team you want to be is always in your hands.

"Don't wait until you lose to regret it, many opportunities only come once in a lifetime."

The players looked at him with heavy expressions, knowing what kind of season they were finishing up for.

"In the second half, we need to be more resolute in passing the ball in the backcourt and attract the opponent's players to press forward."

More than ten minutes later, the second half of the game began. Perhaps Wenger's words worked.

"Oh!"

In the 55th minute of the game, Koscielny scored from a corner kick, helping Arsenal change the score to 3-2.

After this goal, Wenger replaced Gervinho with Gibbs and played a 5-4-1 defensive formation.

However, in the final moments, the defense made mistakes due to haste and gave the opponent a chance, allowing West Bromwich Albion's other striker Fortine to score a goal.

Three to three!
This was the score at the end of the game. Arsenal finally took away 1 point away from home and managed to remain unbeaten!
"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

During the post-match high-five session, the expressions on the faces of the players on both sides were not bad, and they could accept this result.

Sean Long, who scored a goal, held Maher's hand and said with a smile: "Maybe you don't know what kind of season you are going through at this time, but as bystanders, we know it very well. You must keep working hard."

"You too." Maher hugged him and encouraged him: "See you in the Premier League next season. I hope we will all be better by then."

"Definitely." Sean Long nodded, took off his jersey and exchanged it with Maher, and said before leaving: "Although I don't have the opportunity to pursue greatness, I will strive to surpass myself this season."

Maher laughed, waved to Sean Long, and looked forward to their next meeting.

The day ended so uneventfully. However, the mentality of the Arsenal players had quietly changed.

When they were one step away from the final victory, they felt their own shortcomings and realized how difficult it was to go an undefeated season, and what kind of changes and twists and turns they would experience in the process.

It's not their fault, every player on this team has never come close to such great success.

Only after they have truly experienced it and suffered a loss, can they be more strict with themselves next time!
The result was not bad. They only suffered the smallest loss and did not ruin their chance of becoming immortal. They were blessed with a certain amount of luck.

This also makes them more aware of why, before this, many super dominant teams even created a dynasty of dominance in a league but failed to complete an undefeated season.

Only a few teams have accomplished this feat, standing on the top of the mountain looking at the other teams below, enjoying the title of legend.

Now, it's time to focus on the last game, they must end the season with a victory at home and stand on the top of the mountain!

“积分榜一：阿森纳37轮30胜7平，积分97。积分榜二：曼城37轮28胜5平4败，积分89。积分榜三：曼联37轮26胜7平4败积分81。”——英超联赛积分榜
"If Arsenal beat Norwich in their last home game, they will become the first team in the history of the four major leagues to win the championship with 100% points! And break many records!" - The Guardian

"Stop West Bromwich Albion! Arsenal is only one step away from an unbeaten season and a 100% chance of winning the championship! They are standing at the door of legend, just one step away from kicking it open!" - "Live Bar"

"The schedule is scheduled one day earlier! With Arsenal and Real Madrid both having 97 points and both having the chance to become the first team to win the championship with 100 points, both teams certainly want to make history, but Arsenal's 38th round of the league starts one day earlier than Real Madrid." - Spanish newspaper AS

"The Royal Football Association can't change the schedule by one day? In this case, Real Madrid can only hope that Arsenal loses or draws." - Spanish newspaper AS

"Even if Arsenal is expected to achieve greater success, it is unfair to Real Madrid." - Spanish newspaper AS

"Bang bang bang!"

On May 5, Maher, who was training his fancy moves, received a call from a man speaking Russian-English who invited him to sit in a restaurant.

He agreed, and during lunch time he met up close the oligarch, who had always been a legend in the team.

"Usmanov."

This is a middle-aged man with a strong aura. Just by looking at him, you can tell what kind of bloody storms he has experienced in the business world in his life.

But when he came up today, he seemed very kind, "I think you have heard of my name. First of all, like everyone you have met during this period, I would like to congratulate you on your achievements in leading Arsenal.

“As a moderately successful person, I admire young people who are successful, especially in the sport I love so much, football.”

Maher smiled and nodded and said a few polite words. He didn't know whether Usmanov loved football or not, but he understood that the other party's purpose of investing in football was definitely not or was definitely not just love for it.

