Chapter 152: Tang Ye! The Golden Boy of Europe, Who Makes the Ball Disappear

The China Football Daily reprinted El Diario Deportivo de Turín: 17-year-old Guangdong teenager Tang Ye has been named the 2016 Golden Boy, and will travel to Monte Carlo next Monday to attend the award ceremony.

CCTV5: Breaking history! Villarreal's prodigy Tang Ye wins the 2016 Golden Boy Award, becoming the first Chinese player ever to receive this honor.

Villarreal Times front-page headline: Award won by a loaned player—Villarreal has come closest to the Golden Boy Award ever. Should this prize belong to Huang Qian?

Utrecht Evening News front-page headline: Utrecht midfielder Tang Ye wins the 2016 Golden Boy Award. Club shareholder Verhof said in an interview with reporters: "Tang is absolutely not for sale; we saw his potential long ago, which is why his loan contract has no buyout clause."

【Daily Task: 150 sit-ups (maximum of 3 sessions)】

Reward: Counterpoint Points ×3

"Ding!"

"Ding ding ding!"

"Ding ding ding ding!"

Fuck!

At 8:30 a. m., Tang Ye's phone automatically exited sleep mode, followed by a barrage of messages.

Before the alarm even rang, these messages had already woken Tang Ye up.

Check the phone.

Holy shit, over 99 unread WhatsApp messages.

Besides WhatsApp, Tang Ye's rarely-used iMessage also had 30 messages.

Hmm, and 29 missed calls.

"This…"

Don't panic. Stay calm!

Tang Ye quickly opened WhatsApp, the app with the most messages, and saw posts from his teammates.

【Bruno: Golden Boy, well-deserved!】

【Ram Saier: Damn, you've gotten stronger again!】

【Ale: Keep it up, remember to come early tomorrow morning—or I can drive down to pick you up?】

【Rodri: The only true genius is you, bro!】

"Uh…"

Tang Ye still didn't understand, but Ram Saier 's message contained a link—he clicked it and finally realized what had happened.

He had won the 2016 Golden Boy Award!

"Fuck…"

Sitting on the bed bare-chested, Tang Ye's mind was still spinning.

Golden Boy Award.

Me? Me?

"You think I'm exaggerated～"

"I'm over-the-top because I'm scared～"

Beep!

"Tom!"

After turning on speakerphone, he leaned his ear close to the phone—Pohl's voice nearly gave Tang Ye a heart attack.

"You finally answered! Uh! I've sent you some stuff in your email—post it on Twitter and Instagram ASAP. Oh, and I'll get some stars from the top five leagues to leave congratulatory comments—don't forget to reply to them."

Pohl spoke quickly; since Tang Ye hadn't heard Dutch in a long time, he only caught half of it.

"Pohl, calm down, calm down—I get it, I'll handle it later…"

"Tom, you must remember—you have to go to Monte Carlo for the award ceremony. The organizers have already booked your flight."

Pohl outlined the upcoming schedule to Tang Ye.

After the next league match, Tang Ye must travel to Monaco to receive the Golden Boy Award.

A Spanish bedding company also wants to discuss a sponsorship deal with Tang Ye—Pohl is currently in contact with their representative.

Winning the Golden Boy Award suddenly made Tang Ye's life much busier.

His head was still buzzing; he said nothing about the sponsorship, but didn't refuse either.

After hanging up, the system's voice immediately appeared.

【At age 38, you illegally entered the 2037 Golden Boy Award selection—and you shamelessly won!】

【Falsifying age to steal the trophy: Counterpoint Points -20】

"..."

Waking up, the first thing he learned was that he'd won the Golden Boy Award—this was indeed joyful.

But the second thing was being fined by the system.

Damn it!

Putting off the Monaco trip and sponsorship for now, Tang Ye turned to his unfinished tasks.

Calls usually meant urgency, so Tang Ye checked his missed calls first.

Okay, all 29 missed calls were from Pohl alone.

Then he checked WhatsApp—replied to every teammate and former teammate's congratulations, then saw a message from Ten Hag.

【Mr. Erik: An astonishing achievement.】

Hmm!

Tang Ye's eyes sparkled—the feeling of being acknowledged by his coach was indescribably satisfying.

Especially since Ten Hag was a notoriously strict coach; earning his approval was no small feat.

His thumb flew across the keyboard as he typed a reply to Ten Hag.

【You're also advancing to the knockout stage—will we meet there?】

Below Ten Hag's avatar, an ellipsis appeared—he was typing to Tang Ye, but slowly.

【Mr. Erik: You really want to face us?】

【No no no, of course not—I only said that because I don't want to face United. United is too strong.】

【Mr. Erik: Then I wish you luck.】

Ten Hag wished Villarreal wouldn't face United in the knockout stage—fulfilling Tang Ye's unspoken hope.

Because if Villarreal met United in the knockout stage, they'd be crushed by the Red Devils of Manchester!

…

Riding his bike to the training base, Tang Ye met Bruno and Mousquetaire just as they got out of their car—they lived nearby and took turns driving in each morning.

"Wow! Golden Boy!"

