Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 269: Social media followers exceed million! The boy who ran after the car! A kind of inheritance! A belief in victory!

On November 11, after the day's recovery training, Maher returned home a little tired and received a therapeutic massage from Harry and Safina.

"Tomorrow we will have another day of recovery training, and the day after tomorrow we will play Aston Villa in the 11th round of the Premier League."

Harry shook his head slightly while massaging, "It's not even the devilish Christmas schedule yet, and the schedule is so tight, I really don't know what the Premier League is thinking.

"It would be fine if it was any other time, but this game is the last one for you to catch up with the team's record in the Premier League. It is very crucial."

"Yeah, I wonder too." Safina pinched Maher's calf and frowned.

The two are actually people who seldom complain on weekdays, but the fact that they said this is enough to show that they were also paying close attention to the game that laid the foundation for Maher's 49-game unbeaten streak, and were worried because of their excessive expectations.

Maher looked at his phone and chuckled, "This schedule is not very dense. Although the interval is only 2 days, there is a lot of rest time between the previous games.

"Everyone is in good physical condition and not very tired. At least there is no risk of injury."

After that, he said meaningfully: “The second half of the schedule may be the most intensive, who knows if those people will schedule it randomly.

"Don't worry, I'm a little nervous now."

"." Harry and Safina were silent for a while, and Safina said after a long while: "Sorry, boss, I shouldn't have affected your mentality."

Maher looked back and smiled incredulously, "Why are you so unfamiliar? I'm just kidding, it shouldn't be that serious."

"I'm a little nervous, so I'm a little sensitive. I don't want to disturb you." Safina stroked her chest, looking relieved.

"Me too," Harry agreed.

"It's okay." Maher shook his head and looked at his phone again to chat with others. "Mendez seems to be arriving today or tomorrow. You can take him out for dinner then. I don't think I will have time to entertain him."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "He should be here to watch the game as well, right?"

“Yeah,” Maher nodded, sent a message to Mendes and continued, “He won’t be here for long this time, he should have other things, such as endorsements and advertisements.

"Of course, the most important thing is that he wants to watch us complete our 50th unbeaten game."

He grinned, "I'll try my best to make sure he can stay until that day, so he doesn't go back early because he's disappointed."

Harry and Safina smiled at each other, but no one made a sound. They were also under high pressure like Mael, and they couldn't laugh at such a joke at the moment.

"Hey?"

Soon, Maher sat up from the massage bed and answered a phone call.

It was Mr. Wenger who called, and his tone was full of joy, "Mael, most of the players from the 03-04 season will arrive in London tomorrow. Except for a few people, everyone in that team will come to watch the game against Villa.

"If we win and remain undefeated, they will present you with No. 49 commemorative jerseys according to your position after the game to commemorate the legacy of the 'Invincible Team'."

"That's good." Maher smiled, but he knew that Mr. Wenger couldn't have called just to say this.

"I just have an idea and want to ask for your opinion."

"what?"

"During today's recovery training, I saw something very obvious - although most people looked happy and cheerful, they were just forcing themselves to laugh. Everyone was obviously very nervous."

"Um"

"Some people may lack confidence, and I am worried that this pressure will cause us to encounter some troubles in the 11th round, so it is a good idea to take some risks."

"Sir, please go ahead."

Wenger organized his words and said seriously: "We must have a representative stand up and show the determination to win, so that the fans can put their minds at ease first, and then let the fans' emotions infect other players."

"So, that representative is me?" Maher raised his eyebrows. "It's my honor, Mr. Wenger. What should I do?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, representatives of Arsenal fans from all over the world will arrive at the Emirates Stadium for a small event and I hope you will be there too."

Wenger told his plan, "It's a highly anticipated fan meeting, there are many reporters, I want to invite Henry to come, first give you a No. 49 jersey with the Arsenal logo printed on it."

"Oh," Maher understood, "If I accept this jersey first, it means that the entire club will not think that they will lose this game, and it can also stabilize the morale of the team?

"Haha. This is a bit outrageous, but it should work. At least, Aston Villa's players will feel pressured after seeing this.

"I agree, Mr. Wenger, I will come tomorrow."

"." Wenger was silent for a while, and finally asked: "You are not worried about failure, right?"

Maher smiled faintly, "It's not just this game, I never worry about it."

After hanging up the phone, he got off the massage bed and walked to the living room in his slippers, while Harry and Safina cleaned up behind him.

"Mael! Mael!!" At this time, two hurried and surprised voices sounded, and Isabella suddenly ran down from upstairs, her beautiful face full of excitement and joy.

Mahel stared at her in amazement, as did Harry and Safina.

Thinking of something, he quickly reminded her: "You are still pregnant, don't run so fast."

"It's okay." Isabella came to Maher's side with a smile, "It's only been a few months, don't worry about it for now, just take a look at this."

She couldn't wait to put her phone next to Maher, on which was a social media personal homepage - of course, it was Maher's. You could see that in the fans column, there was a number 9984.4w!

"Facebook?"