Like Abramovich, these oligarchs who have safely exited the market amid the turmoil are in urgent need of finding a new base in Europe.

Football has become their best weapon to break into the circle of power in Europe. Maybe he will really fall in love with football and the club he invested in like Abramovich, but maybe not.

"My reasons for meeting you during this time are obvious, and I hope to gain your support."

Usmanov was all smiles. He asked the waiter to bring a bottle of foreign wine, poured a glass and placed it in front of Maher. "At this time, I know that just saying love is not enough, I have to show sincerity.

"30 pounds a week, more than 120 million pounds a month, more than 1500 million pounds a year, this is what I am willing to promise you."

He took out a contract from his backpack and handed it to Maher, launching his own money offensive, "It contains various bonus clauses, including loyalty bonuses, etc.

"I know that when an owner talks to a player privately, it's a little casual and a little sloppy, and it may not be decided by me alone.

“But please believe me, since I dare to ask for this, I will definitely be able to resolve other difficulties. I am also ready to establish a new salary system, and I will bring in countless money.

"You will see someone who is crazier than Abramovich because I love my team more than he does and I appreciate my players more."

Usmanov has a boldness that matches his country's image. He never uses a flat attack, but chooses to use the most direct way to release his ultimate move. He also mentioned to Maher again his love for the club.

Now, Maher believed him a little bit. He looked through the contract and found that this was indeed a new contract that was much richer and more comprehensive than his current bonus contract.

But money alone may be difficult to convince him, especially after he knows Kroenke's vision for the club.

And there is no need to rush to make money. His current income is over 2000 million pounds a year, and this is without any effort.

"What does Mr. Usmanov envision for the club's future? In addition to winning more major honors."

He raised this question to see the other party's operational ideas.

"It's easy, once I bring more money."

For the next twenty minutes or so, Usmanov kept describing his imagined future to Maher.

Maher also gradually felt that this was a boss who knew a lot about football and he must have learned all the relevant knowledge during his years in the UK.

However, the other party's problem is also obvious. Everything they put forward is basically the same sentence structure - "I will use money to solve this problem, and then let the team have a better"

This is a fanatic, but he doesn't seem to have the same wild ideas as Kroenke. He just operates steadily within his comfort range.

He wanted to make Arsenal better, but he lacked a longer-term pursuit and a pursuit of greatness. As Maher listened, a smile appeared on his face. This was certainly not a mockery, but a sudden sense of accomplishment.

Once upon a time, such a boss was rare for Arsenal. He would expect the other party to quickly acquire the club and inject capital to enhance the club's combat effectiveness.

But now, he is sitting at the negotiating table, thinking about whether to choose Usmanov or Kroenke.

It seems that they have really used their achievements to achieve a lot this season.

“That’s basically it.”

Usmanov had already added ice to the two people’s cups before he finished speaking, and picked up the cups after he finished speaking, “You must know how important you are to this team now and how much influence you have on the final acquisition.

"I hope you will consider it carefully, and I also hope that you and I can have a pleasant cooperation."

Maher raised his glass and clinked it with his, took a symbolic sip and put it down, "I will, Mr. Usmanov, don't worry. That's all for today, I still have to prepare for the last league game."

"Ok."

Usmanov stood up and said in Russian to the black-clad bodyguard outside the door: "Send Maher home! Make sure the player gets home safely. He is now one of the club's most important assets!"

Maher didn't understand, but he probably guessed what the other party was saying, and quickly said, "I'm driving, so you should drive back by yourself. Thank you for your kindness."

Usmanov looked back at the wine glass and nodded after finding no change from before: "Then I'll take you downstairs, let's go."

Maher quickly got in his Ferrari and rolled down the window to say goodbye. "Good luck, Mr. Usmanov."

"Good luck." Usmanov waved at him, and after he started the car, he shouted anxiously: "I really love this team and want it to become better. Support me, Leon!"

Maher did not roll down the window again, but drove away slowly. Through the left rearview mirror, he saw a man standing on the side of the road for a long time.

It's really confusing. However, he will make what he thinks is the best choice.

That afternoon, he signed a cooperation agreement with the team at the club, under which the club will sell products such as water cups, socks, scarves, key chains, mascot dolls, etc. with his portrait and photos.

He will get 50% of the profits. If this goes well, it may be possible for him to earn 200 million pounds a year.

