Afternoon, 2:30 PM.

Emirates Stadium.

A luxurious booth had already been set up outside the stadium.

The booth displayed Arsenal's number 10 jerseys, distinguishable only by home and away colors.

Lights, fireworks, and salutes intertwined.

A massive backdrop was covered with flags from Arsenal fan organizations all over the world.

Security personnel guarded the perimeter on both sides.

Thousands of fans had been waiting for a long time, and when they saw Lee Kang appear in their sight, they erupted in a landslide-like cheer.

"Lee!!!"

"Lee!!!"

"Lee!!!"

Without a doubt.

This was a signing event attached to the Puma endorsement contract.

...

Inside the stadium.

Wenger wondered, "Why have so few fans come in?"

Boulde hesitated, "Boss, I'm afraid Lee will be too tired from signing..."

Everyone nodded in understanding: Messi once signed autographs for several hours at a Barcelona event... his hand went numb.

"So I raised the ticket price for admission several times."

"Don't look at me like that... we still need to buy players in the winter transfer window!"

Wenger shook his head helplessly.

He had too many things to deal with at the club.

So he handed over the signing event to Boulde, who coordinated with Puma.

This bald assistant coach's tactical style wasn't like his... but he'd learned the cost-cutting routine well.

Gourcuff straightened his short hair, staring intently at Lee Kang as he walked onto the field.

"Arsène, you don't want Lee to miss out on the Golden Boy award, do you?"

"Golden Boy award?"

Wenger was stunned.

The confusion on his face vanished in an instant, and he smiled, "It's not just the Golden Boy award."

Gourcuff's eyelids twitched, and he clenched his fist, saying, "Arsenal... Puma hasn't produced a superstar for many, many years! I will do everything I can to build him up..."

...

The signing event was very simple.

Lee Kang just needed to sit on a small chair, sign his name on the jersey with a pen, and when he met beautiful female fans or famous people, a small assistant would remind him to shake hands and take photos.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

The pocket on his shirt and his trouser pockets... were filled with small pieces of paper with phone numbers printed on them.

Fortunately, the media reporters who came to the scene were all Arsenal mouthpieces, and all information would be screened by the club's public relations department before being released.

Signing autographs was a simple thing, but if it lasted for an hour... it would become very tiring.

Time passed imperceptibly.

The little assistant leaned in and whispered, "Lee, bear with it, this two-and-a-half-hour event will bring in..."

Lee Kang subconsciously shook his hand.

He raised his head and suddenly saw a long-lost Asian girl's face.

It wasn't Asuka-chan.

It was Yuzhen.

The 17-year-old child star had lost some of her baby fat, and her developmental speed far exceeded that of her peers, so that the large Arsenal number 10 jersey could not hide her proud curves.

Lee Kang didn't care why Yuzhen would appear in London; he heard that she seemed to have given up her acting career.

But looking at the girl in front of him... he would think of Van Gaal on Korean night.

The "formation" knowledge that Old Van had explained to him was still benefiting him immensely.

Thinking of the Manchester United revival formation arranged by the famous Dutch coach...

Lee Kang couldn't help but smile.

...

Yuzhen trembled slightly with nervousness.

Seeing the other party smiling at her at this moment... she immediately lowered her head, her cheeks flushed red... and she couldn't help but smile too.

Which girl isn't infatuated?

She especially liked football.

Girls of this age were prone to blind worship.

The original human instinct for reproduction was to be infatuated with powerful members of the opposite sex.

Only a year had passed since Korean night.

To what extent was Yuzhen obsessed?

She would cut out Lee Kang's photos from sports newspapers and clip them into her diary.

After giving up her acting career, she was determined to study sports nutrition, but she was a terrible student and hadn't even gotten her high school diploma yet.

She couldn't forget the most important thing in front of her...

She mustered her courage and also stuffed a small piece of paper into Lee Kang's shirt pocket.

However, what was written on it wasn't a phone number, but a blessing written in English words.

...

Nothing dramatic happened.

Lee Kang was a decent person.

At the reminder of the little assistant, he shook hands with the other party and took a simple photo together.

And let this story come to an end.

He was no longer the unknown Leverkusen youngster, and pure and beautiful friendship between men and women could not be born.

Multiple lines of social interaction were very energy-consuming.

...

In the distance.

Wenger smiled when he saw this scene.

He remembered the bitterness of Korean night.

That night, he once thought that something had happened between Lee Kang and the Korean girl not far away, but later learned that it was just a beautiful misunderstanding.

"Lee should communicate more with girls of a similar age."

"Dating is always better than sitting in front of the TV playing games."

"At what age should..."

Boulde interjected, "I have a daughter... who is also 18 years old this year."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Gourcuff hesitated for a moment, then said, "Arsène, you don't want Lee to be like you back then... being rumored by the Premier League media to like men, do you?"

...

AS Monaco was known as: The European Black Shop.

The current owner, Rybolovlev, was the savior of this Ligue 1 powerhouse and also the pioneer of the Black Shop.

He and Abramovich were good friends.

But the two had two different extreme attitudes towards the club's management philosophy.

One saying was: Rybolovlev had no choice but to embark on the road of selling players because of a sky-high divorce judgment.

The only spending tendency this guy now had in Monaco was... giving gifts to Princess Charlene of Monaco.

In any case.

He was still the savior in the eyes of Monaco fans.

In 2011, AS Monaco was relegated from Ligue 1.

Rybolovlev took out 100 million euros to bring the club back to Ligue 1, shake the dominance of Paris Saint-Germain, and defeat Arsenal, a Premier League powerhouse, in the Champions League.

Then, he started the Black Shop mode.

J. Rodriguez transferred to Real Madrid for 80 million euros.

Martial transferred to Manchester United for 60 million euros.

Carrasco transferred to Atletico Madrid for 20 million euros.

If Monaco could achieve excellent results in the Champions League this season... then Rybolovlev's investment case would definitely be included in textbooks next summer window.

...

On the Monaco training ground.

A group of young men were warming up,

"Bernardo, isn't your dream to join Barcelona? Why don't you go see that sports director..."

"I just hope to join Guardiola's team, my current dream is Manchester City!"

Lemar teased Bernardo Silva.

Mendy quickly interjected, "I want to go to Manchester City too!"

Seeing their former teammates leave one by one, they were already accustomed to the club's operating model...

Fabinho was helping Mbappé stretch.

"Kylian, isn't your dream to go to Real Madrid?"

"We have to beat Arsenal hard! Make all of Europe tremble!"

"Lee can lead Leverkusen into the Champions League semi-finals, you can do the same in Monaco!"

Mbappé looked serious, nodded subconsciously, then shook his head immediately without saying anything.