Preseason
Hailey, who had taken no interest whatsoever in the World Cup being held in Australia, was over the moon when the United States' opening match in Group A ended in a thrashing victory.
She'd been indifferent at first, but once she saw America's explosive performance, she was hooked.
On the day of America's next match, she came out to the living room right on time without anyone telling her, and threw herself into the game, asking Yohan whenever something didn't make sense.
"What's that? Why is it a free kick? And they're giving a card too?"
"He lifted his studs — that was pretty dangerous. We should be grateful it wasn't a red."
"Hmm. The ref's bad."
"I think he got it right..."
"No. The ref's got dog eyes."
"Dog eyes is a bit much... they even did a video review..."
"Dog eyes."
"F-fine."
America's final World Cup result was the round of 16 — a three-peat of reaching the last sixteen that was a triumph that wasn't quite a triumph.
From their perspective, it was a little unsatisfying. With such a strong player pool they could have gone further, so the outcome left them disappointed.
Korea had been stuck in a group of death with Germany, Mexico, and Belgium, and as expected, they were eliminated at the group stage.
But they pulled off an upset by beating Germany — the current world number one and defending World Cup champions — 2–1, and not content with merely sprinkling chili powder on them, they clung to Germany's pant legs and dragged them down into elimination together.
For Germany, it was a shocking defeat. The media was in an uproar, hurling stones at the German national team players and coach, while foreign netizens mocked Germany's downfall and wounded their pride.
Korea, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Though they had lost, they went out beautifully at the end, so public opinion wasn't all that bad.
Yohan only watched the matches involving the US and Korea, and spent the rest of his time hanging out with Hailey and the rest of the Newman family.
When the preseason period arrived, he boarded a plane bound for Italy.
Haa...
Every time he came back from America, the regret hit harder. More than when he was anywhere else.
Just as the Newman family thought of Yohan as family, Yohan thought of them the same way, so parting wasn't easy.
"Why are you tearing up? Sad you can't play nerd games with Aiden?"
Hailey's mischievous question came from the seat beside him. Yohan glanced at her sideways and answered.
"That too, and it's sad saying goodbye to everyone else..."
"But I'm coming back with you instead."
"Aunt Carrie is coming too..."
"Do you have no sense of romance? You're supposed to just say thank you here."
"Thank you."
"Be good from now on. I'll be watching carefully."
"Mmm."
"Haven't heard that sound from you in a while. You got a death wish or something?"
"We're on a plane. We need to be quiet."
"If I beat you to death, it'll get quiet. That work?"
"Don't."
Talking to him the whole flight, watching movies together and giggling — thanks to this time with Hailey, Yohan was able to somewhat forget the pain of parting.
The moment the transfer window opened, Roma signed two players and shocked the fans.
They brought in the Czech striker who'd been linked with them on an installment plan totaling 43 million, breaking the club's transfer-fee spending record, and while the defender they'd originally targeted went to England, they signed a pretty solid alternative as a replacement.
They also loaned in a midfielder who'd been getting decent reviews but was frustrated at not getting opportunities because Liverpool's midfield was world-class, thickening the squad.
And they didn't stop there — Roma kept moving busily, contacting various players.
Fans cheered that the owner had finally come to his senses, though some were uneasy, saying they couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Even so, the squad was clearly improving, so the Roma fan community was gathering and organizing the daily transfer rumors, drunk on happiness.
Some people did wonder if this meant Yohan would lose his place. But the attack wasn't saturated, and with Europa League participation increasing the number of matches, there were plenty of opportunities for him to grow, so it wasn't that worrying.
Amid all this, good news arrived for Roma.
Manager Ferraro put an end to the long-running Chelsea appointment rumors and declared he would stay. The club had shown its stance with quick signings, which satisfied Ferraro, so he remained.
However, they hadn't renewed his contract, so they also had to prepare for the possibility of parting ways with him at the end of this season.
Anyway, a few days later Roma loaned in one more fullback with a purchase option. Unnecessary players had already been sold or loaned out, and no starters had left at all, so the squad had been solidly strengthened.
The problem was age.
Lorenzo was also thirty-five, on the verge of retirement, and the ages of the newly signed players were quite high since they'd only brought in proven players. As a result, Roma's overall squad average age rose considerably, contending for the highest in Serie A.
