"Fry, are you saying that you've already become the Premier League's best player?"
The reporter began deliberately leading Li Yufei into a trap.
But that little trick couldn't fool Li Yufei. Today, he was determined to make his name known once and for all!
"Maybe I'm not the best player yet, because I'm still growing."
"But when you look back at the end of this season, you'll realize that I, Fry Adams, have become the Premier League's best player!"
"By then, you might find it unbelievable and be completely astonished."
"So I'm just preparing you in advance. That way, nine months from now, you won't be quite so surprised."
Watching Li Yufei's unruffled expression, the reporter couldn't help wondering how he could say something so shameless with such a straight face!
"Fry, do you think you're better than Fabregas at this point?"
The reporters were back to stirring up trouble, as usual.
Li Yufei privately believed he was already better than Fabregas, but since Fabregas was his teammate, he decided to give him some credit.
"I'm not sure. Fabregas's ability is beyond question. In my eyes, he's been the Premier League's best player since Cristiano left Manchester United."
"Even better than Wayne Rooney?" The reporters never stopped trying to provoke a feud.
But when it came to Rooney, his future teammate on the National Team, Li Yufei didn't hold back. He said bluntly:
"Of course. With all due respect, Rooney isn't fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Cristiano."
"The so-called Manchester United twin stars are really just Cristiano shining on his own."
"Rooney's role at Manchester United is simply to make Cristiano look good."
"How can a player who acts as a supporting winger compare to a team's central figure like Fabregas?"
The reporters watched Li Yufei brazenly put down England's biggest star.
They were completely dumbfounded...
Wait, he's really that bold?
A player in the Premier League was putting down England's biggest star in front of the media?
It was almost impossible to imagine!
Perhaps the mention of the England National Team had given the reporter an idea. He hurriedly asked:
"Fry, what did you think of England's performance in the European Championship qualifiers? And have you decided which country you'll represent?"
"We all know you were born in the United Kingdom and have British citizenship, so you can play for England."
Li Yufei thought this question was tricky, so he tossed it right back to the reporter:
"You'll have to ask the FA and Mr. Capello about that. At least, I haven't received a call-up from the FA."
The reporter couldn't help rolling his eyes and muttering, "That's because you got injured out of nowhere, so the FA didn't call you up. Who doesn't know what you're up to?"
In fact, well-informed insiders had already figured out that Li Yufei's so-called injury this time was just a way to avoid a possible call-up from the FA.
After all, his English surname, "Adams," was right there in plain sight. They weren't blind; how could they fail to connect it to the politics involved?
But the FA had already analyzed the situation internally and concluded that Li Yufei joining England to play football wasn't a sensitive issue.
The Three Lions Army, however, were still very proud.
They believed England were so strong that they could win the World Cup and European Championship without Li Yufei!
So the FA's senior officials weren't in a hurry. They had plenty of time to wait Li Yufei out.
They believed England could do without Li Yufei, but Li Yufei couldn't do without England as a team.
For the former, losing one talented player wouldn't affect England's "dominance" in football.
For the latter, though, it would mean losing the chance to win the World Cup forever.
After all, everyone knew what American soccer was like. No need to say more.
Li Yufei had guessed how arrogant the FA were, so he wasn't about to suck up to them.
He'd join once the FA finally came down from their high horse and asked him properly.
For now, he'd let them wait.
The reporter tried to keep fanning the flames with Li Yufei's remarks, but Li Yufei had already clammed up.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn't want to offend too many people all at once.
As for his put-down of Rooney, there was a reason for it.
Everyone knew the relationship between Manchester United and Arsenal.
As the star players of their respective clubs—at least, Li Yufei considered himself one—Rooney and Li Yufei were never going to get along.
Besides, Li Yufei had heard in his previous life just how short-tempered the chubby Rooney could be.
So he'd provoked him on purpose. Once Rooney was beaten into submission on the pitch, it would be easier to bring him around after they joined the National Team.
As for Lampard, Gerrard, and the others, Li Yufei had no conflict with them for now.
Arsenal had no beef with their clubs either, so there was no need to make enemies for no reason.
After training ended that day.
The moment Li Yufei got home, he found Fleet Street already running extensive coverage of the interview he'd given that morning.
Just as he'd expected, most Fleet Street outlets thought Li Yufei was far too arrogant and showed no respect for his elders.
But a small minority believed that, judging by the first three league matches of the new season, Li Yufei really had been the Premier League's best-performing player.
He was simply stating an objective fact!
Even so, that small minority thought Li Yufei was far too conceited!
After all, in the interview, Li Yufei had said that when people looked back nine months later, they'd see he was the best player in the Premier League that season.
Almost everyone agreed that this could never happen.
It was nothing more than an unrealistic fantasy!
His contemptuous remarks about Rooney also drew criticism from a host of English football legends.
Lineker wrote this on his personal blog: "There's no denying that Fry is a tremendous talent, but he still has a lot of room to improve."
"He should be humble and work hard to improve his skills, instead of recklessly judging world-class stars who have already made their names."
Before Manchester United's fourth match, Alex Ferguson chuckled when reporters asked him about it:
"The boy's been spoiled. He was born into an extremely privileged family and has been used to people around him flattering and praising him ever since he was young."
"In his worldview, he's the center of the universe. Everything and everyone has to revolve around him."
"But I'll tell you this: this is the Premier League. This is the world of football. No one will go easy on him because of who he is."
"Believe me, the boy will learn how to respect others in the matches to come."
Before you continue