Chapter 720: Chapter 719: Relatives from Manchester Come One After Another, Only Ad’s Father is Absent
The Sun Newspaper finally emerged from the gloom, returning to its usual tabloid reporting.
It was they who, through the tracking of Adriano’s father’s whereabouts, scooped this major news.
Little did they know, quite the discovery awaited.
Not just Adriano’s father.
Ribery, Tu Lei, Maicon, Chiellini, Thiago Silva... the whole team!
The families of the entire team were converging on Gothenburg, Sweden.
Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, the venue for this year’s European Union Cup final!
The hotels where these player’s families stayed were all the same.
And very close to the hotel used by Manchester City.
The hotel was also booked by Manchester City, exclusively for the use of the player’s relatives and friends.
Relatives of stars such as Baggio and Desailly were also invited.
Under such circumstances, if Manchester City were to fail to win the championship,
they would become the biggest joke in the world.
Therefore, as soon as the news broke out, it shocked the world.
Before this, no team had ever dared to make such a move.
Bear in mind, this is a cup competition.
This isn’t the kind of league where if you don’t win the championship this round, you can do it in the next round.
Inviting relatives is a risk.
And their arrival can also affect the players’ condition.
After the story broke, Maxa held a press conference and explained in detail, "I know that recently there has been media speculation that Manchester City invited players’ relatives to watch our last match of the season... the European Union Cup final."
"Let me clarify this."
"This is not a rumor, it is true."
The media present were speechless.
You sure know how to "clarify," buddy.
Maxa said with a smile, "Manchester City has a different philosophy from other clubs when it comes to players. We want our players to perform well, to become famous, and to reach the pinnacle of their lives."
"We believe in our ability to improve our players’ prowess."
"We are not afraid that after becoming well-known, players will want to go elsewhere. If there are places that can offer better conditions, we encourage our players to showcase their skills."
"Similarly, we also care deeply about the players’ needs as individuals, particularly their families."
"When the team wins the championship, we believe among those they most want to share it with are their families. Therefore, we invited all the players’ families."
"We also believe that with their families as witnesses, our players will play the most splendid game of the season!"
"Additionally, it’s not just about happiness; Manchester City is fully focused on the health of the players themselves and their families. We provided a health check worth a thousand euros for all players’ relatives."
"Relatives and friends invited by the players must present their health check results to receive their tickets for the final game day."
"We don’t want our players to neglect the care and attention of their family members while busy with their careers. If they do, we will make up for it."
"This is the club culture of Manchester City."
"This was a joint decision by Deng Kai and Mansour. For this reason, I can say Manchester City is the best team in the world!"
After Maxa finished, there was a moment of silence from the reporters, followed by a round of applause.
Humanitarian care!
Incredible!
From being a charity-oriented team to this display of family care, Manchester City really has been stacking buffs. You darn well have to applaud them.
Otherwise, Manchester City could easily sue you for being "anti-family love," and they’d win every time.
Here, it’s all about stacking armor.
And Manchester City was very good at layering on the armor.
After the press conference, the opinion across Europe turned unanimously in favor of Manchester City overnight.
It was as if defeating Manchester City would be unforgivable for Valencia.
"Tearful! Players, Manchester City is your best family!"
"Family care service! Manchester City spends huge sums to prepare medical check-ups, hotels, and final match tickets for their players’ families!"
"What kind of terror is the Blue Moon? This is completely the gentle Blue Moon, all right! This is the world’s most heartwarming team!"
"Maxa: Manchester City is the best team in the world! Who agrees, who disagrees?"
"Insider reveals: The plan was proposed by Deng Kai, he even used his own salary to cover the medical check-up costs!"
Of course, the media wouldn’t report, or rather wouldn’t know, that the hospital had just been acquired last year by Mansour’s personal consortium.
And one of the shareholders’ names was a typical Chinese name.
If you kept digging, you would find out that it was the name of the son of Deng Kai’s uncle from his hometown in Sichuan.
Valencia couldn’t withstand this kind of pressure and urgently sought the media to speak up for themselves: "This is a pure match, Valencia is entitled to win the game."
"If victory requires Valencia’s charity, then there is no need for the European League Cup to exist."
Spanish media also began to speak up for their team.
Marca: "Manchester City’s actions are indeed charming. But Valencia is definitely not a villain. The match depends on strength, everything else is secondary."
AS Newspaper: "Manchester City is bold; they have stimulated the players in another way, but the effect may not necessarily be good. Any unexpected event can have mixed outcomes."
Diario Sport: "Manchester City’s behavior of buying hearts is disgusting! Do their medical check-ups really work? Or are they exaggerating the price for benefit transfer?"
World Sports Daily: "Manchester City is just too arrogant! They think they will surely win, so they arranged the celebration activities in advance."
"But they do not know that even if they haven’t lost a game all season, they could still lose this one!"
"How will they face so many players’ relatives if they lose? They have done the most foolish thing, and the cost could be huge!"
"This also fits Deng Kai’s usual behavior; he and Ronaldo always crave for great achievements. When he was at Sporting Lisbon, he often celebrated victories prematurely, boasting recklessly!"
Ronaldo: ???
Ronaldo: I’m getting shot while lying down?
...
May 20th.
Manchester City’s team flew to Gothenburg two days in advance to prepare for the European League Cup final.
The players also specially arranged a time slot to briefly meet with their families and friends.
This was a motivation for everyone.
Unfortunately, Adriano’s father did not appear at the event.
Adriano felt somewhat sad.
He came from a poor family.
It was the full support of his father Almir that allowed him to play football.
His father’s stringent discipline was tough, but it was exactly this strictness that kept Adriano highly disciplined even after his initial success.
Given Almir’s early experiences, it can be said that Almir, as a father, was one of the important reasons Adriano worked hard to play football.
This was why Adriano never gave up football even when people mocked him as "Adriano the Weak."
"Who’s that over there?" Adriano noticed some Asian relatives who seemed unable to find the player, instead Feng Te was chatting with his own family.
Guardiola at his side said, "Those are Kai’s parents and some relatives from the mainland. Kai got tied up last minute, so he’s unable to receive them."
"The team staff will take them first to the hotel. They might have a walk around Gothenburg, buy some things, stuff like that."
Adriano was taken aback.
He had thought Deng Kai wasn’t present today because he had special treatment, meeting his relatives early and celebrating the festival together.
Since Kai’s family and friends are here, where did Deng Kai go?