Maher's expression changed. He only needed 15 more to reach the million mark in fans on a single platform.

Arsenal has had a lot of traffic on social media recently, so maybe there’s hope of closing the 15 gap tonight!

Maher's mind has been hooked, and his fans on a single platform have exceeded 200 million, which means that his advertising fees will most likely soar to more than million pounds, and his value in all aspects will rise.

This is also a milestone achievement and a major success!
"What's wrong?" Harry and Safina quickly came over to ask. After hearing the news, they were immediately delighted. "Ah!! We can look forward to it tonight. Wait, Maher. We will help you count down the seconds."

Not long after, Jose and Davis also learned the news at the dinner table. They were also looking forward to it, waiting to celebrate together for Maher's fans reaching 100 million.

"9989! It might be 9995 after dinner!"

"Not so soon."

“But it’s definitely possible to get above 90, I just don’t know how much.”

"."

“9995.3! Come on, one last push and we’ll have something tonight!”

"I'm going to buy a bunch of big fireworks, and I'll pay the boss out of my own pocket to light up the sky of London tonight!"

“Yeah hahaha!!”

"."

"Here it comes! Is it almost there?"

"9998.3, right now!"

"Ma'er, why don't you post something? Someone will definitely repost it, and it will also attract a lot of attention. Everyone is waiting for it tonight."

"No need. The London Evening News and the Guardian, which are platforms that follow Maher's reports every day, have already released warm-up news. They are already calling on everyone to work harder!"

The family sat at the table with laughter, waiting together for the countdown song to be sung for Mahel.

Maher had a constant smile on his face. He and Isabella kept refreshing their count, waiting for the moment when the number of fans would officially exceed 100 million.

"9999.0!!"

"9999.57!!"

"9999.89!!"

"9999.95!!"

"Mael, go to your own backstage quickly, you can see the single digits in it!"

"Okay, okay, wait a moment."

Maher opened the backstage, stretched out his arm and put the phone in front of him, which immediately attracted a lot of heads to wander around in front of him.

"The last 400 left!! Get out of the fireworks place!!"

"Correct!"

Remembering something, a group of people rushed outside again, hurriedly placed the fireworks on the ground, and found a device to ignite the fire.

"Hurry up, where's the spray gun? Where is it?"

"I seem to be in the kitchen. Oops, I can't make it in time! It's going to break 100 million soon!" "Why didn't you tell me earlier and prepare earlier? It's too late now! What a pity!"

“Go find it quickly!!”

"."

"Swish!" He refreshed the screen one last time and saw that '9999' officially became '10000.0'. Maher looked up happily and looked up at the sky with his eyes closed.

Over 100 million fans!

After working hard for more than two years here, this goal that I set more than two years ago has finally been achieved!

It was difficult for him to describe how he felt at the moment, except that he felt extremely satisfied and everything was going great.

"Don't worry."

He opened his eyes and looked at the chaotic team members. He couldn't help laughing, "There's no need to rush. Take your time. Just set off the fireworks. We should enjoy the moment now. Why bother with fireworks?"

Perhaps because he had accomplished an important goal, he was very emotional and talked more, "Two years ago I got the best opportunity in my life, and I might have thought about today at that time.

"But I didn't rush, instead I slowly enjoyed the scenery along the way. This delayed gratification feels good because the most important thing is always you, your feelings, and nothing else."

"Yeah." Harry laughed and stood next to Maher. "Even without fireworks, tonight is still a perfect night. Your light will still light up the sky over London."

“Hahaha, so corny!” Safina also laughed out loud. “But seriously, it’s really hard to have over 100 million fans. Many influencers aim for million fans, but that’s only % of yours.”

"Come on, if you keep playing like this, you might have a billion fans across all platforms when you retire," Davis also praised.

At this time, Jose, who had gone in to find a spray gun, came back and quickly handed the spray gun to Maher, then stood away, clapping his hands and waiting with a smile.

There is no way. For a family where no one smokes, it is really not easy to find someone to light the fire.

Maher walked calmly to the fireworks, lit the fuse, and then ran away quickly as if by muscle memory.

“Swish, swish, bang, bang, bang.!!”

Soon, the fireworks were launched into the sky, lighting up all the nearby streets. The fireworks Davis bought were relatively high-end and very beautiful. He was definitely willing to spend his wallet on something like this.

"Yeahhh!!" Everyone clapped their hands and jumped, filling the air around them with the scent of joy. They were all happy from the bottom of their hearts.

"Wooooooooooooooooo congratulations boss for having over 100 million fans!! A true British star!! Hahahaha!!"

"Not France?"

"He plays football in England, or France, anyway, he's an imperial star!"

"Hahaha!!"

“Congratulations, boss!!”

"."

Amid the celebrations, Mahel looked at the fireworks rising into the sky and blooming. Suddenly, his eyes became wet. He felt indescribable happiness, but also a feeling that something was missing.

He didn't want to sigh too much. Maybe it would be a long time before he knew why today was the day.

In short, I’m happy that I have over 100 million fans on a single platform.