If they couldn't rebuild soon, they'd become a nursing home and collapse. Looking at it the other way, it was the perfect timing to challenge for something.
That something was championships.
Serie A, the Coppa Italia, or the Europa League.
Rumors circulated that the reason the owner had specifically signed only proven players was to aim for one or more of these three competitions this season. When news came out that the preseason venue was Italy, fans treated that rumor as confirmed fact.
Holding preseason abroad rather than at home was largely for club promotion — to make the club known in other countries and secure fans, or to further raise the loyalty of existing ones. Holding preseason domestically couldn't expect that kind of promotional effect.
Though it was cheaper. But looking at how Roma, which had gone abroad for preseason every season for the past five or six years, was suddenly doing this, it was immediately clear that cost wasn't the issue.
Even accounting for the tendency to hold back on overseas promotion during World Cup seasons due to player returns, Roma was moving too quickly, with clear purpose.
There were advantages to holding preseason at home — namely, team chemistry. They could save on travel time and significantly accelerate the new players' adaptation to the club. This was even more effective when there were many new signings.
And Roma currently had three new signings, with additional transfer and release rumors continuing to emerge. And very rapidly at that.
"Gio, you're here."
While Roma was moving so busily, Yohan met Lorenzo at the training ground.
"Enzo! How have you been?"
"Good. You?"
"I've been well too. Played for the national team and went to America to hang out."
"America? What did you do in America?"
"I was at Hailey's house. The girl who was with me during the field walk after our last home match."
"Ah, so that friend was American?"
"Yes."
"She spoke Italian so well I thought she was one of us."
As Lorenzo was going I see, Miguel suddenly appeared from behind him.
"That friend's mother is a famous fashion designer in America. Someone the fashion people in Milan invite often — you didn't know?"
"You're here? No, I didn't. But how do you know that?"
"She was taking pictures with us back then. Didn't you get notifications when she tagged our IDs on social media?"
"I usually keep my notifications off."
"Well, yeah — every kid living in Rome tags the captain, so that makes sense."
"Don't most players keep their notifications off? You're the weirdly special one."
"Not weird — say I'm keeping up well with the times. Gio, drink your mate."
Miguel casually held out a thermos dedicated to mate to Yohan. Yohan took it with both hands and asked.
"Thank you. Did you have a good holiday, Miguel?"
"Me? Made another kid with my wife."
"What...?"
"Adopted a dog."
"Ah..."
"What? Did you misunderstand? Kid... so naive."
"Anyone would misunderstand the way you put it...?"
"Not even a little bit sorry. But have you put on weight?"
"No. I'm at normal weight."
"Doesn't seem like it...?"
Miguel made a sucking sound as he looked Yohan up and down. Then he continued.
"You look a bit pudgier...? Has your muscle mass gone down and fat gone up?"
Lorenzo also looked Yohan over and nodded in agreement.
"He does seem a bit bulked up... We'll check later during the tests."
Miguel was right. Through the tests they did every preseason, the club staff who checked Yohan's body fat saw a much higher number than usual and put a hand to their forehead.
The result of eating whatever was given to him in America and snacking endlessly. Because of this, Yohan was put on intensive diet management.
Once the somewhat chaotic early preseason had passed a bit, and Håkon Vasten — the only goalkeeper to reach the World Cup final — returned, all the Roma players were gathered.
The World Cup winners were France. France, who had advanced from the round of 16 with one-goal victories while completely exhausted, fought with their souls ablaze against the Netherlands, who had similarly struggled to reach the final, and handed them the despair of a fourth runners-up finish as they lifted the trophy.
And Roma completely closed the summer transfer window at the timing of Vasten's return, and entered proper preseason.
The transfer fees spent after the window opened totaled 70 million euros. For a penny-pinching owner, that was a very large investment.
Of course more than half of that transfer fee had been used to sign the striker, and the rest was mostly loans or cheap acquisitions as usual, but the quality of the new players was quite good, so fans were reasonably convinced.
Then an article came out saying they would provide additional support in the winter, and fans who saw this formed two hypotheses.
The first was that they would decide whether to provide support based on results. And the second was that they would proceed through the season until winter, identify which positions were weak, and make signings accordingly.
This hypothesis leaned toward the former. Because the owner had shown opportunistic tendencies many times so far.
At the same time, fans held a little hope for the latter with a what if... just maybe mindset, hoping and hoping that Roma would do well.