From Arsenal to the Ball God

”When to buy?”

”Go now and I’ll take a look.”

”How about adding 300 pounds, making it 1000?”

”Hahaha!”

The guy didn’t mind, picked up his hat, and walked out of the bar, heading straight to a betting shop across the street.

”He really went!”

”Is Jones crazy?”

”Probably drank too much.”

Soon, Jones returned, holding up a betting slip and showing it off to the group.

”How much?” someone asked him.

”2300 pounds.” Jones shook his pockets, implying he had taken out all his money, ”I figured if it works out, I could get 128,800 pounds, hahaha...!”

When he reached the betting shop, he thought, since he had already put down 700 pounds, he might as well take out all the cash he had.

Either don’t play or play big!

”.....” The tavern fell into another silence, no one responded to him for a long while.

”Jones, you should consider, betting companies ranked him 23rd with odds of 1 to 56 because it’s impossible for him to win the Golden Boot.”

”Are you really crazy?”

”Are you betting on a miracle? Except for the 03/04 season, Arsenal has never really experienced any miracles, just give it up.”

The tavern echoed with sounds of discouragement, and everyone’s view of Jones changed, thinking he might have lost his mind.

Yet some had a peculiar mindset, in this atmosphere, were actually stirred with a bit of interest.

”Damn it, if Jones dares to play like this, why not do something big myself?”

”Together?”

”Weren’t you just saying you’re afraid he might not adapt to Premier League?”

”So what? Bet 100 pounds just for fun!”

Soon, several more people walked out of the tavern, returning with betting slips ranging from 100 to 600 pounds. Occasionally, someone bought a four-digit ticket, seemingly trying to change their fate with this slip.

Amidst a debate of ’madness and genius’, the discussion about Ma’el wrapped up just like that.

Overall, the new season is about to begin, the fans’ enthusiasm is growing day by day, many have started looking forward to Ma’el’s performance at Emirates Stadium.

He has now become Arsenal fans’ greatest anticipation for the new season!

The first reason is his unknown factor. Since Ma’el’s debut, he’s had a certain level of attention, but the player has been in the Championship. This season, he returned to the team but hasn’t played any friendlies in London, he joined the team in China.

They have never seen this player play firsthand, don’t know what it’s like to watch him play live.

Also, don’t know, when the time comes, wearing the Arsenal jersey, what kind of results he can achieve at Emirates Stadium, or if he can make significant contributions to the team?

The unknown triggers endless imagination and curiosity.

The second reason is the media’s hype around him—he broke three astonishing record-setting statistics in the Championship, leading the team to promotion.

This expectation is somewhat similar to the first one, or should say they interact with each other.

The more the media hypes about Ma’el, the more unknown he becomes to Arsenal fans, sparking curiosity.

This experience of having to open a mystery box for their own team’s player makes them anxious yet deeply fascinated!

......

August 2nd, still at the Capital Worker Stadium, the final pre-season friendly match for Arsenal takes place here.

Their opponent is the prestigious team from the Argentine Super League, Boca Juniors.

Due to the proximity of the last match, Wenger sent out a substitute lineup for this round, planning to swap in the main lineup around the 70th to 80th minute for final warm-ups.

Ma’el sat on the sidelines next to Van Persie, watching the match unfold on the field.

Arsenal’s substitute lineup was quite capable, consistently suppressing Boca Juniors, creating many scoring opportunities, several times nearly scoring.

”Riquelme.”

Van Persie observed the midfielder wearing Boca Juniors’ number 10 jersey, smiling, ”Some say he’s the last classical midfielder.”

”I’ve heard that too.”

Ma’el had been keeping an eye on him for a while, this seemed to be the late stage of Riquelme’s career, his footwork still retained some skills, but unfortunately, he had aged and couldn’t move like he did when he was younger.

Facing Arsenal’s dynamic lineup, he seemed somewhat overwhelmed.

”Boom!”

At the 41st minute, the first goal finally came, Arsenal’s new signing Gervinho broke into the penalty area from the right wing, shooting into the far corner.

”Oh.....!” The stadium erupted in cheers from Arsenal fans, today’s attendance was slightly lower than the last match, but still about 80% full.

Many who didn’t catch the top European club battle yesterday came to the stadium today to watch the Premier League giant versus the Argentinean league titan.

The second goal came a bit late, at the 74th minute, Wilshere received the ball from the center field, with a beautiful curling shot into the goal, once again lifting the atmosphere to a climax.

”Beautiful!”

Ma’el stood to applaud his friend. Two days ago, Wilshere had complained about not getting much playtime.

With this shot, he should have vented all the pent-up frustration.

Hopefully, he performs well in the new Premier League season... and doesn’t get injured as often.

After this goal, Wenger withdrew seven or eight players from the starting lineup, subbing in seven or eight new players to battle.

Ma’el didn’t take to the field, perhaps Wenger felt he was rushing too much in matches and needed rest.

This might be for the best, on the last day at home, he could watch and enjoy the team’s game as a spectator and store energy for the upcoming Premier League season.