Chapter 339: The GGBond Effect? Escrivá's Sentimental Striker

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Manchester United defeated Burnley 2-0 away; Tang Ye provided assists in consecutive matches, while Ale made his debut as a substitute and scored immediately.

【"Damn, that's awesome!"】

【"Isn't this Ale even better than Ibrahimović?"】

After the match, Chinese fans on the Check Dongqiu Di comment section began discussing Ale, Manchester United's new winter transfer window signing.

A goal on his debut!

Who was the last person to achieve this feat for Manchester United?

It was Tom!

Tom scored on his debut, Ale scored on his debut, therefore Ale equals Tom.

"Hiss..."

On the substitutes' bench, assistant coach Fan Fan Dejiahe's thighs couldn't help but tremble.

Previously, when Ten Hag expressed unwillingness to renew Ibrahimović's contract, he had actually held an opposing view.

Now it seems that was absolutely wrong!

Truly worthy of being Tom's number one lieutenant.

The bond between Sebastian and Tom is invincible!

"Haha!"

Tang Ye raised his hand to high-five Ale, and then the two walked together toward the player tunnel.

Ale draped his jacket over his shoulders and also took Tang Ye's jacket: "Thanks, Tom."

Tang Ye walked forward on his own, his mind seemingly pondering something.

Behind him, Ale helplessly spread his hands.

Tom is zoning out again!

"Hey, Tom!"

Ale ran up, reached out, and patted Tang Ye's back: "Thanks, that pass; I never even thought I could score in my first match."

"Oh, Ale, you don't need to say that to me."

Tang Ye turned around and walked backward, fist-bumping Ale once more.

Although the first half of this match was difficult, Manchester United players found their rhythm in the second half.

Moreover, Tang Ye helped Ale score on his debut, which is absolutely something worth celebrating!

"By the way, are you going to take the MVP trophy?"

Ale reminded him: "I'll go with you."

"Okay, Sebastian!"

After receiving his own MVP trophy, Tang Ye and Ale slowly returned to the locker room.

"This is the Premier League MVP trophy; Sebastian, have you noticed it looks very much like a water cup? Hmm, I feel it is a water cup."

Ale carefully examined the trophy in Tang Ye's hand, and suddenly an image floated up in the latter's mind.

Last month, Rodri had also looked at Tang Ye's trophy with this same longing gaze.

Hmm, remembering what Rodri had said to him, Tang Ye had no intention of giving the trophy away this time.

"Sebastian, let me tell you, previously Rod wanted the MVP; I said he would get it soon, and then he really got it very quickly."

Tang Ye recalled the match where Rodri won the MVP trophy: "Hmm, Rod played really well in that game."

Turning his head to look at Ale: "I think you will also get the MVP trophy very soon; you know, I never lie."

"Haha."

Ale placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, reached into his left pocket, took out a piece of chewing gum, and put it in his mouth to chew.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Wu Lei transfers to Villarreal. (Comment count: 67,981)

In less than twelve hours, the news of Wuleijia Alliance joining the Yellow Submarine spread throughout all of China.

Villarreal is not simply just a La Liga team.

This is one of the La Liga powerhouses qualified to participate in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage!

And besides Wu Lei, during the winter transfer window, the Yellow Submarine simultaneously acquired Lukaku, the striker from Everton who had just recovered from injury.

A 1.8 million euro Wu Lei and a 77 million euro Lukaku; the contrast between these two strikers signed by the Yellow Submarine during the winter transfer window is quite enormous.

Villarreal Times commentator: Signing a 1.8 million euro substitute striker during the winter transfer window; what exactly does Wulei possess that attracted Villarreal?

The reporter's question simultaneously voiced the doubts in the hearts of both Chinese and Spanish fans.

At the Ceramics Stadium, Escrivá accepted an interview from Spanish reporters regarding this winter transfer window.

"Because we anticipated Ale's possible departure, we contacted Lukaku; Lukaku possesses outstanding physical abilities, so I believe the transfer fee we paid was worth it."

He first answered the question regarding Lukaku, and then addressed Wu Lei.

"Wulei, hmm... actually, initially we did not contact him, but I heard there was a Chinese player wanting to make an attempt in the La Liga, and we happened to be lacking a substitute striker."

Escrivá spread his hands: "It was something like that."

A reporter in the audience raised his hand to ask: "Is Wulei's strength too marginal for playing with the Yellow Submarine?"

"No, if I thought that, I wouldn't have brought him here."

