Chapter 759: Dembélé Takes the Blame, Tang Ye's Crown Tifo

Sports Weekly front-page headline: Voting for the 2021 Ballon d'Or has closed; the award ceremony will be held on December 9.

Since the results of the 2021 Ballon d'Or vote are out, the results for the 2020 Ballon d'Or must certainly be out as well.

The winners of both Ballon d'Or awards have already been decided; it is merely that the fans do not know yet.

Thus, speculation regarding the ultimate winners has become the hot topic of the last few days.

Soon, a specific program aired, and some reporter posted a "Ballon d'Or leak photo" on Twitter.

Two sheets of white paper, each listing the final rankings for the 2020 and 2021 Ballon d'Or respectively.

A familiar tactic!

Regarding this leaked photo, widespread discussion erupted among the fanbase.

However, fans are not fools.

Having been deceived in previous years, they absolutely must not fall into the reporters' "traffic trap" again this year!

Sky Sports exclusive interview with Tang Ye: Currently unaware of the Ballon d'Or results; hopes to win the award.

The Sun front-page headline: Manchester United has reached a consensus within the squad; if TY does not win both Ballon d'Or awards simultaneously, no Manchester United player will attend the ceremony.

The basis for The Sun's news was naturally that interview by Dembélé; after the video was reposted, the Manchester United players were naturally criticized.

Winning an award but refusing to attend is clearly a highly disrespectful act.

Furthermore, among all clubs, Manchester United is rather unique; combining the nominee lists for the two years, the squad has a full eight players selected, so if they do not attend, an entire section of the venue will be left empty.

【Isn't that a bit disrespectful? If they don't go, what about the other winners?】

【I feel Dembélé must have been joking.】

【If they don't go, they don't go; support Manchester United! I'm a die-hard Man Utd fan!】

【Long live TY!】

【They really should give out two Ballon d'Ors; last year's was canceled just like that—did anyone consider TY's feelings? Quadruple champion plus Golden Boot!】

"Alright, now things have gotten serious."

In the Carrington gym, Fan Fan Dejiahe paced back and forth with his hands clasped over his head.

Fresh off a victory, Manchester United had once again plunged into a storm of public opinion, and moreover, the most difficult type of storm to handle: a "controversy on moral grounds."

"So I said, we shouldn't have spoken those words in front of the reporters."

Rodri scolded Dembélé again: "If the results truly aren't favorable, then we won't go, but that premise requires the results to be out already. Speaking before the results are out feels somewhat like a threat."

"Actually, it seems the results are already out."

Tang Ye reminded them.

"No! I mean announced; only once announced are the results considered out. Right now, the results haven't been announced. Tom, do you currently know whether you've won?"

"I don't know."

"Then there you have it; that means the results aren't out."

Rodri leaned against the wall drinking a beverage, while in the distance stood a somewhat awkward Dembélé: "Come on! You guys keep shifting the blame onto me every time!"

"This isn't shifting the blame onto you."

De Jong was still laughing heartily, grinning widely: "This blame is yours and yours alone."

"..."

"Haha!"

Dembélé's aggrieved expression made De Ligt burst out laughing: "Don't worry; I feel it's still very secure."

"The fact is, you never know what FIFA will do."

"Fine."

Dembélé waved both hands: "Don't be like this; we are a team, don't make me carry the blame alone, hey!"

"Haha!"

"Alright, alright!"

Varane shook his head: "Just don't make any responses; when reporters ask later, just say nothing. Have you turned off Twitter and Instagram?"

"Turned off."

"Wow, then you reacted quite quickly."

Varane gave Dembélé a thumbs-up.

"Don't be sad, Ousmane."

De Jong placed his hand on Dembélé's shoulder: "Actually, it's not entirely without a solution; there is a way to phrase it."

"Hmm? How so?"

De Jong's words sparked Dembélé's interest; the Manchester United forward now only wanted to break the deadlock.

"You just need to win a Ballon d'Or yourself; then you and Tom can each have one, and that way we can go."

