Chapter 4 — Wenger Slightly Better Than Mancini
Mario Balotelli took Xia Qi's intelligence with him.
Who fishes from a truck bed?
Only kids!
Under the looks of "you're a monster" and arguments of "this time I support genius Balotelli," Xia Qi was steadily defeated!
Even his own parents sided with Big-Brained Mario.
To go against the world — the result was predictable!
So Xia Qi chose to put on heavy makeup.
Lose ability points?
Ha! Ha!
Ancient strategist Han Xin, take a look!
But when things go wrong, everything goes wrong.
On the transfer front,
City's £2 million bid and Wenger's quick acceptance made City hesitate.
Selling Xia Qi had already been controversial — now with Wenger's endorsement the objections grew louder.
City: Not selling for £2m; at least £5m. Preferably loan — free and with a little friendship thrown in.
Arsenal: Pah! Free is more expensive. £5m? You're robbing us!
Whether he went to Arsenal or not, Xia Qi didn't really mind. Before Wenger made an offer, Xia Qi's first choice was to stay, second choice was to go to the Bundesliga.
But who would pass up Oxbridge for a 985? Who thinks about a lesser school when the top is available!
The only good news these days was that his training progress bar was slowly increasing — five days of training had already reached ten percent.
Thinking that he could have four skills before the new season, he was full of drive.
Inside the office,
Roberto Mancini watched Xia Qi's match footage again.
Undeniably, Xia Qi on the pitch was an outright genius rivaling Messi.
One-click auto, AI control!
Zero errors, high performance… the 18-year-old Messi/Ronaldo were no different.
Mancini realized how foolish he'd been — searching everywhere for a striker who could score 20 in a season when the man stood under the lights all along.
Besides fame, Xia Qi was no less than Higuaín in any other respect; what he lacked was opportunity and trust.
Mancini slapped the desk in inspiration.
Decided—no loan, no sale. Keep him!
Since he would stay, Mancini needed to talk to Xia Qi about tactics and playing time…
At the same time, Arsène Wenger was in his office watching Xia Qi's footage, liking him more and more. Is £5m expensive?
Yes!
The 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo's initial transfer fee from Sporting Lisbon started at £400k — by market standards you could haggle.
So City showed no sincerity.
Later, with Real Madrid driving up the price, Ronaldo's transfer to Manchester United ended up at £12.24 million.
Many mocked Sir Alex Ferguson as overpaying…
After some envy and regret,
Wenger knew what he had to do.
He must act before City and others realized Xia Qi's true value. This time there would be no cold-signing!
City actually knew Xia Qi's value; otherwise the opposition would not be so loud. They only mistakenly believed Xia Qi's social anxiety meant he would become a problem youngster.
After every game, seeing Xia Qi go from confident to trembling makes misunderstanding inevitable.
This point was even written in the scout reports, but Wenger didn't care — Xia Qi's dazzling skills enchanted him.
He found the reason for Xia Qi's nature: Chinese shyness and British racial bias.
He believed that by providing an environment of love, Xia Qi would become Arsenal's next captain, just like Cesc Fàbregas.
Ah!
A pang in the heart!
I ache for £5m — so you must pretend to believe me!
Manchester City training base.
"Is Xia Qi still doing extra training on the pitch?"
"Yes, boss. Shall I call him in?"
"I'll go get him."
On the training pitch, Xia Qi was working on explosiveness.
In one-click auto mode, Xia Qi had no awareness of outside affairs.
When that set of training ended and he exited auto-state, he noticed someone at pitchside.
"Hi…"
Roberto Mancini greeted Xia Qi, and was startled by Xia Qi's odd look.
Xia Qi was wearing heavy black eye-shadow in a style like Zhang Han's slanted-brow look; the makeup was already hard to look at, and sweat made it even worse.
Actually men wearing makeup in Britain is commonplace, but that kind of look was either second-hand-rock or perverted…
"Have you always been like this?"
Mancini was asking about the heavy makeup; Xia Qi thought he was asking about the one-click auto training.
"Yes, it helps training results."
Bull!
What does makeup have to do with training!
Mancini was now certain Xia Qi had psychological issues and they were deepening. Sell him quickly while his one-goal debut fame lasts.
Football is business; it rewards ruthlessness. And deceiving rivals isn't cruelty — it's cleverness. Being ruthless to Xia Qi? That's Arsenal, the club that cultivates youth best in the world under Wenger.
Thus Manchester City and Arsenal returned to the negotiation table.
Wenger raised his bid,
Mancini wanted to sell quickly,
and the two quickly reached agreement.
Xia Qi's transfer cleared the way.
…
A week later,
Xia Qi, accompanied by agent Joanna, arrived at Colney.
Arsenal's Colney training base covers 143 acres — scientific layout, first-class facilities… absolutely not comparable to City's small-door setup.
In such a wealthy household, even with the system at his side, Xia Qi couldn't help feeling worried and a twinge of regret. Maybe a mid-level option had been the better choice.
Not all social elites come from the top schools — didn't some lesser college produce Yue Yunpeng?
Walking into the office building, Xia Qi felt nervous.
Joanna reassured him: "The Professor is polite and not bad-tempered."
No sooner had she spoken than a roar sounded from Wenger's office: "That bitch, that bastard, how dare he say that? We never intended to renew with him? For the title! Ha ha… we're the only team in Premier League history to win the title unbeaten — he's taking advantage…"
Outside the door Xia Qi looked to Joanna with questioning eyes: is this the 'polite' man you spoke of?
Joanna gave an awkward silent smile and mouthed, "Wait here."
Another voice inside said: "Don't be so angry, it's not worth it, Pat."
Joanna hurriedly gestured to Xia Qi: that's the real Wenger.
"Where the hell is that so-called genius? He's late by a minute; tell him not to be late to my training session or I'll kill him."
"According to the reports he's disciplined and hardworking, on and off the pitch."
"Good. I'm looking forward to meeting him. This will be a gift I give the club before I retire."
Pat Rice really was about to retire, but Robin van Persie's ambitious defection and Xia Qi's arrival kept him on.
"You think he has captain material too?"
Xia Qi felt stunned — he hadn't even signed yet and they were already planning to sell the apartments? His face darkened.
Joanna quickly knocked on the door. In Britain, arriving late is ruder than interrupting, and she feared the two old men might say something Xia Qi wouldn't like.
Joanna didn't want to see a rift between manager and player. Wenger was famous for cultivating youth, and Xia Qi had genuine superstar potential.
The two could be a match made in heaven and should not be estranged.
The door opened. A white-haired, kindly-eyed man wearing a training top with the swoosh stood there — without the beard, he looked like Santa Claus.
If you hadn't experienced his short temper outside, Xia Qi would have thought him a kindly old man.
"Boss, I promise I won't be late. Ever! The best gift to give the club is a title, not a player. Contending for the championship isn't about shouting, nor is it resting on past merits."
Sharp!
So incisive!
Pat Rice glanced at Wenger, his eyes saying: this is the so-called social anxiety? How many of you have any idea what social anxiety is?
Xia Qi didn't know why he'd spoken up like that — maybe he was young, maybe he hated the old presuming on youth, maybe he resented the club selling captains, maybe it was a counterpunch to being marketed before he arrived…
Who knew?
In the corner of the office,
Wenger was the same genteel, elegant old man; the tired little lines at his eyes and the stray black hair among the white betrayed how devoted he had been to the club…
This was a great old man!
No other!
He opened his arms to welcome Xia Qi…
(END CHAPTER)
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