Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 73 The Clement family's trip to Sheffield! Is the nephew so influential? [15]

As time slowly approaches Christmas Day on December 12th, the streets and alleys of Sheffield become bustling. Most of the people passing by have smiles on their faces, looking forward to the New Year.

There are already many people dressed as Santa Claus on the streets, carrying candies and beating drums and gongs to warm up in advance.

"Put it on quickly! Be careful!"

"Help me!"

Christmas trees were erected on the street, on rooftops, and even set up between two buildings. Colorful light strips could be seen everywhere, and many people even built Christmas cottages.

It can be predicted that Christmas night will be very beautiful and gorgeous.

In addition to these, huge posters about the Boxing Day battle are hung on landmark buildings in the streets around Bramall Lane Stadium.

December 26
Sheffield United FC vs. Hull City! !
Boxing Day!
Below the font is a group photo of Sheffield United's important players, which was selected from their makeup photos taken before the season and was synthesized later.

The photo of Maher with his fists clenched and his mouth wide open roaring is placed in the middle with the photo of goalkeeper Robert with his hands propped up, occupying the C position. It is very conspicuous and passers-by are usually the first to notice it.

His current position in the team is naturally different from before.

Most fans saw this poster and had no doubts, they just felt that this was how it should be.

Not only that, various audio-visual stores, clothing stores, supermarkets, etc. around the stadium have also been temporarily authorized to sell club-related products.

The red and white jerseys hung outside the shops added a Sheffield touch to the entire block, while a constant stream of vendors’ stalls sold scarves, hats, and player poster collections.

Everything is building up momentum for this match. This final battle of the 23rd round of the Championship has attracted unprecedented popularity!
The fans are all looking forward to the team bringing them joy on Boxing Day with a wonderful battle!

On December 12rd, Christmas was approaching and there were only three days left before the game started. The city center was bustling with people gathering around the fan shops and stalls.

"Give me a poster!"

"I want a poster of Maher. Is there a collection of his celebration moves?"

"It's here, but it's not in poster format, it's a photo collection, just photos."

"wanted!"

"Are there any scarves with Evans' number or name on them?"

"."

Their spending power is amazing. After just one or two hours, the exquisite products with red and white elements of Sheffield become the fashionable things in this neighborhood.

More and more pedestrians were holding team scarves, holding football star posters and wearing Santa Claus hats, and the colors of Sheffield perfectly overlapped with the colors of Christmas.

People who have nothing in their hands become the odd ones out on the street, and the herd mentality also makes them join the consumer crowd.

A taxi drove into the city. The driver drove very slowly with obvious impatience on his face, which was obviously not his intention.

The five members of Clement's family sat in the car, wearing new clothes and looking excited and curious.

This was already overloaded, and they had to pay a 20-pound tip before they were allowed to put the smaller Ava on her older sister's lap and keep her head down and hidden all the way.

It was precisely because of the extra 20 pounds that the driver felt obliged to take it, so when Clermont asked if he could drive slower, he agreed.

“There are posters again.”

Betty looked at the scene outside the window. The novelty made her speak more out of character. "There's still Maher. He's in the middle!"

This is the main reason why they asked the driver to drive slower Look nephew!
They got off the plane at Manchester International Airport at noon, took a bus to Sheffield, and finally took a taxi into the city.

As soon as they came in, they discovered many elements related to football.

And as long as it is related to football, they will definitely see Maher.

This was beyond their expectations. Even though they watched videos of their nephew playing football on TV every week and knew that his nephew had become a little star, that was only limited to the football field.

They had no idea of ​​their nephew's influence in the secular world until this moment.

"Haha."

Clemont looked at the classical-style buildings with portraits of his nephew hanging on them with a silly smile, and was so shocked that he was speechless.

For ordinary people like them, they never thought that the portraits of their family members would be hung on a landmark building in the city center one day. This is a great honor.

“There are so many people here.”

The eldest child in the family sighed and said that she longed for the big city, "Compared to that, our place is like a small town full of tourists."

"Long ago, our place was actually the political, economic and cultural center."

Clemont was about to introduce himself to her, but before he could finish his words, his attention was drawn to the window again. They passed by a clothing street.

The store entrance, which should have been filled with tall mannequins, is now filled with Sheffield United jerseys and life-size replica cards of Sheffield players made from playing cards.

Fans stood next to the cards with their mobile phones in hand and big smiles on their faces, taking photos with their favorite stars.

There were the most people near Maher's cards, at least more than twenty of them. People had to line up to take photos with his cards, and many young people imitated Maher's celebration moves.

Some compared it to two guns, some stretched out ten fingers, and some spread their hands with their eyes closed and looked up. In short, they were extremely happy.

"It's incredible. It's just a dummy. If a real person stood on the street, he would be surrounded quickly."

Clemont sighed, forgetting about the things he was going to introduce to his daughter. He smiled at his wife Betty, "Look at your nephew's influence. He is the Henry of this city."

"He should be very happy now, right?"

The taciturn second brother spoke up. He and Maher had an average relationship when they were young. Now seeing Maher become like this, he felt a little complicated, "Playing football in such a big city, earning such a high salary, and having so many people supporting him."

"Maybe."

Clemont nodded and began to dream, "If I could live a life like this, I would wake up with a smile in my dreams every day and be full of energy."

"Nonsense." Betty rolled her eyes at him and said, "Let's not talk about genius or not. Even if you have Maher's diligence, you can do other things."

"Haha." Clemont laughed. He didn't refute it because he knew in his heart that it was the fact.

