From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 110: Chapter 34: Kevin Strom Arrives! Prince? He Is the King! [3/5]

On March 19th, the 38th round of the Championship arrived, also the last match of the month.

After this round ends, they will enter the ’International Match Day’ break, conserving energy and preparing for the intensive sprinting schedule in April.

Kevin Strom and his fellow founder Mike were walking down the streets of Sheffield City. They arrived in this city yesterday without notifying Ma’el, planning to contact the player after watching today’s match.

In fact, they had already learned quite a bit about Ma’el from the internet recently and were pretty clear about everything concerning him.

But for two tech enthusiasts, finally coming to the United Kingdom to experience the football atmosphere here was indeed a treat.

”According to the media, his salary should be over 30,000 pounds.”

Mike recalled a report he read this morning, expecting: ”If he has saved 300,000 pounds, then we could definitely bring him in with a combination of financial investment and resource investment.”

”It’s just a matter of whether he has 300,000 pounds and if he’s willing to invest.”

”Don’t get your hopes up too high.” Kevin Strom, being more realistic, shook his head and said, ”He seems to have experienced two salary raises total, and the latest raise was not long ago, so he probably hasn’t accumulated much money yet.”

On the other hand, he actually didn’t want to admit or believe that an athlete much younger than him could possess much more wealth than he does.

As an outstanding graduate from Stanford Bridge’s management school, Kevin Strom learned programming on his own while at Nextstop’s marketing department after graduation. He later successfully developed a software that earned him $500,000 in angel investment, propelling him to the peak of his career.

He thinks of himself as a genius.

Aside from business prodigies like Bill Gates and Zuckerberg, few are more outstanding than him.

What was he doing at 17?

Now, hearing that a 17-year-old player potentially possesses immense wealth, and might join as one of their investors, naturally made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

”We lack funding.”

Kevin Strom looked at Mike and added, ”But we’re not that desperate for money. Don’t just try to approach anyone with such intentions; giving him a little equity is fine, we indeed need to leverage his influence.”

Mike nodded in agreement, didn’t say more, and thought about Strom’s words, realizing they indeed made sense.

The two walked a while longer and gradually approached Bramall Lane Stadium, where a very noticeable change occurred. On the streets, fans in red and white striped jerseys began to appear one after another, and the fervent singing gradually got closer.

”Why do I feel a bit excited?”

Mike, who hadn’t been out much in a while, felt the match atmosphere and laughed: ”I haven’t watched many football matches, but I did watch quite a lot of baseball in my childhood and even played for a while.”

”Me too.”

Kevin Strom laughed, immersing himself into the spirit of the football match, ”Let’s see what kind of performance this star player, whom we’re contacting for the first time, can deliver today.”

The two of them, holding tickets they had purchased earlier, queued for the check-in and took their seats in the A section stands, which were very close to the field.

......

”Beep!”

On the pitch, with a whistle from the referee, the match between Sheffield United and Middlesbrough kicked off at Bramall Lane Stadium.

”Bang!” Only after two passes since the start, Sheffield United defender Steven launched a long pass targeting Bolodanovich in the center, but unfortunately, the latter failed to win the aerial challenge.

With that, the game unfolded, and both teams had strong offensive intentions, as no one wanted to disgrace themselves in the last match before the holiday.

”Pass! Pass to me!”

”Switch! The weak side is open, ah... too late!”

”Think faster, stay clear-headed!”

The players’ shouts could be heard on the field, and the contest in this match was indeed quite intense.

In the 9th minute, Sheffield United made the first opportunity. On the left wing, Ma’el performed a deceptive cutting move, frightening the wing back into stepping quickly, but ended up breaking towards the baseline!

He struck a curved ball with his left foot from the baseline towards the center, the placement wasn’t precise, but it offered Bolodanovich a chance for a header.

”Boom!!”

Utilizing his height and jumping advantage, Bolodanovich finally headed the ball, forming an attack, the goalkeeper dove hard to push the ball out of the baseline.

Corner kick!

”Ah...” Bolodanovich squatted on the ground disappointedly and hammered the turf a few times.

Ma’el, however, silently ran to take the corner kick, his enhanced left foot made kicking much easier, giving him more options.

This ball delivered with the left foot even created a shooting opportunity, leaving him quite satisfied.

”Bang!”

The ensuing corner kick caused chaos in Middlesbrough’s penalty area, ultimately forcing the goalkeeper to make a risky dash, diving to the ground to scoop and hug the ball, ending the attack.

In the 16th minute, Sheffield’s chance came again. Bertrand, positioned on the flank, passed to Ma’el, and after a series of combinations on the wing, joined in the central attack.

”Pop!” Gilbert, holding the ball, suddenly sent a perfectly weighted through ball that sliced through Middlesbrough’s defense.

Bertrand inserted himself from the flank, met the ball, and struck it with his left foot directly towards the far corner, hitting a ground scraper!

”Whoosh!” The ball sailed past the goalkeeper’s hand and slipped into the net, eliciting a wave of frenzy from the crowd!

The ball went in!

One to zero!

”Haha!”

Bertrand laughed as he ran to the flank, doing a formidable knee-slide celebration. He didn’t often have scoring opportunities in a season, so when he did, he celebrated in the most stylish way possible.