Chapter 1 The Media's Frenzy

When the media confirmed that Chen Hero was indeed going to retire after his contract expired, the news exploded with overwhelming intensity.

Everyone reacted differently to this news.

Liverpool and Chinese fans, as well as Hero fans around the world, were reluctant to see him go.

For fans, they would continue to watch and support their idol even if he played until he was fifty, as long as he maintained his form.

Chen Hero had been in good shape, so his retirement was a pity for them.

Some even believed that Chen Hero's claim that he had no more pursuits and was retiring was just an excuse to save face for the English FA. The real reason was that the FA's ban forced Chen Hero to retire. He had seen that the league title had slipped away from him this season, and he knew he was a thorn in the FA's side. If he didn't retire, he would continue to hurt Liverpool. Who knew what excuses the FA would find to trip Liverpool up?

So the best way was for him to retire voluntarily and let the FA spare Liverpool.

What a great love!

And Chen Hero's actions highlighted the FA's despicable shamelessness!

For a time, countless messages of cordial greetings to the FA officials' families flooded the FA's official website, directly causing the FA's website to crash for twenty-four hours.

In fact, the FA was truly an innocent victim this time. Chen Hero's retirement had nothing to do with them. If Chen Hero retired because of them, it would be too flattering to them.

But they were not wronged, and they deserved to be scolded.

Because after learning of Chen Hero's decision to retire, the FA almost celebrated.

This was the good news they had been waiting for all along!

Why did they ban Chen Hero for two years in the first place? Wasn't it to force Chen Hero to retire? Now it had been changed to nine months, but Chen Hero had also decided to retire, and they still got the result they wanted, only a year later than they had hoped.

Of course, the English FA couldn't let anyone catch them with any evidence. Although their intentions were obvious to everyone, they still had to put on a fig leaf, even if it was better than nothing.

So when they learned that Chen Hero had announced his retirement, they responded immediately, just as quickly as they had imposed a two-year ban on Chen Hero.

"Chen Hero is a great player. His achievements are unmatched by countless people in their lifetimes. He has made outstanding contributions to the promotion of the Premier League around the world. We are saddened and regretful that such a great player is about to retire..."

The English FA's statement was met with contempt by many.

Because if there was anyone in the world who would be overjoyed by Chen Hero's retirement, the English FA would definitely be one of them.

They would feel regret and sadness for Chen Hero's retirement?

Tell that to the ghosts!

Even ghosts wouldn't believe it!

In fact, there were many people who were happy about Chen Hero's retirement—with Chen Hero's personality, he certainly had no shortage of enemies in this world.

However, they were smarter than the English FA in that they didn't jump out so impatiently to show their bottom line and make their little thoughts known to the world. Chen Hero had at least a year before he retired. Wasn't it too strange to start reminiscing about his deeds now? Only those who were looking forward to Chen Hero's retirement could do this.

And when Chen Hero really retired, there would inevitably be a lot of nostalgia. Then they could come out and celebrate Chen Hero's departure in the name of remembrance, which wouldn't be so conspicuous.

Sure enough, the FA's clumsy performance provoked Chen Hero's sarcasm.

"If you're so sad and regretful, why not lift my nine-month ban?"

The English FA immediately responded with a straight face, saying that the ban was necessary and had been decided by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport and could not be changed arbitrarily...and so on.

After they finished explaining, they realized that they had become a laughingstock.

So the hatred for Chen Hero in their hearts grew even more.

But now they could only keep their hatred for Chen Hero in their hearts and had no way to do anything. What could they do? Chen Hero had already been banned for nine months. They couldn't add another nine months to his sentence just because Chen Hero made fun of them.

※※※

Chen Hero's announcement of his retirement was actually a headache for Niang, who was in charge of the team's transfer affairs.

For more than a decade, Liverpool had not bought a center forward because Chen Hero didn't need a substitute. He could start every game and play the full game. Instead of buying a substitute player who might not play five times in a season, wasting a lot of money, it was better to practice another tactic without a center forward.

So in the Liverpool squad, Chen Hero was the only center forward.

Now Chen Hero said he was going to retire, although it was a year later, the time left for Niang was very tight. Because he had to find a successor for Chen Hero.

There were many good center forwards in today's football world. Each league had one or two that they could show off.

There were also outstanding young talents.

The most famous was Giovanni Leon Amoruso, a twenty-year-old center forward who played for Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Before the season that had just ended, this center forward was still an unknown player who was not famous even in Brazil, let alone in the world of football.

