Chapter 449: Chapter 448: The Hot-Tempered Boy Named B Fei
Wenger nodded, "We need players who are skilled in organization and passing, and though Deng Kai doesn’t fully meet the standards, I believe he’s a player who can be trained."
"Coming to Arsenal would definitely be the right choice for him, and he even has the opportunity to become a key midfielder for Arsenal in the future."
Reporter, "How did Lisbon Sporting respond at the time? Was Deng Kai not for sale?"
Wenger perked up, "In fact, their reply was quite puzzling to me. I think this ultimately unsuccessful deal will occupy a place among the most bizarre failed transactions in football history."
With that, Wenger searched his phone and brought up a photo.
It read: QNMD!
Wenger, "I even sought out encryption experts from Cambridge University, but they were unable to decipher this code before the winter window closed."
Wenger knew that there were many tales of peculiar transfers associated with him.
A recent example was how Yaya Tu Lei was rejected by Arsenal and then picked up at the door by Trigella, and now it seems he’s playing quite well.
The year before last, Ibrahimovic refused to trial, thus missing the opportunity to join Arsenal.
Perhaps there would be even more classics in the future.
But this QNMD would definitely be one of them. What exactly does it mean, though?
"Fuck your mom?" exclaimed a young fan wearing a Lisbon Sporting number seven jersey, surprised with the curse.
Wenger looked confused, "Is the quality of you Lisbon Sporting fans really that bad?"
The young fan shrugged, "I’m just helping you interpret this. It’s the acronym for the Chinese ’go to your mom.’ Chinese text is divided into characters and Pinyin; this is an abbreviation of Pinyin."
"Kai would say these words to someone when he’s extremely angry."
"When he was in the youth team early on, playing against Benfica, he said this."
"Last year in the Europa League against Barcelona, right before Pepe’s flying kick on Deboer, Deng Kai said this too."
"I think that’s probably what Lisbon Sporting’s reply to Arsenal’s offer for Deng Kai was. By the way, what was your offer? Thirty million euros or twenty-five million euros?"
Wenger said, "We have a great appeal to young players; we can make them world-class superstars at Arsenal. Deng Kai still needs to hone his skills, and if you look beyond the glory of five-time champions, he’s essentially a starting midfielder for an ordinary team in the top five leagues."
Young fan, "It can’t be less than twenty million, can it? Please, both Viana and Quaresma were over two thousand, with this, it’s tough for Kai to have face."
Wenger sheepishly smiled, "Twenty million euros."
Young fan, "That’s not right, although this price is far below my Kai’s real value, it’s still somewhat in line with the mainstream acceptable baseline and doesn’t justify the team’s rage."
Wenger, "Uh... Twenty million euros, to take away both Ronaldo and Deng Kai."
The young fan fell silent.
"QNMD!" Suddenly, the young fan, fists waving, charged at Wenger, but unfortunately, he was stopped by Arsenal’s assistant coach.
He was lifted off the ground, yet continued to spew profanities, "Your offer insults both Kai and Ronaldo! I want to fight you! As a future member of the Deng Kai Global Fan Support Group, I’ll be your eternal nemesis. From now on, every time I see Arsenal, I’ll beat Arsenal!"
This incident made the headlines that very day.
And that boy, the protagonist, appeared at the Lisbon Sporting youth academy Alcochete that very afternoon.
At eight years old, he wanted to join the Lisbon Sporting youth camp.
Lisport gave him the green light, but he still failed to pass the U9-level trial, ultimately leaving in disappointment.
But before he left, he received a signed football from Feng Te.
Feng Te considered this child very promising and granted him the authorization to join the fan club.
However, the kid was a bit naive and actually wanted to get Deng Kai’s autographed football.
In order to save face, Feng Te personally approached Deng Kai for it.
Deng Kai had always planned his autographed items carefully; he couldn’t give away autographed footballs randomly to avoid creating an oversupply that would cause "the Guardiola effect" and diminish their value.
"Of course, Deng Kai, I already said it couldn’t be done; how could your autograph be handed out so easily? Only those who make significant contributions to the organization deserve it..." Feng Te lavished praise on Deng Kai for a while, "When I get back, I’ll have Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes write a 500-word self-criticism examining his own greed and desire!"
"Who are you?" Deng Kai stopped Feng Te, "Feng Te, yes, yes, Feng Te, what’s his name?"
Feng Te was stunned—was Deng Kai forgetting his own name?
This... surely it must be because my name isn’t memorable; I should change it to something easier for Deng Kai to remember, a Chinese-style name.
My name is Feng Te, and there are people with the surname Feng in China.
Not having my name remembered by Deng Kai is the lowest point of my life.
And I really like drinking Chinese Baijiu.
So maybe my name should be... Feng Valley Wine?
"Oh, the kid’s name is quite long, but you can just call him Bruno Fernandes," Feng Te concluded.
Deng Kai pondered; it was this B... Fern.
"Tell him if he truly dreams of football, he might consider trying out for Manchester City’s youth team," suggested Deng Kai, signaling Feng Te to hurry back with the reply so as not to miss out on this kid.
After all, this player B Fern might not have the best skills but his company is comfortable, much like being with Feng Te.
Deng Kai had just arrived at the training ground when he ran into Ibrahimovic again.
The tall figure seemed awkward, as if he had something on his mind.
"I’ll go and ask Mr. Trigella for permission; you prepare to start in tomorrow’s match," Deng Kai said without even stopping, arriving and leaving with style.
Ibrahimovic was stunned—Deng Kai was too pretentious!
Too cool!
"Did I just say anything to Deng Kai?" Ibrahimovic asked Feng Te.
Feng Te shook his head: "You didn’t speak."
Ibrahimovic: "Then how did he know I want to start in the next match?"
Feng Te replied with a mysterious smile: "Before the wind moves, the cicada feels it; this is what the Chinese refer to as the ’Saint’ realm. Did you think they call him ’Deng Zi’ Deng Zi’ just for fun?"
"Feng Te!" Maxa said sternly as he passed by, "Don’t use that nickname lightly. Kai is very low-key. The words ’Deng Zi’ are too flashy."
Feng Te nodded repeatedly: "I understand, student, be low-key, low-key."
...
On February 19th, in the second round of the UEFA Champions League group stage third round, Sporting Lisbon welcomed Arsenal to their home ground.
Before the match began, Soccer News officially announced Premier League powerhouse Arsenal had joined their website!
This immediately caused a second wave of fan registration frenzy in China.
This left other domestic football periodicals green with envy.
