Three Consecutive Wins in the Friendly Match, Li Yufei and Wenger Had the Same Idea!

August 1st.

Arsenal welcomed Celtic to the Emirates once again.

Li Yufei kept his starting spot for this match.

Given his solid performance against AC Milan last time out, the Old Man had every reason to keep him on the pitch.

Even if the Moroccan Chamakh was fuming inside, he didn't dare openly defy the Professor.

Now he just hoped Li Yufei would show his true colors and make a fool of himself.

Only then could he firmly lock down the starting role.

After all, Arsenal's front three positions didn't have absolute starters.

Even Van Persie, with the strongest raw ability, was only a semi-regular due to his glass body and rebellious nature.

He was barely a half-starter at Arsenal.

Let alone Chamakh, who wasn't on Van Persie's level.

Wenger always picked his front line based on form.

A healthy Van Persie had top priority.

Then came "Tsar" Arshavin, with Chamakh last.

Bendtner was purely a backup striker—unless the guys ahead were all injured, he wouldn't start.

As for the little tiger Walcott, it depended on the opponent.

But generally, he ranked second, just behind Van Persie and tied with Arshavin.

After all, as the fastest winger in the Premier League, his core edge was obvious.

Even after Li Yufei joined the first team and dropped him to second-fastest, he was still miles ahead of the rest.

Li Yufei guessed Walcott's speed stat was around 97 on the system's scale.

Not just in the Premier League—across all of Europe, no one was faster.

Even Gareth Bale, who was making a name for himself at Tottenham.

In pure speed, he couldn't beat Walcott either.

The little tiger might have a ton of flaws, but that one speed trait alone was enough to keep him at a European giant.

Facing Celtic in a friendly.

Wenger switched to a 4-3-3, with Li Yufei, Arshavin, and Walcott as the front three.

The midfield was Nasri, Alex Song, and Fabregas.

The backline stayed as Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, and Clichy.

Almunia was still in goal.

Celtic might be the Scottish Premiership kings.

But compared to a top-five-league giant like Arsenal, their raw strength fell short.

In this match, Li Yufei first assisted Arshavin for a goal in the 25th minute.

Then in the 56th minute of the second half, he dribbled past Celtic defender Lovenkrands and Korean Cha Du-ri in succession, cut inside, and shot—the ball bounced off Celtic keeper Boruc's leg and rolled into the net.

In the 65th minute, Celtic midfielder Ledley assisted striker Hooper to pull one back.

In the 71st minute, Song intercepted Ledley's ball in midfield and threaded it straight to Walcott.

The little tiger Walcott blazed down the flank like lightning, cut inside powerfully, and scored.

In the 82nd minute, substitute Van Persie capitalized on a Celtic defensive error and smashed a world-class strike from the edge of the box to make it 4-1, basically sealing the win.

In the 84th minute, Celtic crossed from the left, and striker Samaras headed it in to cut the deficit to two.

In the 89th minute, substitute Wilshere fired a long shot that Celtic keeper Boruc spilled, and Van Persie pounced on the rebound to score twice in a match.

The final score settled at 5-2.

Truth be told, Arsenal's defense line was really nothing special.

Even against Celtic, they conceded two goals.

Li Yufei couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the season's ultimate boss—the five-time champion FC Barcelona.

He remembered all too well how miserable Arsenal was in these years.

Every time they qualified for the group stage in the Champions League, they either drew Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

With Arsenal's current squad level, they had no real shot against either team.

Especially against the European overlord, FC Barcelona.

But Li Yufei's fragmented memory told him Arsenal didn't play badly against Barcelona in this season's Champions League.

They even came close to knocking out Dream Team III.

You could say they were the toughest opponent Barcelona faced on their road to the Champions League title that season.

If it really was as he remembered, then Arsenal this season definitely had great potential!

At the very least, they should have some ambition and not settle for fighting for fourth place.

Li Yufei didn't come to Arsenal just to fight for fourth place either.

Dedicated to becoming the GOAT of football, how could he tolerate his team coasting along?

"I'll see if I can hint to the old man to top up the club or something. He's my dad after all—supporting his son's career shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Li Yufei had already set his sights on his father.

Little did he know, Wenger was thinking the same thing.

If Wenger found out that Li Yufei didn't need his hints and was already planning to ask his dad for money on his own, he'd be moved to tears.

It hasn't been easy, not easy at all!

Who knows the pain Wenger has endured all these years?

Watching his archrival Alex Ferguson lead Manchester United to countless titles, and even his once-harmless neighbors start hoarding trophies after a Russian oligarch took over.

And what about Arsenal?

Stuck with debt problems, they couldn't even spend big in the transfer market.

Wenger's "best squad already here" was largely a forced choice because he couldn't bring in his desired players.

If he really had a sufficient transfer budget, how could Wenger be satisfied with the current lineup?

August 7th.

Arsenal played their final preseason friendly.

At home, Polish top-flight side Legia Warsaw faced the visiting Arsenal.

In this match, both sides went all out, nearly abandoning defense, and fought a thrilling goal fest.

The final score was Legia Warsaw 5:8 Arsenal.

The two teams combined for 13 goals.

Li Yufei pulled off a hat-trick in this goal fest, instantly making a name for himself.

If it were an ordinary young player, playing a friendly against an unknown Polish team, unless he scored five, six, or even more goals, there would hardly be any media coverage.

But Li Yufei was different.

Ever since arriving at Arsenal, he had become the focus of European media, especially Fleet Street.

With his unstoppable performance in youth matches and the added buzz of having a superstar girlfriend, any slight contribution in a game would be heavily reported by the media. Even if he was completely average, they'd still cover it.

The difference was that the former was praise, while the latter was criticism and belittlement.

Luckily, Li Yufei knew the media's tricks all too well and didn't take it to heart.

After the match against Legia Warsaw, Arsenal flew back to London that same day and began preparations for the new season.

Li Yufei, before the season started, allocated his system points to his ability stats.

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