shadow striker

Time, 2023, August.

Location, Piedmont, Turin, Italy.

It was at Torino's home stadium, the head coach's office in the Stadio Olimpico.Today, we welcome a special guest here.A long-awaited and long-awaited guest by the owner of this office.Perhaps, it's time to stop calling him a guest.Because starting from this new season, he will become a member of the Turin team and put on the No. [-] jersey of the Turin team to achieve a more dazzling record for this team.

"Welcome back to Turin."

Dro said a simple but passionate welcome speech to Francisco in a rare and serious way.Dro seemed to want to have a passionate hug with Francisco, but Francisco smiled, only willing to hold out his hand stingily.In this regard, Dro's expression looked very difficult, and then he only shook hands with Francisco when he looked distressed.

"Actually, I'm really surprised, how did you get your boss to agree to add the clause I mentioned at the end of the contract? Liquidated damages...one euro?"

Hearing this question, the corner of Dro's mouth evoked a smile that made people want to give him a shot, but then, a serious and serious emotion appeared in his eyes.

"Believe me, you will be the core of every coach's dream team. As long as I can sign you, I will do whatever it takes, and the team will do the same. Maybe you should remember the last time we met. What has been said. The current owner of Torino has the same aspirations as me."

"It sounds like he really doesn't look like a football club owner."

"Yes, it is precisely because of this that I came to Turin. And I believe that once a player like you wants to leave, you can't keep it with liquidated damages. You are worth any team paying you a high price. liquidated damages."

"That sounds like a pleasant compliment, Mr. Dro."

In this regard, Dro showed a greasy smile to Francisco, which made Francisco suddenly have a feeling that something was rolling in his stomach.It was at this moment that there was a knock on the door of the head coach's office.

"Please come in."

Dro cleared his throat and said loudly to the door.Then, a young player with black hair and black eyes, and wearing a garnet red Torino uniform walked in.

"Coach, are you looking for me?"

That was the Chinese player, Yue Yihuang, whom Francisco had been paying attention to last season.Francisco did not expect that he could see him in the head coach's office of the stadium when the vacation was not over.What's more, I didn't expect that the first time I saw him after coming to Turin would be like this.

And what he spoke was actually Italian.

This could be regarded as the first time he heard Yue Yihuang's voice.From the perspective of an adult male, it seems a little green, but it sounds surprisingly good.Although, his Italian pronunciation is not very accurate.

"Oh, yes, Yue. Come and see who this is! He just returned to Turin yesterday afternoon."

Seeing that Yue Yihuang was also so surprised, De Luo spoke in a timely manner and introduced each other instead of the two of them.Although... they may already know each other.

"Yue, this is Francisco, the top scorer in the Premier League last season. Francis, this is Yue, the small forward in our team. He is very fast and has a very keen sense of smell in front of the goal. It is his priority to grab points. Strengths."

Yue Yihuang was a little flattered to hear that Delo, who used to scold them all so much that he wanted to cry in training, praised himself so much in front of such a world-class striker today.Yes, he might have been really surprised, and then his black eyes looked at this Italian player who could only be seen on TV in the past, and should be in a completely different world with himself.

Seeing that pair of faintly melancholy and tenacious eyes staring at him so intently, Francisco felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.He extended his hand to Yue Yihuang in a friendly manner, and even more generously showed a sincere smile.

This person will be his teammate in the future.His teammates on the front line.

When Francisco held Yue Yihuang's hand, he couldn't help saying this to himself.

What interrupted Francisco's thoughts was Delona's voice with an uplifting aria: "It seems that you already know each other. Then Yue, maybe you still remember what I told you? Francisco is a native of the city. But at the age of 17, he left his hometown to play for Chelsea in England. Not long after that, his family also moved out of Turin. Maybe you can take a break this afternoon, Stay with Francisco and see what he needs to help with? And also to get you familiarized with your new team-mates before the season starts."

Hearing De Luo's words, Yue Yihuang struggled very much, and showed his feelings on his face as always.As a training madman striving to die suddenly during training, it was obviously a very difficult decision for Yue Yihuang to lose one afternoon and one evening.However, his expression change completely entertained Francisco.It made him feel that compared with those players who like to engage in locker room gangs, this Asian player is really too interesting.

"Ok."

After long entanglements and painful choices, Yue Yihuang finally agreed to De Luo's proposal.And he said to Francisco in a very polite but completely devoid of intimacy: "Please follow me."

With that said, the two left the court together.It seems that because the reputation of the Turin team improved last season, Yue Yihuang wisely chose to change his jersey, instead of running home in his jersey after training as before.

When Yue Yihuang walked out of the locker room, he found that Francisco was waiting for him outside the door, and there was no trace of impatience on his face.Yue Yihuang seemed a little surprised, but he still said a word of apology.

"sorry for keeping you waiting."

"No, it won't, it's only been a while. And today I'll hold you up even longer."

Yue Yihuang was a little surprised by Francisco's friendly and unsupervised attitude, although this man had always had this attitude since he was just in the head coach's office.This seems to be somewhat different from the Francisco Yue Yihuang met half a year ago.Yue Yihuang couldn't tell what kind of subtle difference it was.But obviously, such a Francisco will make people want to be his friend very much.

"You speak Italian."

Although Yue Yihuang has not been able to say a few words from just now until now, Francisco can feel that the Chinese boy can understand everything they said, so he looks a little surprised.

"Yes, I would say. I haven't been in China since I was nine years old."

"in Italy?"

Hearing what Yue Yihuang said, it was almost natural for Francisco to ask such a question.However, Yue Yihuang lowered his eyelashes, and after a moment of silence, he replied: "No, in Spain."

Hearing such an answer, Francisco finally understood why Yue Yihuang's tone always seemed... a little strange.That was influenced by Spanish intonation.Be aware that these two languages ​​have many similarities, but their intonations are quite different.

"Did you be called to the stadium on purpose? You know, it's the offseason. Even if it's different from the Premier League, it should still take more than ten days to resume training. Moreover, we are going to participate in the fourth round of the Coppa Italia. The game should also be held on the last Sunday of the month."

"Me, I wasn't called here on purpose. I'm here every day."

"But...why?" Francisco looked a little surprised, "It's a holiday now. As a player, it's not enough to only know about training."

But regarding these, Yue Yihuang just smiled noncommittally and didn't answer.

In the past six months, Francisco has been paying attention to the NO.11 player in the Turin team.When he dribbled the ball to attack, it was so fast.He's agile and athletic, but that doesn't mean he's thin.In fact, when breaking through the opponent's defense, Yue Yihuang would often show his strength that cannot be underestimated.

Although Francisco had watched so many games of the world's top players, he felt... this person had an unparalleled attraction to him.He even thought about...going to Turin during the offseason to catch up with this little guy and have a wonderful relationship with him for three months, and if Yue Yihuang is willing, Francisco even feels that he is very willing Continue in next year's offseason.

But when Francisco decided to play for Turin, he completely dismissed the idea.

It is Francisco's consistent principle not to shoot at his teammates, nor to shoot at his teammates' women or men.

However, when he arrived in Turin and saw the other party again, he found that there was such a difference between the usual Yue Yihuang and the competition.Although his eyes still have the tenacity and light-colored melancholy that has never faded away, he looks more childish, and the feeling of being so persistent that people can't help it is more obvious.In addition, the aggressiveness that seemed to be armed to the teeth has almost disappeared.

Maybe, instead of chasing this little guy, just treat him better, and being a pair of close teammates who surpass friends is also a good choice?