Although Ten Hag had taken away many players Escrivá liked, it is undeniable that over the past season and a half, Escrivá had learned many things from Ten Hag.

Now, when accepting interviews from reporters, he could already appear extremely composed!

"Two million euros is only Wulei's current market value, not his future one."

"You know, there is something strange about the Chinese; they are often able to create miracles."

Escrivá wore a smile on his face.

Crack!

Crack crack!

After a round of interviews, the fans had roughly figured out a few things.

Did Escrivá fancy Wu Lei's positioning, his poaching, or his dribbling?

No, actually, it was none of those.

Mr. Ferrán fancied Wu Lei's identity as a Chinese person.

This reminded him of the scene when he first met Tom a year and a half ago.

Spain's Channel Six: Escrivá used this transfer to express his longing for Tom, but the fact is that Tom can never return.

Besides publishing comments, a newspaper also conducted a fan opinion survey.

Although the transfer was somewhat absurd, considering the executor was Villarreal's meritorious coach Escrivá and the money spent was not much, the vast majority of Villarreal fans chose to support it.

Spain's Channel Six: Villarreal's fans have gone mad too; they want to replicate Tom's miracle with Wu Lei, but this is obviously impossible.

"Besides, Spanish football talent is not necessarily weaker than Chinese talent!"

Check Dongqiu Di Hot Discussion: How to view Villarreal signing Wu Lei?

【Say no more, Saint Escrivá!】

【Ten Hag is just hyping himself up; the true saint has to be my Escrivá.】

【Fancied King Wu's Chinese identity... that's truly heaven-defying.】

【Is this the GG Bond effect?】

"Hmm."

After returning home last night, Tang Ye went straight to sleep; it was only when he woke up the next morning that he learned the news of Wu Lei's transfer to Villarreal, whereupon he immediately sent congratulations to his senior national team brother on WeChat.

As for what the Check Dongqiu Di comment section said about "Escrivá only fancying Wu Lei's Chinese identity," that was absolutely, absolutely wrong.

Tang Ye knew what kind of person Mr. Ferrán was.

He would absolutely never buy a Chinese player just because he missed him!

"Ding-dong!"

The phone in his hand suddenly rang, and Tang Ye quickly checked the message.

【Mr. Ferrán: Tom, did you see? I bought a winger; like you, he is also Chinese, and his height is about the same as yours, though he doesn't seem to love smiling as much as you do.】

"..."

Looking at the message sent by Escrivá, Tang Ye rubbed his nose.

Hiss—

【Tang Ye: Mr. Ferrán, I have trained and played with Wu Lei; he has many strengths, you must observe him carefully.】

【Mr. Ferrán: I will give him many opportunities, just like I did with you back then.】

"..."

Gripping the phone with both hands, Tang Ye hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to end this exchange; taking a deep breath, Tang Ye realized something was not quite right.

His Mr. Ferrán seemed to have...

... fallen into the demonic path?

Check Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: In the early hours of August 24, the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals sees Manchester United away against Leicester City; can the Manchester Red Devils, leading 3:1 from the first leg, charge into the final?

At the Carrington base in the morning, Rodri and Ale sat together.

"Haha, yes, Tom told me about this back in December before you arrived."

"Told you what?"

Rodri shrugged: "At that time, your transfer hadn't been confirmed yet, but Tom said that if you really came over, he would find a way to make you score in your debut."

"Wow."

Ale slowly chewed the toast bread in his mouth.

Escrivá's obstruction had made him feel that transferring to Manchester United might have been a mistake.

But now it seemed that was not the case.

!

His action was absolutely correct!

One should always walk toward the direction of light!

Tang Ye arrived late with his breakfast, and as soon as he sat at the table, he was surrounded by Mata and Rashford.

Mata strained to pronounce Wu Lei's name.

"Wu Lei, what's going on with him? Everyone on Twitter has been talking about this lately."

Seeing Tang Ye remain unresponsive, Mata showed a surprised expression: "EO N Tom! You don't know about this?"

"I know, of course I know."

Mata nodded and continued pressing: "Did Escrivá specifically buy a Chinese winger for you? Is this true or false?"

"False, of course it's false!"

Tang Ye answered quickly: "These are all misunderstandings; Mr. Ferrán is not the kind of person you imagine, he simply saw the strengths in Wu Lei."

"Strengths? You mean the fact that he is Chinese?"

"No no no! Of course not!"

Realizing he was misunderstood by Mata and Rashford, Tang Ye suddenly felt somewhat anxious: "It's not what you think; Marcus, you might not know, but I have played matches with him, and I know how formidable he is."