Ava had been keeping her head down to avoid the traffic police. Seeing everyone chatting so enthusiastically, she couldn't resist her curiosity and suddenly jumped up and leaned against the window.

"Brother!" She immediately saw the poster across the road and caught sight of Maher's face. "Dad, look, I saw it too!"

A team of traffic police happened to be at the zebra crossing. The elder sister pushed her down and blocked her mouth, "Don't talk."

Ava bent her body and looked a little aggrieved, pouting, "Can we go see my brother tonight?"

"No." The eldest sister answered bluntly, not giving the little girl any hope, "Wait, I want to give my brother a surprise."

At this moment, the taxi driver turned around and looked at everyone with a little surprise.

Even though these people were speaking French, he could already tell that they were talking about Mahel and that they were extremely passionate about him.

At first he didn't take it seriously, thinking they were just a group of fanatical fans from foreign countries.

But it is normal for a group of adults and young people to be fanatical about Mahel, but how could a child of a few years old become so fanatical?
This aroused the driver's curiosity, and combined with the fact that they spoke French, he made a bold guess, "You... don't know Maher, do you?"

Clement can speak some English, so simple communication is no problem. "He is my nephew and he grew up in my house."

"Oh."

The impatience on the driver's face quickly disappeared, replaced by a kind of enthusiasm and excitement. "First time in Sheffield?"

"Yes." Clermont talked with him and explained, "We haven't seen him play live yet."

"That's it."

The driver turned his head to look at Clermont, opened up and talked nonstop: "Mael is a well-known figure in this city, and all Sheffield United fans love him very much.

"Even the fans of our city club Sheffield Wednesday knew we had a great player.

"Come to think of it, I'm also a Sheffield United fan. If I had known you were Maher's family, I would have driven slower."

He suddenly stepped on the brakes and asked: "How about I take you around Bramall Lane for free and visit some fan communities?
"They will welcome you and your identity will bring you all the warmth of Sheffield people."

“No need.” Clemont smiled from ear to ear, but still waved his hand: “Let’s put down our luggage and go around by ourselves.”

The driver raised his eyebrows and stepped on the accelerator again, feeling a little regretful, and drove slower this time, "The Boxing Day battle is about to begin, and we all expect Maher to win the game for us.

"You guys came here to watch the game, right? By the way, why didn't Maher come to pick you up?"

He was also very curious about the Maher family. This was a normal reaction when people met the family members of famous people. They wanted to know more things that were not reported in the media.

"I came to watch this game."

Clemont nodded and replied, "We want to give him a surprise. You must not spread this. I'm afraid he will find out."

“Oh,” the driver laughed, scratching his head and jokingly said, “This is your Christmas present for him.”

After thinking for a while, his expression slowly changed, "If I don't tell him, what will happen to your tickets?"

"Tickets are tight?"

Clemont had been worried about this, and the change in the driver's expression made him feel uneasy. "I'm going to queue up to buy it later."

“It was sold out yesterday.”

The driver stole a glance at him, a look of misfortune on his face, “I still suggest you tell Maher that as a club player, he should be able to get some tickets.

"If you go and buy them yourself, you can only hope that scalpers have bought up a large number of consecutive tickets and paid several times the price to buy them."

"Let me think about it." Clemont didn't care too much at the moment. He hadn't yet gotten over the shock and joy his nephew had brought him, and didn't want to be disturbed by other things.

The taxi soon arrived at their destination, a street with seven or eight hotels, about 2 miles from the city center.

They plan to open three houses here and settle down.

"fare."

Clemont looked at the amount on the watch and took out the pounds he had exchanged in advance.

As he had guessed, the other party waved his hand and pushed it back, "No need. Maher has brought us so much joy. It would be nice to give him something back if we have a chance."

Clemont wanted to thank him, but the driver thought he was going to give him some advice and interrupted him: "But it's not a wasted trip. I want to take a photo with your family of five."

Sometimes, taking a photo with a star player himself is not as good as taking a photo with his family.

Because of this, you can brag to others during conversations that you are friends with the star's family, and your credibility will be much higher than if you are good friends with the star.

Knowing his family members will naturally give others some room for imagination, thinking that this person must know the star.

The driver had already thought about the future and imagined the expressions of other people when he took a photo with Maher's family.

When a fan showed off Maher's autographed wine bottle to him, he picked up his car keys and left, "Bye, I'm going to have a drink with Maher's uncle."

"Okay."

Clement had lived for nearly forty years, but this was the first time someone asked to take a photo with him, and he gladly agreed.

A family of five got out of the car, stood on the side of the road with shy smiles on their faces, completing a new experience in their lives.

"It's all thanks to Maer." Betty didn't know what to say to express her feelings, so she could only sigh quietly to herself.

After taking the photo, the driver took out the 20-pound tip he had collected in advance and handed it to the youngest girl, Ava, and said, "Merry Christmas in advance. Go buy some candy."

After that, he got into the car without looking back, rolled down the window and waved to everyone before leaving: "I love Maher, and I also thank you on behalf of the Sheffield United fans. Without you raising him, we wouldn't have him."

Clement, Betty and the others were stunned. The poster made them realize, to a certain extent, how famous Mael was in this city.

And this driver made them truly feel the love of every Sheffield citizen.

“He’s a respected man now.”

Clemont held the luggage and smiled to Betty, "I don't know how we are going to appear in front of him now."

The scene of the taxi driver asking for a photo was seen by many people on the street. The passers-by looked at this large family and speculated about their identities.

Clement didn't know whether to enjoy it or be worried, so he quickly carried the luggage and invited everyone to go into a hotel. Now, he just had to wait to watch his nephew's game!

(End of this chapter)