Chapter 759 - 139: World-Class Goal! Golden Ball Award Rankings! The Value of a Superstar! Wang Shuo: Golden Ball Award? I Don’t Care Anymore!

"Bizarre!"

This was the evaluation Sky Sports had previously given this Premier League season. As the season progressed, everyone began to understand the true meaning of the word more and more profoundly. Aside from the sensational scorelines in the clashes between titans, there was Balotelli.

It was just like how people explained why Angelina Jolie was crowned a sex goddess: the most captivating person was often not the most beautiful, but the most mysterious. This perfectly described Balotelli at this very moment. In truth, the whole world knew he wasn’t a bad person, yet no one could comprehend his actions. These included baffling red cards, setting off fireworks in his bathroom and burning down his own house, and confronting opposing fans on the streets...

There were simply too many enigmatic mysteries surrounding Super Ba. If any of these incidents happened to a normal player, it would be an unforgivable sin. They would likely be sold by their club immediately. Yet, miraculously, Balotelli was still doing just fine.

The famous talk show host Howard Stern once said, "Everybody loves Balotelli.

"My most loyal fans spend an hour every day listening to my show, but my critics often spend twice as much time. That is the proof of their love for me!"

Because of all those inexplicable antics, fans everywhere were paying more and more attention to Balotelli. The most amazing part was that he hardly received any criticism or blame after matches. Even when he was subbed on as Mancini’s most important secret weapon in the second half. Even when he carried Manchester City’s crucial hope of breaking the deadlock in an unfavorable 1-1 situation. Even when he was sent off with a red card after accumulating two yellow cards just eighteen minutes after coming off the bench. Even when...

"What a bizarre season!"

At Arsenal’s Colney Training Base, after Wang Shuo and his teammates stayed behind post-training to finish watching the match between Liverpool and Manchester City, this was the sigh he couldn’t help but let out, while also feeling pleasantly surprised by his team’s counter-attack to the top of the table.

"You can say that again. Who knows what Balotelli is actually thinking?" Aaron Ramsey echoed with a sigh.

Wang Shuo casually shifted his gaze toward Paul Pogba. The intense stare made the France Midfielder’s hair stand on end.

"No, we’re talking about Balotelli. Why are you looking at me?" Paul Pogba jumped in fright. Wang Shuo’s gaze had sent a chill down his spine.

The rest of the team also noticed and found it somewhat amusing. Given Paul Pogba’s personality, only their captain, Wang Shuo, could keep him in check.

"Haven’t you been changing your hairstyle a bit too often lately?" Wang Shuo glared at Pogba with malicious intent.

Pogba looked at his surrounding teammates, then back at Wang Shuo. "I... I’ve been pursuing a girl lately..."

He was certainly fooling around!

"Tone it down, and put your mind entirely into your training and matches," Wang Shuo ordered.

Pogba, having been fined a few times under Wang Shuo’s dressing room regulations and severely reprimanded in the past, hastily nodded his head in agreement.

"And you!" Wang Shuo turned his attention to Hazard.

The Belgium winger froze. "I’ve been working really hard in training and matches lately."

"I’m not talking about that. I received word that you’ve been slacking on your diet control lately. How about you only eat Hamburg burgers for all three meals from now on?"

Hazard immediately wilted. He wondered which bastard had snitched. He did like to eat Hamburg burgers, but who could stand eating them for three meals a day? He knew he would throw up!

Ever since Wenger started coaching Arsenal, he had placed great emphasis on dietary structure. After bringing in Sad Fossett, the first thing they overhauled was the players’ diets. They hired highly professional nutrition experts to stay with the team full-time and established dietary standards for every single player. Could they eat Hamburg burgers? Yes, but only in moderation.

"If you do it again, I’ll issue a heavy fine. When that happens, don’t go disappearing on us like Tevez!" Wang Shuo said, not without a hint of intimidation.

Everyone in the dressing room nodded in agreement.

Why did Tevez refuse to return to the United Kingdom after going back to Argentina? Because he had previously been fined four weeks’ wages by Manchester City—hundreds of thousands of British Pounds. Therefore, the Argentina beast was furious and decided not to return.

Wang Shuo felt that the current Manchester City was quite a contradiction. On the one hand, their lineup was truly formidable. Looking at this match against Liverpool, in terms of individual ability, they completely overpowered Liverpool. But on the other hand, their overall cohesiveness was genuinely weak. During the match, they held the advantage in isolated areas and details, but on a macro level, Liverpool was the one suppressing Manchester City. Despite the final score being 1-1, Liverpool was actually the more frustrated side.

Moreover, their dressing room had spawned troublemakers like Balotelli and Tevez. Mancini was the type of manager with a rather forceful administrative style, yet he still couldn’t control this dressing room.

When Wang Shuo initially decided against joining Manchester City, Wenger’s persuasion was only part of the reason; the main factor was that Manchester City simply had too many problems. As a player, it was absolutely impossible for Wang Shuo to demand who Manchester City must sell. He felt that would be blatantly placing himself above the team. Manchester City had spent real money to sign Tevez and Balotelli; they couldn’t possibly offload these players on the cheap just to sign Wang Shuo. Besides, if word got out, he knew it wouldn’t really be a good thing for him.

Ultimately, things would likely just end up like this: looking incredibly powerful on one hand, while being a total mess on the other.

The kicker was that the management didn’t care in the slightest; they were even preparing to invest another 100 million British Pounds into signings. Despite already possessing star players like Aguero, Dzeko, Tevez, and Balotelli, Manchester City now wanted to poach Cavani.