Mata turned to look at Rodri, who nodded gently: "I can vouch for that."

"Proving that Wu Lei is very formidable?"

"Not that one, the sentence before."

Rodri repeated what Tang Ye had said earlier: "Hmm, Escrivá indeed isn't the type to buy players based on nationality. Although China and the US are indeed a bit stronger, this is football; hmm, everyone is equal."

Mata nodded thoughtfully, then scanned Rodri up and down with his eyes.

"Hey, really, what Tom said is correct; Ferran indeed isn't that kind of person."

……

Tom's friends had clearly misunderstood the respected Mr. Ferran, which made Tang Ye feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But it was fine.

He believed in Mr. Ferran's character; this transfer was definitely fair and objective.

As long as it was the right thing, someday the misunderstanding would surely be cleared up!

"You can't reveal your intentions too early, but that's not absolute; you can give the opposing goalkeeper a false impression."

"Pretend to shoot left but actually shoot right; or pretend to shoot left and then really shoot left. Both are possible; it depends on your own choice."

With the EFL Cup second leg and the Champions League knockout stage approaching, Fan Fan Dejiahe was giving Tang Ye extra penalty kick training.

Currently, Tang Ye's penalty success rate in training had approached 92%; even if the success rate dropped somewhat during matches, it would definitely still be decent.

Fan Fan Dejiahe's face was crammed full of smiles.

Facts proved that Erik was right.

If there was no suitable penalty taker, then Manchester United would simply cultivate a super penalty taker themselves!

"Michel, go over there and check on Marcus; leave this side to me."

Ten Hag walked over and swapped responsibilities with Fan Fan Dejiahe.

"Looks like you're playing very well; I heard Michel's praises for you from over there."

Realizing it was Ten Hag, Tang Ye's previously relaxed mood suddenly tightened.

Unlike the kind and approachable Mr. Michel, Mr. Erik was very serious most of the time.

"By the way, about that matter with Ferran."

For some reason, Ten Hag appeared slightly nervous in front of Tang Ye today.

"Tom, I know Ferran, as you also know; we've known each other for a long time."

"Hmm, of course I know."

Tang Ye nodded, not quite understanding why Ten Hag would mention Escrivá during penalty training.

"Here's the thing: Ferran has always been quite objective; he really didn't buy that Chinese striker because of you."

"Haha, Mr. Erik!"

Tang Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Mata, Marcus, and the others didn't believe in Mr. Ferran, ultimately there would still be someone who believed in him!

Mr. Erik's eyes were truly bright!

"So, Tom, you must absolutely not think Ferran treats you exceptionally well; transfers like Wu Lei's are merely superficial, they are false."

"If you need it, I could truly buy a Chinese striker; that is the logic."

"Tom, you must distinguish clearly between what is real and what is false."

Standing on the training pitch, looking at Ten Hag before him, Tang Ye was rendered speechless.

Mr. Erik, you...

Wu Lei was probably still smug about his transfer to Yellow Submarine, unaware that he could actually have gone to Manchester United.

……

King Power Stadium.

"Although there's a 3:1 lead from the first leg, we can see that Manchester United is still playing fiercely in this match."

"Tang Tang Qiuwang!"

Receiving the ball on the left flank, he delivered a 45-degree cross straight into the penalty area.

It was aimed at Mata positioned at the far post!

Watch Mata!

Controlling the ball steadily, Mata unleashed a shot.

"Damn!"

"That shot by Mata was a bit lackluster; Schmeichel saved it."

"But brothers, don't panic."

At the 30th minute of the first half, the score was still 0:0; Wang Chao began to stabilize morale.

"Manchester United's odds are still quite solid, and Tang Ye's form is very stable!"

The camera cut to Ten Hag on the sidelines.

Affected by the 'missing thoughts' incident, Saint Ten Hag's status in the hearts of Chinese fans had slightly declined.

But it didn't matter.

Ten Hag still had a chance to make up for it.

That was to lead Manchester United together with Tang Ye to win their first trophy!

The match entered the 38th minute of the second half!

Once again, Tang Ye received the ball, but this time he didn't rush to pass; instead, he chose to observe from where he stood.

He dribbled the ball himself toward the penalty area!

As the defender stepped up to challenge, Tang Ye planted his foot in front of the ball, using his body to shield the Leicester City defender.

Move sideways to create distance!

Then, a push shot!

"Gooo——aaaa——llllll!!!"

Goal!

Tang Ye!

Still Manchester United's number 10!

……

(End of Chapter)