From Arsenal to the Ball God

”If you’ve observed from the plane on your way back, you’ll find that the most prominent feature here is not the Seine River, the Louvre Palace, the Triumphal Arch, nor the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and not even the towering Eiffel Tower.

”It’s the star-studded, flourishing football fields that define the main landscape of this city; this is exactly where the power of French Football lies.”

He continued with a confident tone: ”You must also be aware that in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, not only is there the Palace of Versailles, but the Clairefontaine Training Academy is also a world-renowned sanctuary.

”We’re going there first this time to meet the young players.”

Ma’el nodded slightly, feeling somewhat moved after hearing these words; perhaps, as he said, this is why French Football is so powerful.

Half an hour later, the vehicle they were in slowly drove into the Clairefontaine Training Academy, marking the beginning of the tour’s first stop.

Unlike previous national team training camps, this time they went directly to the youth training center, arriving at the core area of the academy.

”Ma’el...!”

On a lush green field, more than a hundred youth trainees of various ages excitedly waved their hands; they quickly rushed towards the area where the vehicle was parked and surrounded it.

Some held ’Arsenal No. 7’ jerseys, others held ’France No. 7’ jerseys, and some had ’lm7’ shoes, all waiting for Ma’el’s autograph.

As soon as Ma’el got out of the car, everyone swarmed around him, with countless hands reaching for his waist and arms, all wanting to get close to him.

Looking at the innocent faces and their admiring eyes, he laughed from the heart, patting a few young players on the head before taking out a pen to sign for them.

Legrain was basically overlooked, standing aside clapping, anyone might mistake him for the driver who came over.

”Ma’el, can you teach me how to do a long shot? Everyone says your shooting is a tornado shot.”

”Isn’t it more of a tiger style?”

”That’s childish, animation is animation; his shot is actually a powerful and precise heavy artillery shot!”

”Haha, I want to learn your aerial strike, is that okay?”

”Eleven goals in six matches of the European Cup, gosh, I can’t even score that much in the youth league.”

”Mbappe can!”

Ma’el listened to their chatter and patted one of them on the head, saying: ”These are things your coaches can teach you; the key is to practice well and believe that you can achieve it.”

After the autograph session ended, he took a group photo with the Clairefontaine coaching staff, who also carried respectful gazes, then proceeded to visit the dormitory area.

”Clairefontaine has dormitories for 200 players, all are single rooms.”

A female staff member led him and Legrain, introducing the youth training center along the way and intentionally guiding him to one of the rooms.

Entering the room, he saw a young Mbappe in a green sweatshirt sitting on the bed, making him resemble a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

”This is Mbappe, considered the most promising talent in the academy, and hailed as the next Henry.”

Legrain spoke up at this moment, clearly aware of this outstanding young player too.

Ma’el looked at the shy Mbappe and then at the posters behind him; if he remembered correctly, in a past life, he had seen photos of young Mbappe’s room, and back then there were only Ronaldo posters behind him.

But this time, there was a change; on two photo walls, only one was of Ronaldo, the other was of him.

Ma’el smiled, thinking this might be a butterfly effect from his arrival; he became one of the idols for this future superstar, ”Do you like Ronaldo or me more? I’d like to hear the truth.”

Mbappe quickly blushed, stammering, ”It’s you now, at least for this time.”

”Haha...”

Ma’el and Legrain laughed heartily; he looked at the adorable young President Mu and said: ”Is it because of the European Cup victory? If I perform poorly next season, will you tear down my poster?”

”No way.” Mbappe’s eyes dodged, clearly indicating that the young him wasn’t good at lying.

Ma’el patted his head and said: ”Don’t worry, that won’t happen... and also, keep going; when I was young, people called me the next Henry.”

Mbappe nodded, his eyes briefly flashing with the flames of ambition and desire.

Ma’el soon went to another room under the guidance of the staff, where he saw a younger, curly-haired boy.

”This is Saliba, also considered one of the more promising players, and he really likes Arsenal.”

Someone introduced him, and his eyes lit up, realizing it was the future defensive stalwart of the Gunners, ”Hello there, your room is very nice; I like the red and white elements here.”

Compared to Mbappe, Saliba was more extroverted; perhaps being younger, he didn’t quite understand the gap between him and Ma’el, only thinking of him as a good football-playing brother.

He took out a Henry jersey and an lm7 jersey, saying, ”Can you sign for me? I really like you both; when they said you’d come to visit my room, I called my parents for a long time.”

Ma’el took the pen and signed for him, then said: ”Didn’t Henry come here? Why isn’t there his signature?”

”He came, but I didn’t meet him.”

Saliba chuckled, he reached for Ma’el’s clothes and said: ”Can you get his signature for me?”

”If he comes here, I’ll help you get it.”