Seeing Tang Ye, Bruno sprinted over and slung an arm around his shoulder: "You beat Rashford and Dembélé! Fuck, I didn't even expect this!"

"Four goals and four assists in four Europa League matches—besides Tom, who else could've won the Golden Boy Award?"

Mousquetaire walked over and handed Bruno his backpack, left in the car.

"Well done!"

Bruno punched Tang Ye's arm—this award brought pride to the entire Villarreal club.

Of course, except for Escribá and the transfer window manager Owen—they were enduring online abuse from fans.

Walking into the gym with Bruno and Mousquetaire, Villarreal players already inside erupted as Tang Ye entered. Bakambu leapt over the bench to high-five him: "Awesome, Tom! Fuck, when I saw the news, I thought it was Sancho—turns out I was wrong, haha!"

The players were excited—it was normal. This was Villarreal's first-ever Golden Boy Award winner.

This honor belonged to Tang Ye—and it was also the team's shared joy.

Tang Ye sat on a bench to change shoes and told his teammates about the award ceremony: "I have to go to Monaco next Monday for the award—probably two days before I'm back. Fuck, can't I just skip it? Can they mail me the trophy?"

"Why mail it? This is honor, Tom!"

"You have to stand in front of everyone and take the trophy from the guest's hands—everyone will be watching you!"

Bruno didn't understand why Tang Ye wanted to avoid it—Ale had already figured it out: "It's because you won't be able to play games for two days."

"No no no, not at all!"

Tang Ye shook his head rapidly: "Sebastian, it's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

"..."

Tang Ye couldn't speak for a moment.

Okay, it really was like that…

Villarreal players chatted about the Golden Boy Award in the locker room for a long time. When their excitement began to fade, Bruno sat beside Tang Ye.

"What's up, Bruno?"

Tang Ye had just torn open a piece of gum and, seeing Bruno sit down, offered it to him.

Bruno shoved the gum into his mouth, then pulled another piece from his pocket: "Tom, I remember your contract with the club has no buyout clause, right?"

"Uh…"

Tang Ye frowned: "I think so."

"Think so?"

Bruno's lip twitched.

Bro, how could you forget this?

Tang Ye hadn't forgotten—he just wasn't certain of the contract details. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone.

He needed to check the messages Pohl had sent him earlier.

Note 7: The contract contains no mandatory buyout clause; Villarreal cannot unilaterally complete your transfer unless Utrecht and Villarreal reach an agreement on the transfer fee.

"That's right, I have no buyout clause."

Tang Ye put his phone back in his pocket. Bruno nodded, then asked a question he had long wanted to ask: "Has Feran discussed the transfer fee with Utrecht?"

"Of course they talked—right after the summer window opened. I think it was around 18 or 20 million euros, but it fell through."

"No no, that's not what I mean."

Bruno shook his head: "I mean, has Feran recently been negotiating the transfer fee with Utrecht? Your agent should know."

After a brief reflection, Tang Ye told Bruno that his agent, Pol, had not mentioned anything about this matter.

"I see…"

Bruno nodded and did not ask any further questions.

After activating their muscles in the gym, the Huangqian players put on their cleats and headed outside to the training pitch.

Spain's weather was far better than the Netherlands'—today was another brilliant sunny day!

Tang Ye had his hands in his pockets, chewing gum, chatting with teammates beside him.

Since his performances improved, he clearly felt more energetic!

The players formed a half-circle around Ma Di. Tang Ye leaned forward, looking left and right, but still couldn't find Escrivá's figure, so he asked: "Where's Mr. Feran?"

Seeing Tang Ye was asking him, Ma Di paused briefly, organized his thoughts, then replied: "He has some business to attend to—he'll be here any moment. Kyle and I will lead you through the warm-up."

Tang Ye nodded.

Mr. Feran was late? That was rare!

Just as the warm-up was about to begin, Escrivá appeared on the training pitch. Notably, he didn't come from the cafeteria—he came from the office building.

"Mr. Feran!"

Tang Ye waved to Escrivá, who nodded and walked over to the players. Tang Ye then asked Escrivá a question.

"Mr. Feran, you seem a bit down. Did someone steal your car?"

"Huh?"

Escrivá pointed to his own nose: "I look down? Not really."

He patted his shirt, appearing perfectly calm.

"Yes, because normally when you arrive in the morning, you don't frown."

Tang Ye explained. Around him, the players' eyes turned instinctively toward Escrivá.

If Tang Ye was right, Escrivá's mood today was indeed off.

"Oh, nothing. I'm fine. Congrats on winning the Golden Boy award, Tom."

Escrivá extended his right hand to fist-bump Tang Ye: "Maybe I didn't sleep well last night, so I look down—but don't worry, I've always been in top form."

Tang Ye nodded. Bruno led the players jogging around half of the 11-a-side pitch.

"Damn it…"

Escrivá watched the Huangqian players running on the pitch, muttering to himself.

Ma Di spread his hands: "How's the transfer going?"

Tang Ye's stunning performance in just two months earned him the Golden Boy award, completely destroying Escrivá's plan.

But the good news was, in the plan to rename the Estadio de la Cerámica, Villarreal would receive subsidies and sponsorship from the city government and local ceramic companies.

