Chapter 512: Chapter 512

The Nasri incident has come to an end.

The Frenchman has vanished within Manchester City.

The club held a secret meeting internally, announcing the management’s punishment for him.

No one knows the specific terms, but Belgistan’s casual remark of "already terminated the contract with him" dropped a deep-water bomb in the hearts of all Manchester City players!

Midseason contract termination with a player who has served Manchester City for five years, this severe measure shocked many veteran players within the club.

Those players who participated in the criticism of Nasri at Kompany’s house may have felt a temporary victory;

But those other players who were unaware had more respect for Tang Long, and his image became even more untouchable in their hearts.

Nasri’s disappearance is undoubtedly a major blow to the French Language Gang.

Internal fragmentation within the gang has begun to appear.

Apart from Bony, who had already defected to the Italian Language Gang, Sagna also showed tendencies of being on the fence, since Toure did not play the role a leader should have in this incident.

The players are not foolish; as age increases, how many days does Toure have left at Manchester City?

"Your renewal contract needs to be postponed a bit, we will notify your agent to negotiate when the time is right."

This was the perfunctory reply Toure received when he went to Belgistan’s office.

The Ivorian midfielder felt a wave of depression, a deep sense of crisis, like the lush climbing ivy behind the wall of the club cafeteria, spreading from the soles of his feet to the back of his head, even starting to grow inside him.

Unlike other Premier League clubs, Manchester City’s head coach is not called manager, but coach.

Pellegrini, unlike Ferguson, does not have his own voice in player contracts and the transfer market, nor deeply involved in the club’s management and decisions.

The Chilean engineer hasn’t even entered the management level array!

Manchester City’s club management direction is firmly controlled by CEO Belgistan and commercial director Belada.

Toure understands, no matter how well he performs on the field, if the two decide not to want him, they will exclude him from the club’s tactical considerations without hesitation—this sometimes isn’t even about tactical considerations, other factors also come into play.

For instance, Tang Long.

Toure knew, on that day at Kompany’s house, when he and Agüero had just entered.

Tang Long, Kolarov, Ranocchia were already seated beside Kompany, smiling and getting up to greet him.

As for Bony, the recently acquired underling of just over a year, why he suddenly defected, after thinking over and over, Toure can only attribute it to Bony’s self-interest, leading him to betray the organization.

Players are always selfish; the person who can bring the greatest help to oneself is the most popular.

It was twenty years ago, and it is still the same today.

From this perspective, Toure conceded defeat sincerely this time.

Thinking about this, the 32-year-old veteran Toure surprisingly felt some relief.

He thought of his biological brother, Kolo Toure, who left Manchester City two years ago and went to play for Liverpool, and called him.

"Brother, are you free? I want to visit Liverpool and have a drink with you."

"Drink? Are you crazy, little brother? You never drink, why think of it suddenly?"

"Nothing much, I just feel a bit tired."

The Golden Boy Award is just a medium-sized award, Tang Long’s win this time did not cause much stir in the English media.

After all, as Icardi said, it’s not the Golden Ball Award, it doesn’t prove anything.

However, another Argentine Agüero felt very happy about this; he even invited Tang Long to his home as a guest.

27-year-old Agüero has a private honor display room at home, filled with various trophies from his career.

Premier League champion, Super League champion, Olympic men’s football champion, UEFA Europa League champion, UEFA Super Cup champion, Premier League top scorer...

Looking at the dazzling trophy room, Tang Long was also full of emotion.

"Sergio, you are truly a winner in life, you know, in the 2008 Olympics, I was supposed to go watch the football final live, but just couldn’t get a ticket."

"Haha, that year Argentina won two gold medals, football and basketball!"

This time a guest, Agüero specifically instructed Tang Long to bring the Golden Boy Award trophy.

Agüero won the Golden Boy Award in 2007 too, and prepared it for display at a prominent position in the trophy room.

"Time flies, when I won the Golden Boy in 2007, I was just 19 like you, now eight years have passed in a blink of an eye."

Agüero asked his girlfriend, Maradola’s daughter, to come over, and they took a photo with each holding their Golden Boy Award trophy;

Then Agüero posted a social status.

[Congratulations Tang, my good brother, at this moment I feel like I’m back to nineteen!]

Tang Long shared this status, and five minutes later Sterling commented: "Hey! I got one last year too!"

Then the two started analyzing next year’s situation.

Agüero admitted, Manchester City securing the Christmas championship is within reach, but whether they can completely shake off Manchester United and Chelsea in the campaign for the Premier League title is still uncertain.

"Premier League has now advanced 15 rounds, we are 7 points ahead of Manchester United, this gap seems large but only amounts to a two-game distance."

After 15 rounds in the Premier League, the standings are as follows:

1. Manchester City 40 points

2. Manchester United 33 points

Agüero continued to analyze: "Take last season for example, Chelsea wasn’t the Christmas champion, but they came on strong later. In the final ten rounds, they overtook from the third bend to the first place, and Arsenal also caught up, so they can’t be underestimated either."