"..."

Dembélé flipped De Jong the middle finger, then turned his head away.

"Haha!"

"So, what's your take?"

Allé turned to Tang Ye, who was sitting on the treadmill belt: "What do you mean, 'my take'? How would I know what to think."

After speaking, Tang Ye glanced at his phone again; still, he had not received any calls.

"What do you think the probability is? You should know best."

"No, I don't think so. Those inside cannot see clearly; it requires people on the outside to judge."

Rodri stated that the players within Manchester United were incapable of making a fair judgment on the Ballon d'Or because they were all "insiders"; "insiders" differ from "outsiders," as they viewed Tang Ye through a built-in "filter," failing to account for Tang Ye's flaws, and thus could not achieve fairness and objectivity.

"So we can only wait?"

Aléi held his head in both hands, pacing back and forth.

"Jingle-jingle!"

?

The gym instantly fell silent; every player simultaneously turned their heads toward the source of the sound.

That was Tang Ye's phone.

"Hey!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe directly shut off the treadmill beneath Wan-Bissaka's feet: "Shh!"

"Oh, oh, that's mine."

Wan-Bissaka jumped off the treadmill and, along with his teammates, crowded around Tang Ye.

"..."

The call connected, then hung up.

"What's the word?"

More than a dozen teammates stared straight at him; among them, Dembélé was under the most pressure.

Whether he could shake off the black pot on his shoulders depended entirely on this phone call of Tang Ye's.

"What do you mean, 'what's the word'?"

"Did you win the award or not? Stop dawdling!"

"... That was my mom calling... What exactly are you all thinking?"

"..."

"Fuck!"

"Xuuu!! You're truly disgusting, Tom!"

"Hey, how is this my problem? I didn't say a word; you guys crowded over yourselves!"

"Xuuu!!!"

Zhang Zhang Yuning, accepting a post-match reporter interview: Unclear whether TY won the Ballon d'Or; although we are national team teammates, I generally do not discuss award matters with him on WeChat (a Chinese chat app).

Interviewing Cristiano Ronaldo: If TY were to win two Ballon d'Or awards simultaneously, would you offer him your congratulations?

—Reply: Of course.

Below the comments section, the debate between Messi and Ronaldo fans erupted again; some "micro-expression masters" popped up claiming Cristiano Ronaldo had lied during the interview and that his words did not reflect his true inner thoughts. Of course, these micro-expression masters were quickly subjected to sarcastic jabs by other fans in the comments section.

Pa!

【De Bruyne Long-Range Curled Shot Lv: 5 Replication (Transcendent State)】

Proficiency: 2421/3500

With one curled shot, Tang Ye directly blasted the ball out through the perimeter barrier net.

"What the fuck!"

Ten Hag raised his hand: "Tom, what the hell are you kicking? Practicing air shots?"

"Oh, sorry!"

"Stop thinking about the Ballon d'Or; it's affecting you too much!"

"I'm not thinking about the Ballon d'Or!"

"..."

Ten Hag waved his hand, then immediately sighed.

Fan Fan Dejiahe beside him suddenly suggested: "How about we let him skip training for these few days? You should be able to feel it, Erik; the training these past few days has basically had no effect."

Fan Fan Dejiahe kept his attention fixed on Tang Ye; the Manchester United midfielder, clad in his training kit, walked across the grass.

The reason Fan Fan Dejiahe said such things was primarily because Tang Ye's training performance over these past few days had been truly too abstract.

With a market value of 300 million euros, he couldn't even perform at the level of someone worth 50 million euros.

Tang Ye claimed he wasn't thinking about the Ballon d'Or; only a ghost would believe such a lie.

"That's why I said it: honors are the kind of thing that can swallow a person whole!"

Ten Hag frowned tightly: "This is the current football environment; every player and coach is pursuing higher individual honors, and gradually football is becoming corrupted. I really don't want to say anything more; this restricts the progress of football."

"..."