From Arsenal to the Ball God

”5-4! Goal battle! Arsenal narrowly defeats Bayern Munich, loaned youngster Mael performs excellently with 2 goals and 2 assists!” – UK’s ”442”

”Wenger switches to 4-3-3, Championship’s best player Mael debuts as a starter in the first warm-up match, performs outstandingly, might become a starter for Arsenal in the new season!” – Spain’s ”Asi Bao”

”Three-pronged attack! Robben and Lam are blown away by the youngster’s speed! Is Arsenal’s new left-winger Mael the biggest expectation for the new Premier League season?” – ”French Football”

”Bayern defeated 4-5 by Arsenal, defensive issues increasingly apparent, Arsenal’s 18-year-old youngster records 9 successful breakthroughs in one match!” – Germany’s ”Football Journal”

The next day, when the result of this warm-up match was sent back to European football, almost all mainstream media reported a page, warming up for the upcoming regular season.

European fans who saw this news quickly discovered that Mael’s name began appearing frequently in it, even the opponent’s media reported it.

It was surprising, many people immediately searched online for footage of this match.

After more than ten minutes, major websites successively reposted the highlights of Mael’s breakthroughs, instantly breaking tens of thousands of likes.

”Raphinha? In front of Mael, he looks more like the child between the two.”

”Toy!”

”Ragdoll defense!”

”Has anyone calculated the speed? What was the top sprint speed?”

”23.65 miles! The Sun just calculated, this is 0.25 faster than last season’s fastest Premier League sprint!”

”Almost like Robben… so scary, Aix Demon is about to enter the Premier League!”

”Is he the one people most expect among the players who are ’about to enter the Premier League’ in recent years?”

”I don’t know, but in the Arsenal fan circle, he definitely is!”

Even if European fans did not watch this match live, they still clearly felt Mael’s impact from the video.

Many people played the video repeatedly, each time feeling thrilled, without any sense of aesthetic fatigue.

This is the most passionate football, the most thrilling way to break through!

In North London, in an Arsenal fan pub, from this afternoon, fans wearing Arsenal jerseys started coming in one after another.

They have a tacit understanding, whenever there’s any latest news about the team that interests everyone, they come out and chat.

”Only 14 days left until the Premier League starts!”

”Did you watch the warm-up match? I have to mention Mael, I think we didn’t pay enough attention to him before!”

”Watched! He blew Raphinha and Alaba away, also had a successful breakthrough against Lam and Robben!”

”Speed demon, I think he must be faster than Walcott in the team.”

”Shouldn’t be, right?”

”Yes! He is an upgraded version of Walcott, very strong in confrontation, stable lower body, totally a physical monster!”

”Walcott played well last season, should have 15+, so this 18-year-old, could he hit 20+?”

”Not necessarily, depends on how he adapts to the Premier League, sometimes the official games are different from warm-ups.”

The fans were chatting all over the place, obviously, they came here today because of Mael.

Just then, someone suddenly opened their phone and shouted, drawing everyone’s attention: ”The odds list is out, the new season Golden Boot odds list!”

”Tell us quickly.”

”What rank is Van Persie?”

”Top three.”

The person with the phone scrolled a few times, surprised: ”Van Persie is first! 1 to 3.75, second is Aguero who just transferred from Atletico Madrid to Manchester City, he has 1 to 5.5, third is Fulham’s Dempsey, 1 to 9!”

”Second highest in the team is Walcott, he ranks 21st, 1 to 48! Third highest… is Mael.”

The person raised their head, looking a bit shaken, ”Mael ranks 23rd, odds are 1 to 56… he hasn’t even played in the top league, God! Ranks third in the team!”

”Not surprising, he was the record-breaking top scorer in the Championship last season, this rank is low.” Someone wasn’t surprised.

”Could it be, that Arsenal’s other forwards are really that bad this season?” Someone said this.

”Continue discussing Mael, I’m curious, anyone thinking of betting on him for the Golden Boot?” Someone changed the topic, still wanting to talk about Mael.

”No, I’m betting on Van Persie.”

”Of course, bet on the top one!”

”Years without change, always the first to win the Golden Boot, betting agencies’ predictions are quite accurate… This time I choose to trust them.”

Many people shook their heads, firmly choosing Van Persie, in their eyes, only someone out of their mind would bet on a newcomer.

”Anyone going to take a chance?”

”Yeah, his performance against Bayern was evident for all to see, what if there’s a slight hope?”

”If you want to bet, then bet, at 1 to 56, buying 100 pounds has a chance for small fortune, buying 1000 pounds might get you a new Mercedes, 10000 pounds maybe even a detached house.”

”.....”

The bar fell silent, obviously, those who shouted were joking, they didn’t really intend to buy.

Almost completely unknown, the risk is too great…

”I’ll buy!”

At this moment, someone raised their hand, pulling out a wad of money from their pocket, laughing: ”Won 700 pounds playing poker with colleagues the day before yesterday, it’s the most I’ve ever won in my life.

”Anyway, unearned money, might as well take a big gamble, haha…!”

Someone cursed a gambler under their breath, shook their head, and looked away, no longer paying attention to him; some egged him on, thinking he was just talking big.