This is the importance of image rights. If it is not in his hands, the club does not have to pay him the fee.

"Pleasant to work with."

He shook hands with Wenger and took a photo, and joked in a good mood: "Everything else is fine, but the socks with my head on them are a bit weird.

"I find it hard to imagine how it was designed. Wouldn't it be uncomfortable to wear it?"

"Haha!" Wenger replied with a smile, "Maybe this one doesn't have a head portrait, but just some letters and symbols, like CR7."

Maher nodded and continued, "Then what am I, LM7? LM31? It doesn't sound very smooth.

"How about this, let's call it EA7, select two letters, and file a lawsuit with that game company for the trademark. I accept sharing the brand name with them."

Wenger laughed again. Maher's jokes have changed from awkward ones to unrealistic ones.

But from this point, we can feel that he is in a very good mood. He has always been in high spirits as he has achieved success at a young age and his wealth and fame are constantly increasing. He seems to have always been like this and remains enthusiastic.

Wenger likes this player more and more. If Maher didn't have a girlfriend, he even wanted him to wait until his daughter Leah grows up.

"Do you know the arrangement of the next game?" he asked, and tried to find another topic to talk to Maer more.

"do not know."

“After the game, the celebration and the championship parade will start directly.”

Wenger smiled longingly, his spirits were excellent, and he seemed to have made all the preparations for the final celebration. "The next game is an early game, and it will be around 2:30 in the afternoon.

"It's a great time to get on the bus and parade around north London with the two trophies in hand.

“After one full circle on the planned route, we will return to the Emirates Stadium for the final celebration.”

He smiled bitterly, revealing a hint of worry. "Of course, how we do all this depends on the result of the next game."

"Yes." Maher raised his eyebrows, but still praised the arrangement, "It's a very good arrangement, I hope everything will end successfully.

"It's finally coming to the end. It's exhausting, but it's been a wonderful season."

Wenger said nothing more, just nodded and looked at Maher.

"I have to ask a question, and I have to say that I already have my answer before I ask it."

Maher's expression became more serious, "Mr. Wenger, who do you support to fully acquire the club?

"The game of Russian roulette is about to end, and it's time for us all to load our revolvers and decide who to shoot at."

Wenger thought for a moment and then laughed out his answer, "Stan Kroenke."

"Snapped!"

The two men then clasped their hands together, and it was like the sound of a gunshot, deciding one person's fate.

During a poll that night, all the players wrote Stan Kroenke's name on the form, except for Hans and Philip, who wrote Usmanov as two consolation votes.

On May 5, two days before the final chapter of this season, Maher achieved a breakthrough in another skill.

[Additional skills: Fancy skills lv2]

[Proficiency: (0/1500)]

[Effect: After deciding to practice some fancy skills, you gradually mastered the basic fancy skills such as the bull tail and the rainbow pass, but you are still a long way from being able to use them skillfully in fast-paced competitions! ]

After the improvement, he could feel that his dexterity had increased a bit, and the feel of the ball in some special parts of his body had also improved a lot.

This is actually very difficult. For a player with speed, strength and weight, it is impossible for him to perform movements like a dexterous player.

But the proficiency panel has been repairing his body towards perfection, which seems to make this unreasonable become reasonable.

This should not be underestimated, and may even be one of the most powerful features of this panel!

It is really possible for him to perform like Ronaldinho after reaching level 4 of fancy breakthrough and level 4 of fancy skills.

What kind of player he will become at that time? He is not sure how strong he will be, but what he can be sure of is that he will become the most unique one.

And this is exactly what he has been pursuing and what he has always wanted!

[Skill: Galloping lv4]

[Proficiency: (1102/5000)]

[Skill: Divine Power lv4]

[Proficiency: (534/5000)]

[Skill: Decision Level 4]

[Proficiency: (1646/5000)]

[Skill: Violent Door Blast lv4]

[Proficiency: (1531/2000)]

[Skill: Fancy Breakthrough lv3]

[Proficiency: (892/2000)]

Glancing at the progress of other skills, he felt a sense of security when he saw that the violent blast was getting closer to level 5.

Soon, there will be a heavy artillery on the European field, which will fire solid bullets at the goal from all over the place!
The era of level 5 is coming. Maher will not be satisfied with the current speed of improvement. After the season ends, he will intensify his training.

