When Real Madrid flew back to Madrid from Abu Dhabi with the FIFA Club World Cup trophy, everyone was celebrating the club's first FIFA Club World Cup title in history and its crowning as the kings of the world.
At the same time, quite a few people noticed a problem: Yang Yang was nowhere to be seen among the returning champions.
He wasn't on the flight, nor did he appear during the subsequent victory parade. He was even absent from the club's Christmas dinner. This drew widespread attention from the media and fans.
Some rumors even claimed that Yang Yang had secretly met with the Abu Dhabi consortium, Man City's behind-the-scenes owners, in Abu Dhabi. They had allegedly offered him an astronomical annual salary and persuaded him to pressure Real Madrid to leave La Liga for Premier League side Man City.
The rumor fermented for two full days, sparking heated discussion and forcing Real Madrid to come forward and clarify the matter.
At the clarification press conference, club spokesman Oscar stated that Yang Yang had temporarily left the team because of some private matters, with the prior permission of the team's Head Coach and manager.
As for when Yang Yang would return, Oscar said, "Head Coach Benitez has given Yang Yang an extended leave. He only needs to return before the league begins on January 3, allowing him to focus on handling his private affairs."
This quickly attracted even more coverage and attention from the media, especially major authoritative outlets around the world. Everyone was trying to guess what had happened to Yang Yang.
Benitez had always been strict in managing the team, and his treatment of players was even considered somewhat lacking in humanity. He had long been criticized for it. Yet this time, he had made an exception