The Odds-On Favorite by a Mile! Tang Long's Team Committee Privileges on Full Display as Teammates Scramble to Curry Favor!
The current time is December 7, 2015.
In 10 days, the winner of this year's Europe Golden Boy Award will be selected.
The Europe Golden Boy Award was established in 2003 by the Italy Tuttosport.
The award, voted on by major Europe media outlets, recognizes the best young player of the year and is considered a "coming-of-age ceremony" for young talents.
The candidates must be under the age of 21 and playing for a Europe club.
Without a doubt, based on the performance of players under 21, Tang Long is definitely the strongest contender for the Europe Golden Boy Award across all of Europe!
Inside the office of Manchester City CEO Begiristain.
Commercial Director Berrada placed the latest issue of the Manchester Evening News in front of Begiristain, pointing to a small square of text.
"Look, Tang's odds are far ahead right now, which is exactly what we're happy to see."
Begiristain glanced at the newspaper.
The article above introduces the most promising contenders for this year's Europe Golden Boy Award shortlist, along with the odds offered by betting companies for them.
Tang Long (Manchester City) 1:1.15
Martial (Manchester United) 1:3.3
Correa (Atlético Madrid) 1:7.7
Munir (Barca) 1:10
It's obvious, at least in terms of odds, that Tang Long has a precipitous lead in the odds of winning the Golden Boy Award!
"How about it? My dear CEO, why don't you place a bet on Tang? It's a principal-protected investment with a 15% return, a sure thing," Berrada joked.
Begiristain shook his head and scratched his hair.
He didn't seem very interested in that.
"Is it really worth it for you to go to such lengths to promote Tang for a Golden Boy Award and even push to promote him to the fourth captain of the team?"
In Begiristain's mind, the Golden Boy Award was truly an award that was dispensable.
The Golden Boy Award isn't the Ballon d'Or, so what's the point of winning it?
Besides, Manchester City has its share of players who have won the Golden Boy Award; Sterling has won it before, hasn't he?
"Sterling? No, no, no, we bought Sterling from Liverpool. He won the Golden Boy Award last year. If Tang wins the Golden Boy Award, he will be the first player in Manchester City's history to receive this honor since the Golden Boy Award was established."
Berrada's eyes held a proud look.
Begiristain then looked at the report, which reviewed the players who had won the Golden Boy Award in history.
This includes players who later shone brightly, such as Lionel Messi, Rooney, Fabregas, Agüero;
There are also players like Balotelli, Pato, and Anderson whose development has fallen far short of expectations.
Begiristain was still unimpressed with the award.
He didn't understand why the commercial director was going to such lengths. Even if they won this award, would it truly bring glory to Manchester City?
"Let me remind you, this award was set up by Tuttosport, which is Juventus's affiliated media outlet. I don't need to elaborate on the relationship between Juventus and Tang, right?"
"They almost got wiped out by Don in two UEFA Champions League group stage matches. They'd really give the award to Don? I don't believe it!"
"You're mistaken, Mr. CEO. This award, like the Ballon d'Or, is decided by voting. Tuttosport has already sent the ballots to over 30 media outlets Europe; I know all of their names."
Seeing Berrada's persistence, Begiristain didn't say much.
Although he disliked the business director in his heart because the director, as his subordinate, had repeatedly clashed with him, and the two always disagreed on important matters concerning the club's operation.
Begiristain once wondered if the Abu Dhabi United Group had deliberately placed someone who always disagreed with him by his side to check the power distribution within the club's management.
Last time, Berrada put his feet up on his desk right in front of him, acting all high and mighty and fearless. If they were out in the dark, Begiristain would have loved to give that kid a good fight!
However, Begiristain can only endure it for now.
The Nasri spying incident caused a huge uproar in the Britain media and local public opinion, prompting senior executives of the Abu Dhabi United Group to come forward to hold him accountable.
Berrada somehow managed to evade the inquiries from the Abu Dhabi United Group's top brass;
The fire above never even reached him, the CEO.
As a deputy, it was naturally a good thing that Berrada could share his burdens, so Begiristain couldn't be too harsh on this subordinate.
At noon, after having lunch, Berrada took a walk in the park downstairs from the club, humming a little tune.
He put his hands behind his back, rolled up the Manchester Evening News with the odds printed on it, and held it between his palms.
The weather in Britain in December remains mild. Today, for the first time in half a month, the sun came out, and the temperature was around 16 or 17 degrees Celsius, which was very pleasant and not cold at all.
Berrada, looking relaxed and carefree, was taking a stroll when she came to an arched stone bridge.
The calm, mirror-like surface of the green lake shimmered with a golden luster under the sunlight.
