From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Swish!” The football made contact with the net, and the referee standing on the penalty box line turned around and pointed toward the center circle, ”Beep!”

Goal valid!

Two to zero!

”Aaahhh.....!” The Emirates Stadium welcomed their king back with cheers, and some quickly raised banners, blessing Ma’el on his European Cup victory, and others hoping he would lead the team to a consecutive Premier League and Champions League championship this season.

After landing, Ma’el raised his arms in triumph, circled past Giroud and Van Persie, arrived beside Cazorla, and embraced him, sprinting together towards the stands, signaling to the fans.

”Vamos.....!!”

When two identical celebration shouts rang out, Cazorla obviously paused, looked back at Ma’el, a Frenchman playing in England... why use Spanish to celebrate?

Shouldn’t he say ’come on’ or ’Fola’? Is it perhaps a way to win his recognition?

Cazorla’s lips curled into a slight smile; he originally thought Ma’el would be very aloof, but turned out to have quite a personable nature.

This strengthened his confidence in developing at Arsenal; he also hoped to contribute 5-8 official match assists for Ma’el this season.

After this goal, Manchester City’s players completely lost hope of turning the match around, as Arsenal continued their attacking, initiating a feast of goals.

”Boom!!”

In the 68th minute, Arteta scored a long shot from outside the box into the bottom right corner, gifting Joe Hart the first miracle ball of the new season.

Three to zero!

”Boom!”

In the 71st minute, just before being substituted, Ma’el blasted a shot from near the penalty box line, sending the ball into the net and Joe Hart along with it.

Of course, this doesn’t mean he was actually knocked into the net by the shockwave; it’s just that seeing Ma’el’s shot momentarily startled him, causing him to instinctively step back two steps before attempting a save, only managing to grab the netting.

Four to zero!

Upon getting up, Hart had a face full of embarrassment, retrieved the ball, and angrily smacked the goalpost.

Ma’el once again sprinted to the sidelines to celebrate; if last season he had the capacity to average 1.5 goals per match, then this season with gradually having multiple Level 5 skill enhancements, he absolutely has the chance to exceed an average of 2 goals per match.

He couldn’t predict exactly how high it would reach, as it depended on the pace of his skill improvements, but 2 goals might be a baseline.

This is not an exaggeration; even though football is a complex sport and players’ form can fluctuate, these are insignificant in front of solid capability!

Too astonishing?

Certainly, otherwise why would he painstakingly strive for Level 5 skills?

What he seeks is not to barely surpass Messi and Ronaldo, or surpass King of Football Pele and Maradona, but to claim Top 1 in history through overwhelming dominance!

He believes the ultimate Level 5 standard will undoubtedly help forge a new path, fulfilling the original goals set!

”Clap clap clap.....!”

2 minutes later, amid the applause from all the spectators, Ma’el was substituted, heading towards Podolski who was clapping with the fans.

As Germany’s number 10, Podolski absolutely has the ability to secure a starting position in any mid-tier team of the big four leagues.

Joining Arsenal this season knowing to be Ma’el’s substitute was for the championship, for honor!

Seeing the young captain’s performance on the field moments ago, he believed he also had a chance to chase his desires.

”Clap!”

The two then completed the handover with a high five, with Podolski sprinting onto the field, arriving at Ma’el’s position.

After coming off the pitch, Ma’el embraced Wenger, who praised him saying, ”New season, new atmosphere. Do you feel anything different?”

”A bit, overall strength has improved.” He glanced back at the field, smiling, ”But can’t feel much from friendly matches, better experience it through continuous victories in the Premier League.”

”Haha.” Wenger chuckled, patting Ma’el’s head, and exchanged a knowing look with Philip beside him.

Ma’el returned to the substitutes bench, wiping his body with a towel, while stretching his leg muscles to alleviate fatigue.

In the remaining time of the match, it passed steadily without goals from either side.

”Beep! Beep! Beep—!”

Not long after, with three long whistles from the referee, Arsenal secured a four-zero victory over their toughest opponent of the warm-up cup, Manchester City, claiming their first win of the Emirates Cup.

They laid a solid foundation to lift the cup championship at home, and the players gave a lap of thanks around the field post-match, celebrating the victory amid laughter.

Meanwhile, in the Hong Kong Super League clash between Kitchee and Bundesliga Cologne, Cologne surprisingly drew two-two, tied with Kitchee on the temporarily equal points.

After the match, Wenger and Ma’el walked towards the players’ tunnel; Wenger envisioned and asked, ”At the start of last season, we vowed to end the trophy drought together, and this year, do you feel confident in setting new goals?”

”Triple Crown.”

Without hesitation, Ma’el spoke his expectation, ”We will win the Premier League and Community Shield Cup championships, and pursue the Champions League championship, and definitely the FA Cup would be nice too.”

Surprised, Wenger saw his front-line star demonstrating such... intense confidence, leading him to slow his pace and deeply consider this goal’s feasibility.

For a long time, looking up at Ma’el’s already departing figure, his silhouette was so gallant, his stride so full of vitality, seeming to infect everyone.

”Click click.”

Under the media’s cameras, he quickened his pace, energetically stepping forward.