If One Day You Represent Sheff, Give It Everything

If One Day You Represent Sheff, Give It Everything

The next morning, a light breeze swept through Colney Training Base, stirring the sleeves and hair of the people passing by.

Maël pulled his suitcase, carrying a black bag, and made his final farewells to his teammates and coaches.

Gilbert followed beside him. Starting today, the two of them had truly become people in the same boat, living under the same roof.

Every player in Arsenal U17 and the entire coaching staff had come to the entrance of the training base, including some youth players from other younger age groups.

They had heard that someone from the base had made it into a Championship team, so of course they had come to take a look, to pay their respects.

"Stay safe. Make sure you call once you get to Sheffield United."

Coach Hans waved to Maël and Gilbert, saying the same old farewell lines: "Be strict with yourselves. I'll always be keeping an eye on you."

"Good luck, Gilbert!"

"Score a goal in the Championship!"

"Goodbye, captain!"

The other players also waved goodbye to the two of them. To be precise, though, they were really waving to Gilbert alone.

Maël's cannon shots had won everyone over to a certain extent, but their feelings toward him were more complicated.

There was no pure admiration, and their envy was mixed with jealousy too.

Ian and the few others who had clashed with Maël had also come today. They were the ones with the ugliest, most complicated expressions.

Even when they waved goodbye to the two of them, they looked reluctant.

In the blink of an eye, the offense and defense between them and Maël had reversed, their positions swapped, and all the things they had said before now seemed like jokes.

If Maël wanted to, he could pour all those insults right back onto them at any moment.

Only, Maël did not seem to have that intention.

"Coach Hans, the boots."

Nor did he show any awkwardness over "not receiving many blessings." Smiling, he walked up to Coach Hans and handed over the black bag in his hand. "I forgot them that day. I'm giving them back to you today."

"You're rich now, so I won't refuse."

Hans took the bag and patted Maël on the back. "I hope you can get your chance over there. The greater your value becomes, the greater the value of these boots to me. I hope one day they'll become part of my collection."

"I hope so too."

Maël bumped fists with Hans one last time, hugged him, then pulled his suitcase with Gilbert and turned to leave.

Over there, Sheffield United scout Joelson was leaning in front of a pickup truck, hands in his pockets, striking an extremely cool pose as he waited for them.

Judging by his face, Joelson was in his thirties, in the prime of life. He could be called handsome and dashing, and the wrinkles that time had left on his face only gave him more of the charm of a mature man.

"Get in, lads."

Joelson flipped the sunglasses hanging on the back of his head around to the front and put them over his eyes. "Don't look down on my beat-up pickup. Once we get to the high-speed rail station, you'll be comfortable."

Maël and Gilbert nodded, put their luggage in the back of the pickup, and then got ready to climb in.

After opening the door, Gilbert suddenly stopped and turned to look at the people at the entrance of the base. "Wait for my good news. You have to watch my matches live!"

".Okay!"

"We will, captain!"

"We'll be waiting for you to come back!!"

A wave of shouts rang out. Gilbert looked back a few times with reluctance, then climbed into the pickup.

After the voices fell silent, the people at the entrance still had not left.

They stared at Maël, their gazes still complicated, but they also seemed to be expecting him to say something.

Maël noticed that feeling from them and did not put on any airs.

His gaze swept over face after face. He did not deliberately skip over Ian and the other former pests around him, but looked straight at all of them equally.

After everything had changed, his state of mind was completely different from before.

"Good luck! Brothers!"

He stretched out his right arm and clenched his fist. "See you on the professional pitch!"

With a hearty smile, as if everything had scattered with the wind, Maël climbed into the pickup and shut the door.

The people at the entrance fell silent for a while. In the end, the shouts erupted again.

"Maël! Good luck!"

"You have to make a name for yourself!"

"Let those old hands in the Championship taste what your long shots can do!"

