Wenger's Little Scheme, Li's Father's Train of Thought

Match, 55th minute.

Wilshire intercepted the ball in midfield, sprinted forward, and passed to Van Persie.

The latter nudged the ball right, Walcott took it and charged ahead, torching Antonini with sheer pace.

But once Walcott cut into the box, his decision-making was hard to praise.

He ignored Van Persie calling for it in the center and Li Yufei on the left.

Instead, he lashed a shot that sent the ball into the stands.

Wenger on the sidelines couldn't help but shake his head at the sight.

That was Walcott for you—blistering speed, solid dribbling, but his final touch in front of goal was always crude.

Li Yufei figured if this guy made smarter attacking choices, his price tag would jump at least twenty million euros.

Match, 63rd minute.

AC Milan launched a threatening attack. Seedorf played a short pass, exchanged a one-two with Pato, then swept the ball into Arsenal's box.

Borriello, leaning on Szczesny, managed a forced shot that hit the target.

But the angle was too straight, and Almunia collected it easily.

Almunia booted it long, Song won the header.

Diaby controlled the falling ball and passed to Wilshire, who drove forward. About 35 yards from goal, he slipped a through ball left-forward.

Li Yufei took it, pushed it ahead, and a familiar scene played out.

Bonera gritted his teeth, scrambling to challenge Li Yufei for possession, but he was a step too slow—Li Yufei left him in the dust.

Li Yufei glanced at the center of the box, adjusted slightly, and sent in a cross.

Unfortunately, his crossing was barely passable, not yet up to top-five-league standards. The delivery was poor, too close to the keeper, and Abbiati claimed it.

Wenger noted this from the sidelines, planning to tell Flamini to drill more on that later.

Then both AC Milan and Arsenal squandered a chance each, and the clock ticked to 80 minutes.

In that stretch, Allegri subbed off Ambrosini and Borriello, bringing on Gattuso and Inzaghi.

Match, 84th minute.

In a midfield scrap, Gattuso had just settled the ball under his control when Li Yufei slammed into him from the side and behind.

Caught off guard, Gattuso hit the turf.

The referee called a foul on Li Yufei and flashed a yellow card.

Gattuso got up and jabbered at Li Yufei, who couldn't be bothered to respond. If he weren't already on a yellow, Li Yufei would've shoved him.

No help for it—as time slipped away and the score gap widened, Li Yufei was getting desperate too!

Match, 88th minute.

AC Milan pressed high, nicked the ball off Song's foot, and turned it into a 4-on-4 in the final third. Li Yufei's head tightened watching from behind.

But at the critical moment, Almunia stepped up, palming Inzaghi's shot away with one hand.

The ball dropped outside the box, where Clichy controlled it.

Clichy looked up and saw Li Yufei frantically calling for it up front.

Without a word, he booted the ball hard forward.

Facing a half-air ball, Li Yufei outjumped Gattuso, rose high, and nodded it down to Wilshire beside him.

Wilshire took it, drove forward, then threaded a through ball right-forward.

Young Tiger Walcott burst ahead, shaking Antonini instantly.

But this time, before the Young Tiger could figure out his next move, he saw Li Yufei had already charged into the box.

A square pass. Li Yufei got a touch on it ahead of Nesta, then flicked it with his heel, shaking off the veteran by half a step.

As the aging Nesta's body lagged, Li Yufei faked a pass to Van Persie but instead laid it back to Wilshire at the arc of the box.

Facing the rolling ball, Wilshire drew back his bow, firing before Gattuso could close him down.

This time, Wilshire didn't miss. The ball curled with a slight outward spin, kissed the inside of the left post, and nestled into the net.

"Beautiful, bro!!!"

Li Yufei rushed over to celebrate wildly with Wilshire.

"Bro, thanks for the assist."

Wilshire was pumped too—facing AC Milan, even a goal in a friendly was a huge boost for a young player.

"Yeah, you set me up in the first half, so I had to return the favor."

Li Yufei said with a shameless grin.

On the sidelines, Wenger saw this and couldn't help but clap in relief.

Wilshere and Fry, both Arsenal youth products born in 1992.

These young men were Arsenal's future, Wenger had always believed that.

In this life, Arsenal had Li's Father's acquisition.

But the club's finances were still tight!

Because Li's Father hadn't pumped money into Arsenal; at most, he hadn't bled the club dry.

That alone was one thing he did better than Kroenke in the previous life.

Of course, maybe it was because Li's Father simply didn't need to make money off Arsenal.

After all, Kroenke, worth only a little over 2 billion dollars, wasn't even on the same level as Li's Father.

Li's Father's main reason for buying Arsenal was his wayward son.

Beyond that, he hadn't cared about any other aspect of the club.

But that was exactly what Wenger was happy to see.

As long as the owner didn't meddle recklessly, he could run the club well.

Arsenal's massive loan of 260 million pounds from a banking group in 2003 had been fully repaid in 2010, this year.

In the following years, Arsenal would have money to spend in the transfer market.

Wenger had a plan in mind: to leverage Fry's promotion to subtly ask Li's Father for funds to bring in new signings.

After all, if his own son was starting, the father couldn't just not support it, right?

And the end result of investing in Arsenal's transfers was to give Fry better teammates.

Then help Fry chase higher achievements and honors.

Not gonna lie, Wenger's calculation was pretty solid.

Li's Father hadn't invested in Arsenal all this time because he wasn't sure if his son would quit halfway.

What if that unfilial Li Yufei spent a few years in youth training and then decided he didn't want to play pro football anymore?

Then Li's Father's investment in Arsenal would just make him look like a sucker.

In short, Li's Father's attitude toward Arsenal depended entirely on Li Yufei's intentions.

If Li Yufei really wanted to keep pursuing professional football and play well for Arsenal.

Then Li's Father wouldn't hesitate—green bills would flow straight in.

After all, the annual spending in the transfer market for a football club was just pocket change to him, no big deal!

If his wayward son wanted to chase a dream, he'd let him.

Simple as that.

You could say Wenger had indeed guessed Li's Father's thoughts.

But the prerequisite for all this was that Li Yufei actually had to make it; otherwise, everything was pointless!

Even if Wenger desperately wanted Li's Father's financial support, it still depended on Li Yufei having the real ability to hold his own at Arsenal.

Otherwise, Wenger wouldn't prop up a second-generation brat who didn't deserve the position.

That was his bottom line, and his principle as Arsenal's football coach.