Of course, almost every promising star under the age of twenty on the market has been rumored to be linked with Arsenal.
This is not uncommon.
Besides that, Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga hegemon, is even more keen on Mark.
Although club president Hoeneß has already been imprisoned for tax evasion,
Bayern will not miss out on any domestic young talent that emerges.
Sammer, the team's sporting director, has also set his sights on Mark, this super genius who appeared out of nowhere, and has already called Raiola once.
In his words, there was nothing but deep appreciation for Mark.
Of course, the better Mark performs, and the more clubs are interested in him, the more anxious Mark's current club, Wolfsburg, becomes.
Just as Raiola was contemplating how to use Arsenal and Bayern to drive up the price and secure a better contract for his client, his phone suddenly rang with a "drip-drip-drip" sound.
He took out his phone, saw the caller ID on the screen, and Raiola's eyebrow shot up.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Allofs."
The caller was none other than Allofs, the sporting director of Wolfsburg!
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!
"Hello, Mr. Raiola."
"You haven't responded to the conditions we proposed. So I called to ask…"
"Oh, I've been so busy lately, I almost forgot about it…"
Hearing Raiola's obvious perfunctory lines, Allofs, on the other end of the phone, twitched his mouth and continued:
"It's alright, you're busy with work, it's normal to forget. Well, I'm here to remind you…"
After the initial pleasantries and probing, the two also began a war of words over the phone:
"With Mark's performance in the World Cup, an annual salary of three million is still not enough for him. It should be at least three and a half million…"
"Also, a buyout clause must be added…"
"We can discuss the annual salary again, but we will never accept a buyout clause!"
"You should know, this young man might be the greatest genius in German history. If your club is unwilling to accept it, I think other clubs would be very willing…"
In short, Mark is a genius, pay up!
While Raiola was busy talking on the phone with Allofs in the stands, Germany and France were also fiercely battling it out on the field, sparks flying!
In the second half, France played more actively and proactively, creating many threatening attacks.
However, without Giroud, the "battering ram" and pivot in the front, France's attack simply couldn't break open the Germans' iron-blooded defense.
Coupled with Valbuena's mediocre form, the front-line attack could only rely on the two-man combination of Griezmann and Benzema.
However, the harder the French attacked, the more excited Neuer became in saving.
No matter how the French players shot, the man standing in front of the German Team's goal could successfully make the save.
For a time, whether it was the French Team's players or their fans, there was a feeling of powerlessness, like punching cotton. When the game reached the critical 70th minute, Germany made the first substitution.
Witnessing his team being suppressed and only able to advance their offense through counterattacks, Löw and Flick discussed and then called back Mark and Schürrle, who were warming up.
"When you go on, make more forward runs, and let Toni (Kroos) send more through balls!"
"There's a lot of space behind them, enough for you to gallop!"
After giving instructions, the German Team made two substitutions at once:
Schürrle replaced Klose!
Mark replaced Özil!
As Mark entered the field, the live broadcast camera also focused on this hot German super new star.
"The German Team has brought on Mark and Schürrle!"
"Making like-for-like substitutions in the front while leading, Löw is clearly not satisfied with the current score…"
And seeing the German Team make changes first, France was also slow to react.
A few minutes later, due to center-back Sakho's injury in a challenge, France was forced to use a substitution, bringing on Koscielny for Sakho.
However, Deschamps did not stop there.
After another minute and a half, he directly substituted defensive midfielder Cabaye for forward Rémy. France then changed to a 4-4-2 formation.
Although substituting a defensive midfielder for a forward increased the number of attacking players in the front,
it also made the midfield defense weaker.
Especially when Pogba pushed forward to attack, only Matuidi was left in the entire midfield!
And Mark also caught this detail and shouted to Kroos in German:
"Toni, make more late runs, and then watch my and André's (Schürrle) movements, send more through balls!"
Hearing this, Kroos nodded, indicating that he understood.
As Pogba's long-range shot from outside the box went slightly high, possession changed.
And France's advanced formation did not drop back but remained in the front, pressing high.
For them, being behind, every minute and every second was precious.
If they didn't press to win back possession, their attacking time would be limited.
However, their eyes were only on offense, only on the desire to equalize, but they ignored the huge risks brought by the advanced formation!
As Neuer passed the ball to Hummels, under Benzema's pressure, Hummels calmly passed the ball to Lahm on the right wing.
Lahm dribbled along the sideline, suddenly stopped abruptly, and crossed the ball to defensive midfielder Schweinsteiger.
"Little Pig" looked up to observe his teammates' positions. Kroos was unmarked, so he sent a direct pass.
As Kroos received the ball and turned, he heard a shout:
"Toni!"
The next second, seeing Mark making a forward run on the left, Kroos, without hesitation, sent a surgical-like through ball before Matuidi could intercept!
Mark, cutting in diagonally from the wing, first took a stride, passed France's right-back Debuchy, and then used the instep of his right foot to stop the ball.
However, this first touch was not good, and the ball was slightly overhit.
And France's center-back Koscielny immediately rushed forward, with a fierce expression, looking like he was about to clear the ball with a big kick!
In a flash, Mark suddenly accelerated a second time, managing to get there first, lightly poking the ball forward, right between Koscielny's legs!
You know, because he completed four match tasks in the previous game against Algeria—[Dribble], [Goal], [Winner], [Man of the Match]—he had just enough potential points to increase his [Speed] to ninety.
Moreover, two days before the match, he had already increased his [Speed] from 87 to 90!!!
The value of 90 also brought about a qualitative change in Mark's top Speed!
"What?!"
Before Koscielny, who had been nutmegged, could even react in surprise, Mark had already run past him, then caught up with the ball and curled a shot!