On November 11, there was only one game left before the key match against Aston Villa. The whole of London became hot, and Arsenal elements and the font size of '9' could be seen everywhere.

Maher's posters appeared on every street, and fans from all over the world could be seen taking photos with his posters.

His current influence has truly reached the top level in the sports world.

"Buzz!" In the downtown area, a bus with the Arsenal logo printed on it drove slowly towards the Emirates Stadium.

Most of the passers-by who saw it were confused, and only a few smiled and took photos with the vehicle.

"Boom!"

However, most people saw that there was a dark-skinned boy with a depressed face running behind the bus.

They didn't know how long the boy had been running, but they saw that he had not stopped since he appeared and disappeared from their sight.

They didn't know clearly, but Maher, who was sitting on the bus, remembered clearly that the other party ran through about 5 streets, about 3 kilometers.

He had planned to go to the Emirates Stadium alone today, but unexpectedly, the club sent a car to pick him up for the sense of ceremony, and was ready to take him there and then take him home. He finally agreed.

“Stop the car.”

Seeing that the boy was still running, Maher called the bus driver, "Please stop, someone is chasing us for a long distance."

In fact, he had already noticed the boy a long time ago, but he had seen many people running with Arsenal's car, so he didn't care.

It was not until later that he realized that the other party seemed to have no intention of stopping, and then he became curious. He didn't even know who was in the car, so why was he running like this?
After watching for a while, Maher felt that he couldn't let the other party run like this anymore, so he decided to invite him in the car.

When the bus slowly stopped by the roadside, the Asian boy in the Arsenal jersey stopped panting and rested with his hands on his knees.

When he saw the driver waving at him with a congratulatory look on his face, asking him to get in, he quickly rushed up the stairs, and as soon as he got in, he saw Mahel sitting in the first row and smiling at him.

"Ahhhhh!!"

He screamed, then his face changed quickly and he cried with joy, "Mael! I really didn't expect it was you!! I wish you all the best. I followed the car for a long time and didn't know it was you. You yesterday..."

He was incoherent, not knowing what to say, yet he wanted to say a lot to Mahel all at once.

Maher could tell from what he heard that he was not from China, Japan or Korea, but an Asian football fan from a small country in Southeast Asia, so he said, "It doesn't matter. Which country are you from? Sit down and talk slowly."

"Vietnam."

The thin fan sat aside, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his arm and grinning at Maher.

Mahel touched the back of his head and asked him why he came here.

"I was originally chosen as a fan representative to participate in today's event, but my father is also your die-hard fan, so I gave the opportunity to him and just accompanied him here. When I saw a team car on the road, I wanted to chase it and see how far I could run. I didn't expect it."

He smirked at Mahel again.

Maher also laughed, he took out the pen he carried with him, signed for the fan, and then said: "I am going to the event, I will take you with me, you and your father will participate together.

"To commend you for your perseverance, I will give you some special gifts after the event."

"Really?!" The fan looked as if he was extremely lucky. He stood up excitedly and danced to make Maher laugh.

Soon, the vehicle arrived at the Emirates Stadium. Maher held the fan's shoulder and walked in together to explain the situation to the staff.

"He comes with me, I will take him to the event, but Mr. Maher may have to go to the press conference first. Mr. Henry will be waiting for you there." said a staff member.

Maher nodded and went to the press conference under the guidance of another staff member.

On the way, the staff member also peeked at him from time to time, and finally when they parted, he couldn't help but said: "Ma'er, congratulations on your 100 million fans yesterday. I saw the fireworks outside your house, and you took a photo with your boyfriend."

"I wish you will live together forever and share some of my luck." Maher was in a good mood and sent his blessings to the beautiful girl with a smile.

The girl pretended to be calm and nodded, but when she turned around she couldn't help but scream softly, and she jumped a few times while walking.

Maher smiled, walked into the press conference room, and saw Henry standing on the side above.

Henry stood up to greet him and held out his hand. "You have more than six times as many social media followers as I do. To be honest, I'm jealous."

"It's okay, this isn't the end yet."

"What?!" Henry thought he had heard it wrong and looked at Maher in disbelief.

"I said this is not the end, it might be 10 times more." Maher joked with a smile.

"Hit!" Henry yelled in mock dissatisfaction, then laughed and patted Mael's shoulder.

After a few pleasantries, Henry went to the podium of the press conference and took out an exquisite commemorative jersey with the number 49 embroidered on it from under the table.

Maher took a corner of the jersey, stood with him facing the media reporters, and took a photo with a smile.

"Click, click!" The flash lights flashed, and a reporter quickly stood up and asked, "Mr. Maher, what does this jersey represent? Isn't it a bit early to give it away now? Are we going to open champagne at halftime?"

"No, it's not early either."

Maher shrugged and smiled, "People have to learn to adapt. Since I got this jersey today, I feel that this is a kind of inheritance and also a determination to win tomorrow's game!"

He glanced at Henry, and they smiled at each other, took a deep breath to adjust their state, and took a lot of photos.

Tomorrow, kill Vera!

(End of this chapter)