At the age of twenty, he was only a substitute player in Sao Paulo's reserve team, and he couldn't even play as a starter in the reserve team, which showed his level.

But this season, he suddenly rose like a rocket as if he had taken medicine. First, he came off the bench in reserve team games and scored repeatedly. Then he was valued by the first team coach and promoted to the first team, where he continued to come off the bench and score goals.

It only took him three months to completely conquer the Sao Paulo coach and then take the position of first team starter.

From then on, he began to be unstoppable.

Last season in the Brazilian Serie A, he scored a total of thirty-five league goals, becoming the league's top scorer. In addition, he also scored eight goals in the Copa Libertadores, winning the top scorer award.

In his first season in the first team, he won the top scorer award in two important events. Such performance naturally aroused the interest of many European giants.

And the Brazilian and Argentine media also began to hype this suddenly appearing super genius.

Why were the Brazilian and Argentine media hyping him up?

Because Amoruso had dual Brazilian and Argentine nationality—his father was Brazilian, but his mother was Argentine... He was born in Brazil, grew up in Brazil, and received football training in Brazil.

If he hadn't become famous suddenly, such a dual-nationality player wouldn't have been a big deal.

But because of his sudden fame, the Brazilian national team and the Argentine national team began to compete for this talented player.

Argentina's King Maradona praised Amoruso for having super talent and being sure to become the next king.

And Messi said that Amoruso was his best successor.

It is worth mentioning that the Argentine media and Argentines call Amoruso "Leon" instead of the particularly Brazilian name Amoruso.

On the Brazilian side, King Pele also stood up to win over Amoruso, praising him as himself at six-foot-two.

The two football associations fought each other for the ownership of this player. The Argentine Football Association knew that Amoruso had lived and grown up in Brazil since he was a child, and the training he received was Brazilian. Apart from Amoruso's mother, they had basically nothing, so they were particularly willing to spend a lot of money. For example, they promised that as long as Amoruso was willing to join the Argentine national team, they would give him a villa in the downtown area of Buenos Aires, plus a bonus of three million US dollars, and solve the employment problem for his poor parents.

This kind of money offensive was very annoying to the Brazilian Football Association. The Brazilian Football Association was not to be outdone. In addition to the money offensive, they also appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him, constantly reminding Amoruso that he was a pure Brazilian. He was born in Brazil, lived in Brazil, and played football in Brazil since he was a child. He should not see himself as an Argentine because his mother was an Argentine.

In order to compete for this genius, the two sides even went to FIFA. If it weren't for Chen Hero's ban, Amoruso's sudden emergence in Sao Paulo would definitely be the hottest news event in international football this year.

In the end, Amoruso chose the Brazilian national team, the Brazilian Football Association won this victory, and the Argentine media wailed, regretting that they had lost such a talented player.

Being able to make all the Argentine media feel as if they had lost their parents, it has to be said that Amoruso does have his unique side.

In fact, although Maradona said that Amoruso was the next king, Messi also said that Amoruso was his best successor, and even King Pele said that Amoruso was himself at a great height.

But in fact, when the media talked about Amoruso, the nickname they chose at the beginning and the most influential nickname was one.

That is "Hero II".

Twenty-year-old Giovanni Leon Amoruso is six-foot-two, weighs 190 pounds, is strong and powerful, and is very good at heading.

This is really similar to Chen Hero when he first debuted.

Many of his goals in the Brazilian Serie A are scored by his physical qualities. He is unreasonable, but the effect is surprisingly good.

So this nickname aptly points out his characteristics.

But it seems that Amoruso himself has opinions about Chen Hero. He has said more than once in interviews that he is not Chen Hero II, he is Giovanni Leon Amoruso I.

Such a player is now a hot young star in the world of football.

Many European giants are watching him with red eyes, ready to make a move at any time.

The biggest problem for Liverpool to compete with these giants is not money—now that the new stadium is built, Liverpool is not short of money.

But it is the player's own wishes. Amoruso does not seem to like Chen Hero very much.

He is so disgusted by others calling him "Hero II", let alone coming to Liverpool to be Chen Hero's successor.

And Amoruso has the strength and is unwilling to come, and other players are unwilling to come and always live in the shadow of a retired player, so they are not interested in coming to Liverpool.

Liverpool, who have never worried about center forwards, did not expect to fall into a center forward crisis when Chen Hero was about to retire...