Even next season, when the Premier League becomes relatively easy for him, he will step up his training when there are no important games, and use more time to accelerate the upgrade speed!

At the same time, in order to keep himself growing, he will also practice some new lv4 level skills to make up for all his weaknesses!
After finishing the training, Maher came to his photo wall, looked at the 56 photos of goals scored, and suddenly remembered something.

"Safina."

He pulled Safina over, held her shoulders and said embarrassedly: "You may have to do me a big favor. I need you to help me find the photos of the celebration or shot of the 40th goal in the Championship League.

“I want to put them all on this wall to make it look more substantial.”

"why?"

"Because, including the three goals I scored in the national team's A-level competitions, I am only one goal away from reaching 3 goals in my career. I hope to take a photo with my 1th goal after the season ends."

"Okay." Safina felt a headache when she thought about the amount of work involved.

However, 100 goals does seem to be a memorable milestone, as it is a breakthrough from double digits to triple digits.

"The latest news from Football Records is that Stan Kroenke is expected to complete the full acquisition of Arsenal this month. It is rumored that Kroenke will acquire Usmanov's 5.5% stake for 30.05 million pounds!"

The next day, Football Record helped Kroenke fire the first shot of acquisition in the world of football. They always got the latest news and the approval and support of the club.

"After this acquisition, Kroenke will hold 97.14% of the team's shares, and Arsenal's total market value will increase to 18.3 billion pounds.

"Usmanov made hundreds of millions of dollars in profit from this deal, which was due to the increase in the team's value driven by its excellent performance this season."

Once the news was released, it caused a sensation in the entire football world. A large number of media began to inquire about related news, and some people did leak some information to them through various channels.

Major radio stations such as the BBC and Sky Sports immediately started their programmes and discussed the issue with their audiences.

"Usmanov and Kroenke have been fighting for years, and after several failed attempts to take over each other, they realized that they had to put an end to it this season.

"Kroenke eventually won the fight, buying a stake in Usmanov's company Red and White Securities at an outrageous price.

“It is said that he is about to trigger the full acquisition terms to swallow up the 2.86% stake held by other small shareholders and delist the company from the Nex stock market to privatize the company.”

"."

“Private toy or apple of the eye? Legal robbery or development opportunity?

“After Kroenke completes the full acquisition, the club will no longer hold shareholders’ meetings and everything will no longer be transparent.

“Hill-Wood is expected to leave Arsenal, which has been in the family for three generations, and Stan Kroenke will join the board with his son Josh Kroenke.

"According to unconfirmed news, Kroenke may complete the acquisition of Arsenal through loans. He is not willing to pay too much, and it is expected to be no more than 1 million pounds.

"Is Arsenal going to have to shoulder the debt of another Emirates Stadium? Just when things have turned around, they are now shrouded in another cloud?"

"."

"Big players are on the Arsenal stage! Kroenke family takes charge of Arsenal! Walmart son-in-law puts Arsenal fans in a panic!

"This seems to be an unpopular deal, but according to staff, in the previous voting, Arsenal players all chose Kroenke under the influence of Maher and Van Persie.

"Wenger also encouraged the club staff and coaching staff to vote for him, with only a few people choosing Usmanov.

"From this point, we may be able to judge that Kroenke has given all the important members of the team a pot of magic potion. As for whether he can fulfill his promise to these people, there may be little hope."

"."

"The entire European media is full of arrogance and prejudice. Everyone knows that Arsenal has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No one will buy the club for fun, not even the silent Stan." - Stan Kroenke's social media
"Let time prove everything. I believe that the way of soliciting opinions from important members of the team is rare in the football circle. This to a certain extent represents our sincerity and confidence. We will succeed." - Josh Kroenke social media

"After this, Arsenal has the potential to become a great club. I'm leaving. I hope everything won't be fine. Both success and failure will come more violently, like a storm." - Usmanov social media
"Some people think he is writing poetry like Pushkin, but in fact his helplessness is worthless. Take the money and get out." - American social media using 'Mael's Back'

"Finally, I would like to thank Maher for everything he has brought to this club. Although he did not choose me, he made my departure at least look like a classic business investment case." - Usmanov social media
"——The latest post was deleted 2 minutes ago."——American social media using 'Mael's Back'

ps: first recover slowly, then increase by 2k every day.

(End of this chapter)