Maël leaned against the car window and looked at them, smiling faintly. They really were just a bunch of kids, after all.

As time passed, they would probably all remember this day.

The car drove along the road, jolting slightly.

It was a very old pickup truck, and some of its parts probably had minor issues.

Joelson drove with one hand, the other resting outside the window, feeling some indescribable sensation through the speed of the car.

"Actually, why don't we just drive straight to Sheffield?"

Gilbert was British born and raised. He had been born in Leicester City and was fairly familiar with the United Kingdom. "It's only about a three-hour drive, right?"

"Ah."

Joelson glanced back. "You don't mind the bumps? Sitting all the way there like this would be pretty tiring.

"Actually, I was going to drive this old buddy back to Sheffield anyway. I was worried you wouldn't be able to take it, so I was going to send you to take the high-speed train."

"Athletes aren't that delicate, are they?"

Gilbert waved a hand and turned to look at Maël beside him. "What do you think? Why don't we just drive there?"

"Sure."

Maël naturally had no objection and smiled. "I was just thinking I'd like to see the scenery along the way."

Joelson laughed a few times, then simply turned the wheel, pulling his hand back in from outside. "Then sit tight. I'll try to get you there as early as I can."

"Drive safely." Maël and Gilbert reminded him in unison, not caring about other things didn't mean they didn't care about this.

The vehicle sped along, and after chatting for a while, the three of them grew familiar with one another.

Joelson had once been a footballer too. In his youth, he had been a member of Sheffield United Team, though unfortunately, he had not exactly been famous.

From what he said about himself, Maël's strongest impression was that this guy had to be a die-hard Sheffield supporter, with an endless, indescribable love for the team.

"Sheffield's situation this season isn't good. Several players have left, and only four of last season's main lineup remain."

After chatting for a while, Joelson began to talk about serious matters too. "And among them, two were basically at the bottom of last season's main lineup.

"The team's goal this season is only one thing, and that's to avoid relegation! I worked to get the two of you over there for that goal as well."

Joelson had only just turned his head back when the two of them worriedly scolded him a few times, so he turned back again and focused on driving. "What I mean by saying this mainly comes down to two points.

"First, the club's current difficult situation is a good thing for you two, because it means the difficulty of getting playing time has dropped a lot. You could really make something of it.

"As for the second point, although you two still don't know me well, and I don't have much clout either.

"But I still want to say that, for my sake, if you have the chance to represent Sheffield in the future, you must give it everything. I don't want to see the team relegated."

By then, the pickup truck had already driven into Sheffield City, and many classical British-style buildings appeared before their eyes.

Gilbert was just about to respond, but Joelson's voice rang out again. "In a certain sense, you two are the team's last two hopes.

"Of course, I won't let you give without getting anything in return. That would make me look greedy. You can wait until you know me better before agreeing to me."

Joelson turned his head again, showing a mouthful of white teeth and smiling brightly.

Their destination arrived soon after.

Maël and Gilbert had actually wanted to say all along that giving everything for the team one played for was a basic quality of any player.

But looking at Joelson, it seemed as though he had some obsession or worry he had never been able to let go of, so they did not say much for the time being.

The pickup truck finally stopped in front of a hotel, where they would be staying tonight.

"The rooms are already booked. You two go up and rest first."

Joelson got out first to help the two unload their luggage, saying as he did, "I'll go look for rental housing nearby for you. I'll take you to see them tomorrow."

"Thank you."

After the two of them thanked him, Maël reminded him, "The monthly rent should be around three thousand pounds. Our current salaries aren't very high."

The two of them had discussed it on the road. They would live together so they could look after each other.

They would split the rent, utilities, and so on. Their bottom line was that the rent could not exceed their weekly wage by too much.

Of course, they also wanted to live in a luxury villa as soon as possible, but with their current salaries, it seemed they still could not afford that level of spending.

They would settle down first, then improve their living environment after their wages went up!