Dream Start

"Eh? Why is it you again?"

On the afternoon of October 25, Su Dong had just walked out of the players' tunnel at the Etihad Stadium when he saw Phil Foden, a youngster from the Youth Team, standing in front of him. Foden looked up at him with a cheeky grin, as if saying, I'm back again.

"What? Saved up enough pocket money again?" Su Dong asked with a laugh.

Back then, Phil Foden had gone to great lengths to become a ball boy. He had even spent all the pocket money he had saved over two years. The story had spread through the Man City dressing room, and everyone thought the kid was quite something.

But who would have thought he would be back again so soon?

"Don't get the wrong idea. This time, my coach rewarded me." Phil Foden lifted his chin and declared proudly.

"Your coach rewarded you?"

"Yeah. I've been performing well in the Youth Team, so he rewarded me. He also said that if I keep performing well, he'll let me come to every home game in the future." Phil Foden's voice was filled with pride as he said this, as if it were the greatest thing in the world for a child his age.

A child was still a child.

Su Dong and his teammates all smiled. They reached out and ruffled Foden's hair. "So how did you convince them?"

Every home match, the ball boys would "compete" over who got to hold Su Dong's hand. Yet today, the others seemed unusually obedient and no one had fought Foden for the chance. Something was clearly off.

Foden immediately scratched his head awkwardly and chuckled.

But a child beside him shouted first, "He performed well, asked his dad for pocket money, and promised to buy