The original budget was 50 million euros, but now that Tang Ye had won the Golden Boy award, the club's upper management might be willing to pay even more.

"I spoke with Fernando. Because of the Golden Boy award, the club is willing to pay nearly 60 million euros to bring Tom over."

"That's great news!"

"But… another club has offered a higher bid."

???

Escrivá turned around, showing Ma Di his desperate expression: "Utrecht knows we've made a lot of money from the stadium renaming. They know we want to build a team around Tom. The Dutch are like this—they're determined to make things hard for us."

Utrecht won the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup last season, earning a substantial prize and broadcast revenue share—now they're not short on cash at all.

Utrecht isn't short on cash, and Tang Ye is still improving—so they'll keep him.

Villarreal has been tricked!

Fooled by Utrecht's scheme!

No—it's not Utrecht's scheme!

Villarreal has been tricked by Ten Hag!

Ten Hag has controlled Villarreal!

Front-page headline of the Utrecht Evening News: Villarreal submitted a 55-million-euro offer for Tom, but Utrecht rejected it. Utrecht considers Tom non-transferable.

Eredivisie club rejects 55-million-euro bid from La Liga side—Utrecht trends again.

Last time Utrecht trended was when Ten Hag was sentenced to three years and two months!

The impact was huge. Club shareholder Verhoef held a press conference at the training base to respond to Villarreal's bid.

"Yes, that's correct. We loaned Tom to Villarreal because they needed a temporary midfielder, and we also wanted Tom to train at a higher level, so we arranged the loan."

"Why no buyout clause? That's simple: Tom has always been a Utrecht player. He is an indispensable part of our tactical system. We regard him as a core player, so we never included a buyout clause."

"Yes, that's right. No matter how much money, we won't sell. We still need Tom next season."

Click-click-click!

Reporters in the front row widened their eyes: "No matter how much? What if another club offers 70 or even 80 million euros?"

"My answer remains the same: Tom is non-transferable."

Verhoef wore a smile.

Although Tang Ye's performance has been dazzling, no one realistically expects a price of 70 or 80 million euros.

Yet even at that price, Utrecht refuses to let him go!

Clearly, this isn't about money—Utrecht truly sees Tang Ye as a tactical cornerstone!

After Tang Ye returns from Villarreal, Utrecht still needs him to compete in the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup!

After asking about Tang Ye, the reporters turned their attention to Ten Hag.

"Ten Hag is currently facing court charges. Rumors say your club plans to erect a statue of him—is that true?"

"Eric has made enormous contributions to the team. He helped us win our first-ever Eredivisie title. Undoubtedly, he is a hero of the club. We have already included Eric on our list of honorary head coaches."

"As for a statue… considering Eric only stayed one season at Utrecht, we must carefully consider the statue proposal. But his contributions to the team are unquestionable—he is truly great."

…

Luis, reporter for Marca: Barcelona has submitted a 60-million-euro offer for Tom. Utrecht is in no rush to decide. "They are watching."

Football element: What level is a 17-year-old 【European Golden Boy】 who can execute a 【overhead pass】?

This YouTuber, Football Element, gained over 100,000 followers by bashing Tang Ye.

Though over 99% of those followers are haters.

But being hated is still being famous!

Twelve hours after the Golden Boy list was released, the diligent YouTuber Football Element posted his third video bashing Tang Ye on Bilibili.

"Golden Boy list: TANG～～YE! Ranked ↑ No. 1! Beat Rashford, Dembélé～～Let's see how the 17-year-old European ↑ Golden Boy performed against Espanyol!"

"TANG～～YE! European Golden Boy, controls the ball ↑ for eight seconds! Opponent rushes in—Tang Ye panics～～loses possession～～"

"Central attack, receives teammate's pass, Tang Ye turns, attempts a fancy overhead pass—too much motion, the ball doesn't even reach the near post—loses possession～"

"Tang Ye drops back to receive—here he should pass to the right flank to Bakambu, but Tang Ye chooses… to pass straight to the baseline? Kicks the ball～～into oblivion."

"At this point, what level is this 17-year-old European ↑ Golden Boy? I'm sure everyone now understands～～"

【Damn it, bashing my Tang King? I'm gonna destroy you!】

【Impressive—you're even bashing the Golden Boy winner? You really need this traffic, YouTuber?】

【Guys, don't watch this video—don't let this YouTuber make money!】

【Report it, thanks】

【First time I've seen someone dare to bash my Mong Ge —and three videos all the same type? I can imagine what his DMs look like.】

Front-page headline of Milan Weekly: Inter Milan, eliminated twice by Villarreal in Europa League, head coach De Boer fired. Fran de Boer has been fired twice in six months by Tang Ye—breaking history.

Dongqiu Di match preview: At 1:30 AM Beijing time on November 7, La Liga Matchday 11: Huangqian home vs Real Betis—Tang Ye's first match after winning the Golden Boy award!

Front-page headline of Villarreal Daily: Huangqian's teenage midfield genius will travel to Monte Carlo the day after the Real Betis match to attend the Golden Boy award ceremony.

…

(End of Chapter)