Berrada picked up a small stone from under her feet, threw it into the air in an arc, and with a splash, the stone plunged into the water.
Ripples spread across the lake's surface, shattering its golden, tranquil state.
Two red carp leaped out of the water where the pebbles had fallen, adding even more vitality to the lake in the afternoon.
"Don't worry, Tang. I'll not only make you the Golden Boy Award, I'll also train you to be Manchester City's first Ballon d'Or winner. Hehe, everyone just wait and see. I'll let the Abu Dhabi United Group know who the one-in-a-million talent is in the entire City Football Group."
Since being promoted to the team's fourth captain, Tang Long has clearly felt that the way people look at him and the attitude they have towards him are different from before.
In the past, when he entered the club's training base, the old gatekeeper would just smile and nod at him, and sometimes he would even be looking at his phone.
But things are different now. Tang Long was still more than 20 meters away from the gate when the old man waved to him enthusiastically, "Good morning, Tang! Time for training!"
As he walked along the tree-lined avenue of the training base, the club staff who passed by greeted him warmly.
Even when eating in the cafeteria, the aunties serving the food would specially select the best-cooked steaks with the freshest cuts of meat and give them to Tang Long.
Of course, aside from the club staff, the most obvious change is in the teammates.
Kolarov and Ranocchia always called Tang Long "Captain, Captain" with a smile.
Tang Long waved his hand and held up four fingers. "Fourth, please add a prefix."
When assembling at the training ground, Tang Long usually stood in the second row;
But since joining the Team Committee, he has been placed in the center of the front row, just like Agüero, Kompany, and Yaya Toure.
Members of the Team Committee have the privilege of communicating with head coach Pellegrini about training content.
Generally, before training begins each day, Pellegrini would call these four people together for a short 5-minute meeting to explain the day's training content, and then pass it on to the other 20 or so members through these four.
Therefore, members of the Team Committee must arrive at the training ground in advance and must not be late; otherwise, they are considered incompetent.
However, this simply doesn't exist at Manchester City now. Tang Long has caused extreme involution within the Manchester City. Forget about 5 minutes early, often more than 20 minutes early, some players are already coming out of the gym drenched in sweat, everyone is doing extra training.
Of course, Tang Long, who in the eyes of outsiders could play as a starter without ever needing extra training, no longer arrived at the appointed time; he was at least 10 minutes early.
The change in attitude of several veteran players in the team who have played in the Premier League for many years towards Tang Long is also clearly visible.
For example, Sagna's attitude towards Tang Long was not exactly bad, but it was more of an ordinary colleague relationship, and sometimes she was even quite indifferent. When she passed by, she would just nod slightly without smiling.
But ever since Tang Long joined the Team Committee, Sagna has become much more enthusiastic about Tang Long, and sometimes even offers Tang Long water.
"Damn, is Sagna starting to fawn over Tang too?"
That day, Clichy said indignantly to Yaya Toure.
"Keep up the good work, Clichy. I'm getting old, and now the French-speaking Faction generation in the team is getting a lot of attention. You need to take the lead and be the big brother!"
Yaya Toure looked at Sagna, sighed, and then spoke earnestly to Klich.
Young player Iheanacho insisted on cleaning Tang Long's shoes, which were covered in mud and straw sandals. When Tang Long refused, Iheanacho grabbed Tang Long's leg and reached out to untie the shoelaces.
Bony promised to pick Tang Long up and drop him off at work every day, so he wouldn't have to bother with Ranocchia anymore.
"Tang, are you finding my Q7 a bit uncomfortable? I'll go to the Mercedes-Benz dealership and pick up a Maybach; the back seat space there is so spacious you can practically lie down!"
In short, both former "friends" and "non-friends" are now trying to curry favor with him.
On Wednesday noon, the entire Manchester City team assembled and boarded a chartered plane to Germany to prepare for their UEFA Champions League group stage sixth and final match against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Once on the plane, Tang Long once again enjoyed the privileges of being a member of the Team Committee!
Manchester City's chartered plane was incredibly luxurious, with everything set up in top-class business class. However, the Team Committee still enjoyed the privilege of having priority to choose their seats, and only after they had made their selections could the other players choose from the remaining seats.
Captain Kompany always prefers to sit in the front row, and he was the first to enter, choosing a spacious seat to sit down.
Agüero is still recovering from injury and cannot travel with the team. Captain Yaya Toure, who is ranked third, likes to sit in the last row, and no one dares to take that position from him.
Under the expectant gazes of the other players, Tang Long casually chose a seat in the middle and sat down.
After Tang Long took his seat, the other players followed suit.
Kolarov sat down beside him with a smile.
"How's it going? Feeling great after joining the Team Committee? I want to join too, but unfortunately I'm not good enough, they don't even consider me!"