Li Yufei, the Henpecked Husband, and the Ballon d'Or, Which Is Roughly Equivalent to the Popularity Award

Li Yufei's goal had barely settled when Blackpool kicked off for the tenth time in the match, and the Main Referee couldn't wait to blow the final whistle.

It was just too brutal. Even the referee couldn't bear to watch anymore.

Wenger watched from the sidelines as Li Yufei and Walcott both completed their hat-tricks, and couldn't help but clap.

Whether it was the little tiger Walcott or Li Yufei—that super-rich second-generation and genius player rolled into one—

both were the future core players of Arsenal in Wenger's eyes.

Add in Fabregas, Wilshere, and Van Persie, and in Wenger's mind, Arsenal's future was something to truly look forward to.

All he had to do now was ensure their physical health as best he could, letting them grow and evolve slowly.

As for results in the next few seasons, Wenger had no particular demands.

As long as they could play in the Champions League every season, that was enough.

Getting as far as possible in the knockout stages would naturally be the best outcome.

As for the League Cup and FA Cup, Wenger basically used them to train new players.

Before Fabregas, Van Persie, and Song collectively defected, Wenger hadn't yet transformed into that future "Thermos Cup" master.

As things stood, Arsenal's squad strength across the entire Premier League was only slightly inferior to Manchester United and Chelsea.

They had the upper hand over everyone else.

Wenger still had ambitions for major tournament results.

Of course, ambition was ambition—that didn't mean Wenger was in a rush to chase trophies right now.

Ever since seeing Li Yufei's performances in the first team over these few matches, Wenger had been filled with confidence in Arsenal's future.

"Everything will be fine, Alex. I won't make you wait too long—definitely not..." Wenger made a vow to himself in his heart. He absolutely refused to bow out of the rivalry with Ferguson like this.

He had to make the whole United Kingdom understand one thing: Alex Ferguson's archrival in the Premier League had only one name.

And that was him, Arsène Wenger.

On the pitch, Li Yufei had no idea that the outwardly gentle professor had suddenly added so much drama in his head.

Right now, he just felt utterly refreshed. After all, stomping a weaker team was always a mood booster.

After the match ended, the Main Referee even found Walcott and Li Yufei, asking which of them would take the match ball.

After all, it was a football tradition that a hat-trick scorer could keep the ball.

But now there was a problem: two players in this match had completed hat-tricks.

One was Walcott, and the other was Li Yufei.

Facing the referee's question, Li Yufei noticed Walcott's hesitant expression and guessed the guy wanted to take the ball home.

So Li Yufei voluntarily offered to let Walcott—who had completed his hat-trick first—have the ball.

The little tiger was grateful and said to Li Yufei, "Bro, thanks a lot. I'll treat you to a fruit platter later."

As he spoke, Walcott made a "men know what I mean" face.

Li Yufei didn't catch on at first, but then, seeing the lecherous look on Walcott's face, he realized what that so-called "fruit platter" actually referred to.

Once he understood the meaning behind Walcott's words, Li Yufei immediately refused with righteous indignation.

Are you kidding me?!

Pulling that stunt right in front of his girlfriend Taylor? Was he asking for death?

Li Yufei knew all too well that his future global pop-star girlfriend was extremely strict about this kind of thing.

Trying to cheat while dating her was basically asking for trouble.

At the very least, that kind of "get forgiven by the girl after cheating" good fortune? With Taylor, there was zero chance.

If something like that really happened, Taylor would only kick the guy to the curb without hesitation and then write a bunch of songs to diss him.

And just like that, the guy would become famous.

Li Yufei figured that while he couldn't stop his girlfriend from writing him into songs, he at least didn't want to go down in history as a "scumbag."

Having his everyday love life used as material for songs? He didn't mind that.

Free publicity like that? Li Yufei would take it without a second thought.

Besides, that kind of publicity was positive—unless someone didn't want their private life exposed, only an idiot would refuse it.

But for celebrities, there was no such thing as privacy anyway.

In Li Yufei's view, it was a celebrity's duty to expose their private life to the public.

At the very least, as a celebrity, you couldn't openly oppose it.

Otherwise, what difference was there from those ancient brothel girls who "acted like whores while putting up a chastity plaque"?

As a celebrity, since you've already enjoyed the benefits of massive attention.

You naturally have to bear the corresponding negative consequences.

Li Yufei had long been mentally prepared for this—if he wanted to become the GOAT of football, immense public scrutiny was unavoidable.

What Li Yufei aimed to do was to shape his public image as positively as possible.

This kind of external image management could also play a significant role in his pursuit of personal honors like the Ballon d'Or!

Why did Messi and Ronaldo win so many Ballon d'Ors in their previous lives?

Outstanding individual ability is undeniably one factor.

But the PR teams behind them, their image marketing, and the platform resources of their clubs.

Were all crucial reasons that enabled them to monopolize the Ballon d'Or for ten consecutive years!

In Li Yufei's mind, no matter how strong Messi and Ronaldo were, they couldn't have monopolized the Ballon d'Or for ten straight years.

At least from a purely competitive standpoint, both Messi and Ronaldo had instances of "stealing" the Golden Ball.

Why use the word "steal"?

Because some Ballon d'Ors, based solely on that year's honors, stats, and footballing merit, should never have been awarded to either of them.

But there's no helping it—the Ballon d'Or, to put it bluntly, is essentially the same as the NBA's regular-season MVP.

Both are the highest individual honors.

And both are "impure" awards that incorporate various factors.

Winners not only need outstanding team honors within a single season or year, but also top-tier individual stats.

At the same time, the winner must be famous enough!

In the era of Messi and Ronaldo, the third-place contenders competing with them for the Golden Ball.

Often fell short on "name recognition."

Many people around the world who don't follow football, or are just quadrennial World Cup casuals, only know players with massive fame like David Beckham, Messi, and Ronaldo.

Even two legendary kings like Pelé and Maradona—many people don't know them at all, have never even heard of them!

Let alone players whose fame hasn't broken out of the football circle?

A player who hasn't broken out competing for a "popularity" award like the Golden Ball against Messi and Ronaldo, who have already broken out, is naturally at an absolute disadvantage!

That's exactly why Messi and Ronaldo were able to monopolize the Ballon d'Or for so many years.

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