Chapter 545: Chapter 544: Has Manchester City’s Trash-Picking Lowered England’s Prestige?
"Peter, you’ve done exceedingly well in your own professional field. However, you can’t deprive your child of his opportunity in this area," you can’t measure him by your abilities; he’s only fifteen!"
"Come on, take a look at Manchester City."
"Don’t look at him from a father’s perspective. Look at him as teammates, as a coach, as a mentor, and you’ll see Casper in a new light!"
Schmeichel was tangled in thought on the other end of the phone.
Before him lay the contract for the assistant coach of the Denmark national team.
It was the first step towards the dream he had since his retirement.
For nearly forty years, he had been striving for his dreams, never once stopping.
So much so that...he had never compromised for his family.
The education of his children, the jobs of his family members, where they all lived—everything changed because of him.
Caught up in matches, he had not spent significant time with his children in recent years.
He had turned down countless invitations from his son Casper to watch games.
Besides, he never believed his son could replicate his own professional career, because at the same age, he was far superior to his son now! And even if he started over, he doubted he could achieve what he had now.
Because luck cannot be replicated.
Therefore... a child with no talent like Casper should give up football early on.
Schmeichel had always thought this way.
After a long while.
"I must make it clear to the media that, barring extreme circumstances, I would not participate in matches... I must be responsible to Manchester United’s fans!" Schmeichel put down his pen.
Sorry, my dream, this time, I have to postpone you for a while.
After hanging up the phone, Deng Kai looked towards the blonde lad who was the spitting image of Schmeichel and smiled, "See, I told you, you mean much more to your father than you think!"
"Work hard in your training, and may you be promoted to the first team soon!"
Casper nodded his head, wiping away tears as he turned around.
The pain of a star’s child is something normal people really don’t understand.
The outside world’s denial won’t make you despair, but the denial from those closest to you will!
The next day, "Football Emperor" published another headline: "Legend arrives! Schmeichel returns to Manchester, this time... it’s Manchester City!"
Manchester Evening: "Schmeichel follows in Guardiola’s footsteps, joins Manchester City part-time while studying! Also acts as goalkeeper coach!"
Sky Sports: "Schmeichel: I’ve communicated with the boss, thanks to Ferguson’s understanding, I will always belong to Manchester United, but my child belongs to Manchester City, so..."
The Times: "Ferguson: Welcome Peter back to Manchester, of course, it would be better if it was Old Trafford! If he doesn’t feel at home in Manchester City, Manchester United’s goal and goalkeeping spot are always available to him!"
The Sun Newspaper: "Schmeichel invites old teammates for a meal, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Deng Kai, Ronaldo, Deschamps... United or City, we are all one family?"
Echo Report: "Manchester united, with no pun intended! City’s unity is as strong as gold! Shouldn’t the major clubs in London and Liverpool start banding together?"
With this, another star was added to Manchester City’s squad.
The once dimly lit Manchester City, now, not to compare with Manchester United, but already outshines seventy percent of the Premier League teams.
Afterward, the city went into a mad ’garbage picking’ mode!
The Next Schmeichel? Manchester City signs 33-year-old goalkeeper Lehmann from Dortmund for two million euros!
Schmeichel coaches, Lehmann and Caballero compete for the starting spot?
"Manchester City follows Sporting Lisbon’s footsteps, strikes gold in Brazil! Thaigo Silva, a minor from Rio team, signed for a million euros!"
"Serie A’s Juventus accuses City of swooping for Thaigo! They had already sealed the deal!"
"Deng Kai welcomes new teammate on social media, refers to Thaigo Silva as ’brother-in-law’!"
"Lega Pro champions Livorno complete big-money move! Sell versatile defender Giorgio Chiellini for two million euros!"
Torino Sport Newspaper: "Will Chiellini become the next Barzagli? No! Midfielder, striker, wing-back, Chiellini is more like an extended version of Evra!"
"€2.5million! Serie B’s Perugia backup left-back Federico Grosso joins Manchester City!"
Bola newspaper: "City’s addicted to trawling through trash! Their total spending on signings is only €20.5 million!"
Famous City critic spots an interesting point.
Then, they dissected City’s recruitment strategy.
They proved from a financial standpoint that City is a team with no prospects.
They take the money used to buy a single Anelka and break it into so many small amounts, seemingly enriching the squad, but actually... can all these players add up to even one of Anelka’s legs?
Deng Kai: Err... then Anelka would have to be a centipede, I guess.
As time went on, these doubts only grew.
Even City fans were losing confidence.
Finally, when City signed English youngster Ashley Young from Watford on a ’free’ after he was denied a professional contract and found himself without a team, skepticism peaked.
"Another freebie? Signing veteran freebies can be understood, at least they’re famous and hold commercial value! But signing a flop like Ashley Young, what’s that about?"
"Do they really think just anyone can play professional football?"
"Doesn’t Watford know better than City about Ashley Young? If they think he doesn’t have the capacity for professional football, then he most certainly doesn’t!"
"If they’re taking someone like Ashley Young, then City might as well pick up all the rejected youth players in England!"
"It’s so embarrassing! You can borrow money if you don’t have any, you can bluff your way through not being able to afford players, but to field ordinary people as professional footballers, isn’t that disrespecting the game?"
The comments deeply saddened Ashley Young.
At the same time, he was very grateful that City was willing to give him a chance to play.
He was willing to work his heart out for the club.
Of course, he also knew he couldn’t be of much help to City with his abilities.
His ideal situation was to become City’s Evra, taking good care of everyone on the bench, ensuring they were in top condition for the games!
Evra: You get me!
If England’s last bit of tolerance for City was, "At least you picked an English reject."
Then what came next truly infuriated the English gentlemen.
Because Deng Kai actually brought back a road paver from France!
Deng Kai: "I want to emphasize once again! Ribery is not a road paver, he just took a second job during the offseason to earn a little extra money to help his family with his father!"
"He is a proper footballer! An excellent winger!"
Having landed in Manchester, Deng Kai finally picked up his social account and started a media spat with the English press.
The Times: "A €200,000 excellent winger? Perhaps only Deng Kai can believe that this scar-faced man from France’s fourth-tier amateur league in Boulogne is a footballer!"