Tang Long watched Agüero ramble on, analyzing endlessly, and he knew exactly what he wanted to say. Dıscover more novels at novelꜰire.net

Ever since last season, when Icardi suddenly had a falling out with the club and went missing in the final rounds, causing a huge loss to the team’s attacking power, Tang Long learned a valuable lesson.

A team must never focus its main attacking power solely on one person.

Therefore, during the time Agüero was injured, Tang Long intentionally strengthened the AI video feeding for Bony, understanding this forward’s habits more thoroughly with big data.

Whether Agüero would have a falling out with the club, Tang Long couldn’t say, but the rise of Bony’s strength would only serve him well, with no downside.

"Don’t worry, Sergio," Tang Long said, "you are still an important part of our team. When you return, my assists will keep flowing to you. Bony has scored many goals, and he’s the top scorer for the team now, but you’re still the strongest competitor for the Premier League Golden Boot!"

Agüero showed a joyful expression, patted Tang Long on the shoulder, and said cordially:

"As for the Golden Boot, I don’t care. I won one last year. What I care about is my position as a starting player in the team."

He took a deep breath, puffed his cheeks, exhaled heavily, and then said through gritted teeth:

"I won’t lose to Bony. I brought this club its first Premier League championship in history. I’m the eternal number one forward in the hearts of Manchester City fans!"

Premier League Round 16, Manchester City playing away against Stoke City.

The match had entered the second half, with the score still at 0-0.

But Manchester City wasn’t in a hurry.

With Ranocchia’s return, Manchester City’s defensive control in the backfield had significantly recovered;

Alongside Hart, repeatedly overwhelmed by divine goals, Pellegrini could only shake his head and placed Argentine goalkeeper Caballero back in the starting lineup.

Therefore, although Manchester City’s offensive in the first half wasn’t fierce, they firmly controlled the situation.

In away games, scoring early in the first half isn’t necessarily a good thing, as it greatly stimulates the opponent’s determination to counterattack, causing them to play at a very fast pace right from the start!

Especially "Sky City" Stoke City!

In this match, the average height of their starting lineup reached a staggering 187CM, even with the presence of former Barça player Bo Yang lowering the average.

In the 67th minute of the second half, Stoke City obtained a corner kick opportunity.

Bo Yang’s corner was very precise, the curve sent steadily to Crouch in the center of the penalty area!

The 195CM tall Ranocchia jumped at the same time!

"Standing over two meters tall, he won the first header!"

"But was disrupted by Ranocchia, the power wasn’t strong!"

"Caballero caught the ball and threw it to the fast-advancing Bony!"

Bony, receiving the quick ball, knew well his foot technique couldn’t compare to Agüero, so he didn’t forcefully go against the opposing full back; he turned and passed the ball back to Tang Long, setting up a play, then continued moving.

Pellegrini nodded frequently from the sideline.

"Hmm, Bony’s gotten a lot smarter, he’s improved quickly!"

At this moment, seeing Ranocchia, who just contested for a point ball with him, advancing forward, Crouch, although extremely exhausted, gritted his teeth and backtracked as well.

His target was Tang Long!

Confident in his height and long legs, when he was a little more than a meter away from Tang Long, Crouch reached out his leg to trip Tang Long.

Originally a forward, Crouch’s defensive skills were weak, but as a Premier League veteran, his tactical experience was still rich. He understood this kick wasn’t going to trip the ball;

His real intention was to trip Tang Long down from behind with a yellow card, stopping Manchester City’s most threatening ball handler, thereby breaking up this counterattack!

"Watch your back!" Ranocchia, sprinting forward, shouted worriedly!

But there was no need for him to shout, Tang Long had already heard the wind behind him coming~

With an Iniesta-style 270-degree turn on the spot, the football pressed tightly against Tang Long’s outer foot, obediently spinning as if glued, and Tang Long’s body danced light-footed on the turf.

Not only dodging Crouch’s bamboo pole-like long legs, but upon landing, he was able to restart and continue charging forward from the other side!

Even Crouch thought he was going to trip Tang Long, was ready to receive a yellow card, and even the main referee had the whistle in his mouth ready to blow for a foul;

But Tang Long’s on-the-spot spin dodge startled both of them!

Especially the main referee, watching that splendid movement, if he was a spectator in the stands, he might have loudly cheered with excitement.

Due to being overly surprised, the main referee’s breath was a bit unstable, and the whistle in his mouth sounded softly~

He was startled into a cold sweat!

If the Manchester City players heard it and stopped the attack, the English Football Association would have fired me by tomorrow!

He quickly looked around and luckily saw no one heard, feeling relieved as he rushed towards Tang Long’s direction.

Poor tall fellow from Stoke City.

Ill-prepared, Crouch missed with his leg, failed to trip Tang Long, and stumbled to the ground, watching Tang Long’s lone figure move tirelessly, first passing the ball to the wing to Bony, then Bony crossing, followed by Ranocchia’s header goal!

Seeing this, the self-blaming Crouch felt like a deflated ball, muttering to himself dejectedly.

"If I had known, I would have just tackled him to the ground!"