Chapter 803 - 145: Record-Breaking! Blockbuster Transfer! Outrageous Factions! Goodbye, Henry! The Biggest Victory in History!

Next up were the team’s locker room management regulations.

Wang Shuo had drafted these himself, so he explicitly reminded Vertonghen that everyone had to abide by them.

"So it’s actually true." When Vertonghen received the printed booklet of locker room rules, the Belgian defender couldn’t help but laugh.

"What’s true?"

"This," Vertonghen said, waving the booklet in his hand. "I read reports in the media back in the Netherlands saying that after you became captain this season, you published a disciplinary manual for the locker room. I didn’t expect it to be real, and it’s quite nicely made, too."

"It’s nice enough, but you’d better be careful not to break any rules. It won’t feel so nice when you’re being punished," Wang Shuo reminded him half-jokingly.

"Don’t worry, I know."

It was obvious that Vertonghen wasn’t an introverted or difficult person. On the contrary, his first impression on Wang Shuo was that of an extrovert, perhaps even a bit flamboyant. This kind of personality was actually quite good for team dynamics.

"Actually, Wang, I need to thank you."

"Thank me?" Wang Shuo was a little surprised.

"Yeah."

"For what?"

"When Mr. Wenger called me the other day, we talked a lot. He mentioned that you highly recommended me to him. You felt I could adapt to the Premier League and perform well, which is what finally helped him make his decision."

Wang Shuo froze for a moment, wondering if that had really happened. Oh, right. Wenger had brought up Vertonghen and Benatia on his own back then to ask for Wang Shuo’s opinion. Wang Shuo actually rated both players quite highly. Ultimately, Wenger chose Vertonghen, so the manager had done Wang Shuo a solid by mentioning his endorsement during the recruitment process.

"It’s nothing, I was just telling the truth. We played against each other before, and you left a deep impression on me," Wang Shuo said with a smile. He silently noted the favor Wenger had done for him.

"Honestly, when I played against you back then, I thought to myself that it would be an incredibly lucky and wonderful thing to have the chance to be your teammate. I never expected the opportunity to actually come," Vertonghen said, his face full of anticipation.

Arsenal was currently sitting at the top of the Premier League! If he could win a championship after only being with the team for half a year, that would be absolutely phenomenal!

"You’ll do great!" After encouraging him, Wang Shuo briefed him on the team’s current situation, focusing mainly on matters concerning the locker room. He covered things like certain taboos, specific habits of their teammates, and other general tips on how to get along day-to-day. "Overall, the atmosphere in our locker room is quite good right now, and the teammates get along well with each other. As long as you strictly follow the locker room regulations, you definitely won’t have any problem fitting in."

Aside from the phone call he had mentioned earlier, the manager had also brought up Wang Shuo when Vertonghen spoke privately with Wenger just moments ago. The locker room was essentially under Wang Shuo’s management now, with Wenger having largely stepped back. Wang Shuo even handled things like disciplinary penalties.

Wenger’s intention was to remind Vertonghen to obey the locker room rules. The Belgian center-back wasn’t a brainless troublemaker; he obviously knew exactly who the boss of the Arsenal locker room was these days. Furthermore, Wang Shuo was the one who had recommended him.

Upon entering the locker room, Vertonghen spotted a few of his national team teammates.

Arsenal didn’t have many French players left, but there were quite a few Belgians. With Vermaelen, De Bruyne, Hazard, and now Vertonghen, they had four in total. It was fortunate that Chelsea had poached Courtois earlier; otherwise, having five Belgian internationals in a single locker room would have been a real headache.

Arsenal felt a bit like a multinational legion right now. They had players who were Chinese, Belgian, French, Polish, Swiss, Czech, Cameroonian, Argentine, and Serbian. In contrast, there were very few native United Kingdom players left. The only ones getting actual playing time were Walcott, Ramsey, and Gibbs. However, there were still quite a few domestic and academy players in the reserves.

It was truly impressive that such a diverse, multinational squad from so many different countries and regions could still be forged into a cohesive team.

"Alright, everyone!" Wang Shuo clapped his hands loudly as he walked over to Vertonghen’s side. "Let me introduce you all. This is our new teammate from Belgium, Jan Vertonghen.

"Let’s welcome him to the squad!"

As soon as Wang Shuo finished speaking, enthusiastic applause erupted throughout the locker room. To a certain extent, this allowed Vertonghen to truly feel the weight of Wang Shuo’s prestige.

What followed next was a phenomenon that Wang Shuo found rather intriguing. Even though they were all Belgian national team players, and Vertonghen had greeted Vermaelen, De Bruyne, and Hazard one after another, they seemed like strangers. Or rather, they lacked the closeness that Wang Shuo had expected.

This was getting interesting.

It wasn’t until he found a chance to discreetly fish for information from Vermaelen that he learned the root of the problem lay within Belgium itself.

Despite Belgium being a small country, its internal dynamics were incredibly complex. It was practically an international brigade divided into French-speaking, German-speaking, and Flemish-speaking regions. The most absurd part was that they sometimes even had to communicate through translators.

The easiest way to distinguish a player’s linguistic background was to see where they went when they moved abroad. The French-speaking region was mainly in the south of Belgium, bordering France. That was where Hazard was from, which was why he had gone to Ligue 1’s Lille.