From Arsenal to the Ball God

”What surprises me the most is that people seem unaware that Ma’el is not the kind of traditional muscle freak, speed demon.

”His flexibility and coordination are excellent, which, to some extent, has helped him a lot.

”Look at this goal, incredible coordination, incredible leg lift height!

”Alan Shearer just mentioned he has a top-level body... I think, if you add this, his physical attributes are perfect.

”Any football data agency, as well as football games, would rate his physicality no less than 93!”

”A genius!” Alan Shearer exclaimed at the gif of this goal, recalling his own days as a physically strong player, knowing how difficult it is for a player to maintain coordination in such a situation.

”Actually.....”

Garrispeed shook his head, marvelling: ”He had good coordination when he was at Sheffield United, but what amazed me most is his ability to compete and his speed.

”I’ve long wanted to find an opportunity to mention it; I really don’t understand what kind of training can achieve such improvement?

”It’s simply unheard of. You can’t imagine at this rate what kind of player he will become.

”I’ve observed recently that the player has added volley shots and outside foot... and reverse foot, which he couldn’t do last season. This really seems like.....”

He gestured animatedly for quite some time before concluding: ”Like a player from another planet.”

”People often described Ronaldo like that before.” Alan Shearer looked at him, prompting a comparison between the two.

Garrispeed understood, smiled and said: ”I think he’s stronger. I coached him and saw him score 40 goals with 27 assists with my own eyes.”

”So.”

Reinke glanced at Garrispeed and joked about a question: ”If he were still at Sheffield United, what kind of team do you think Sheffield United would be?”

”Oh.....”

Garrispeed seriously considered this question. As he thought, his expression became somewhat nostalgic, ”To be honest, I miss him. I think of his face every time we lose a game and reminisce about our days working together.

”If he were still here... I think we could make it into the top 10? Top 8? It’s very difficult. I don’t think the players at Sheffield United could give him top-level support; the players at Arsenal also help him.”

Remembering something, he smiled, ”I also said that if he could win the championship at Arsenal, I would tell him a secret.”

”What?” Alan Shearer leaned closer, jokingly asked: ”Are you afraid of your wife?”

”No.”

Garrispeed looked at him, mischievously said: ”It’s the story where you chased three girls, yet all three liked me.”

”Haha....!”

In the laughter, Alan Shearer blushed and pointed at the screen to change the subject, ”We got sidetracked, let’s focus back on the screen, what a fantastic goal.”

...

On October 30th, the ”Torino Sports Paper” published a list of 40 nominees for the Golden Boy Award.

Ma’el watched this news at home with four team members, casually discussing the players on the list.

”Rodwell.”

Davis looked at one name, frowning: ”England Youth Team captain, surprisingly valued at 16 million.”

”Phil Jones, Shaqiri, Shalawi, Wilshere..... Zaka, Lacazette, Alaba.”

Harry read out the names one by one, finding that most of them were unfamiliar to him and said: ”I didn’t expect Wilshere, who couldn’t find a place at Arsenal, to be valued the highest among them.”

”Isn’t Götze valued higher?” Safina came over, curiously asked: ”Götze is valued at 30 million, on par with Ma’el.”

”He’s in a different league from these.” Harry explained his logic, saying: ”Götze and Ma’el are of another level on this list; I was only talking about the few I read out.”

Not arguing with them, Ma’el browsed the list from bottom to top.

It was evident that this batch of Golden Boy nominees was quite outstanding, with around twenty of them likely becoming household names among global football fans in the future.

Courtois, Griezmann, James Rodriguez, Varane, Eriksen, Lukaku, Coutinho, Hazard, among others, were quite familiar to him.

The future of football belonged to this group of young players.

”Wait a moment.”

Ma’el’s eyes suddenly lit up, looking at one spot and exclaimed: ”Gilbert?”

His good friend Gilbert also made it to the list, ranked 16th with a 15 million Euro valuation!

”Not bad.” Safina, who knew Gilbert, turned her head and smiled: ”You two brothers have also entered an important hall together.”

Ma’el nodded, truly happy for his brother, someone who accompanied him all along the way was always particularly important.

Speaking of which, he did miss that guy a bit, eagerly anticipating next season’s teamwork.

He then checked his ranking from top to bottom, feeling confident he wouldn’t be missed out.

Just didn’t see it earlier because it was at the very top.

Sure enough, the name at the top of the list was his. The organizers had given a sensible ranking based on performance.

Tied for first were Dortmund’s Götze, Real Sociedad’s Griezmann, Inter Milan’s Coutinho, Lille’s Hazard.

From it started getting serious from the fifth place downward, from there he felt no threat.

”Are you ready to attend the award ceremony with me?” Ma’el asked the four team members, joking as if the Golden Boy Award was already in his pocket.

Perform well in November to strive for the prize in December!

He set this goal, stretched by the floor-to-ceiling window, smiling as he admired the view outside, feeling the sunlight today was even brighter than in the summer.