From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 784: Chapter 6: Changing Public Opinion! Highest Premier League Salary? Chelsea Showdown at Wembley! The Beatles’ Song at Wembley

“Another bump by 30m! Ma’el’s valuation reaches 135m, tying with Messi for first in the world!” — Latest news from the BBC

“Arsenal’s total valuation soars by 130m, officially entering the top tier of the global football valuation rankings!” — Sky Sports club column

After the new update on Transfermarkt, most players’ rises and falls didn’t grab the fans’ attention; everyone focused almost immediately on Ma’el.

They were even too lazy to first look at their home team or their favorite players; they just wanted to gather and chat about Ma’el, to see what others thought about it.

Even Arsenal caught their attention, becoming the most eye-catching team of the night.

However, in the comments section of reports related to ‘Ma’el’s latest valuation’, one could see polarized fan reactions; some offered extreme praise while others raised wild doubts.

“The greatest talent in history!”

“Aix’s prodigy stands in a position truly belonging to him! Football professionals have finally given Arsenal’s Demon King the evaluation he deserves!”

“135m at 19! If he can maintain this form until around 21, won’t he likely surge past 150m?!”

“Messi created 100+ goals in a single season; Ma’el seemed to have 70+ last season. Does a European Cup goal count as three? First at 19, can it get more ridiculous?”

“I don’t understand the point of doubt, such a talented young player, immediately showing data and championship speed at a Messi and Ronaldo level, 135m is low!”

“Isn’t it ridiculous?

“There really are many players with godly performances in one intercontinental tournament, but many can’t maintain their form back in the league, falling off amidst the pressure.

“I’m not saying Ma’el will become average, that’s unlikely.

“It’s just that Transfermarkt was too hasty, putting a player in a position that wasn’t his, surpassing Ronaldo’s many years of accumulation is really hard to sustain.”

“Exactly! Transfermarkt used to not significantly raise the valuation for players with explosive performances in a single tournament, only increasing the psychological expectations, waiting to observe the player’s club performance before gradually raising it!

“I’ve never seen them hastily add 30m right after a match ends. I think 105m is the best recognition for him; this extra 30m is obviously excessive, suspecting intentional topic generation.”

“Is Ma’el the same as those one-off wonders? He captured four best awards and broke historical records to win the championship, your arguments don’t stand!”

“…..”

Judging by the comments with the highest likes, many people are viewing this matter from their own stance, each representing their own group.

There are Ma’el fans, Messi and Ronaldo’s respective fans… In short, objective evaluations are only a small part, and they can’t dominate the mainstream view.

That’s quite normal, as superstar career milestones and situational changes easily stir emotional shifts among fan communities.

Plus, the current superstars are in competitive relationships; their fan communities, unlike those of retired superstars who enjoy peace and mutual admiration, find it hard to reminisce about youth.

Often, they argue on the slightest disagreement, starting rational but soon deepening grudges; in heated moments, anything can be said.

This can be seen among Messi and Ronaldo fan groups; while there are those who admire each other, some only focus on their favorite star, and others don’t participate in discussions.

Yet disputes under related reports always accompany, consistently leading the main narrative direction.

Perhaps only when both prodigies retire, most of their fans will reconcile, sitting together to laugh about that passionate era, that time where prodigies emerged and Messi and Ronaldo reigned supreme.

In any case, the public opinion direction of this day is certainly different from usual!

Even though Ma’el was long touted as the third best in the world, a strong contender for the best, he had never before incited such a massive sense of urgency among Messi and Ronaldo fans.

After he won the Premier League championship, Messi and Ronaldo fans weren’t worried as their beloved stars also held La Liga or Premier League titles.

Even with the European Cup win, they weren’t overly concerned, given Messi and Ronaldo each had multiple Champions League titles.

As for Ma’el’s data and potential exceeding former world third-best, closing in on Messi and Ronaldo, their brains selectively filtered it out.

Until the day he formally surpasses or nearly equals them arrives, they don’t want to face this issue.

Little did they expect, ‘that day’ arrived so quickly!

As Ma’el topped an important list on Transfermarkt with unstoppable momentum, gaining strength and performance in the eyes of professionals to threaten Messi and Ronaldo’s status…

Some Messi and Ronaldo fans found it hard to accept and inevitably panicked.

Aware of the crisis, they seldom united to post some skeptical comments about this valuation.

In the short term, this may not cause a deep resentment between them and Ma’el’s fan community.

But if this competition and confrontation persist, it’s only a matter of time before the football public discourse evolves from a two-way rivalry to a three-pronged one.

Anyway, the public opinion direction of this day signifies Ma’el’s valuation entering a new phase along with himself, perhaps signaling the formal start of his duel with Messi and Ronaldo.