Chapter 19
Chapter 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Hot Winter Transfer Window (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Revolutionary strikers are said to be egoists.
I partially agree with that.
Soccer is ultimately a sport played to score goals, and the position that delivers the finishing touch is like the protagonist who steals the show.
Not quite on the level of my attacking midfielder spot, but along with the wingers, it's one of the next best positions for drawing attention.
In that sense, I figured what Lucas Cruijff needed was ego.
He needed faith in himself and to bury that timid personality—at least on the pitch.
But that wasn't it.
"Frustrating?"
"S-sorry..."
"No, I want to hear your honest thoughts."
"W-well... I don't know if I even have the right to say this since I haven't really succeeded at anything yet, but our team's passing is just... really bad..."
"Yeah. What kind of passes do you want?"
"I don't know that either."
"What?"
"I only realized it after playing with you. That it wasn't my fault—it was the team's passing."
"Uh..."
"Yeager, your passes are the absolute best! Perfect timing, perfect strength and speed... As expected, that's what it takes to play in the first team, right?"
His true feelings were bubbling up bit by bit, only for that introverted personality to keep shoving them back down.
"Huh? Yeager, where are you going?"
"Let's check it out real quick."
To properly verify Lucas Cruijff's issue, I turned around and headed back to the training ground.
Thankfully, the staff hadn't finished cleaning up yet, so they gave us five minutes.
"Treat it like a real match. Receive my pass and finish."
Lucas Cruijff followed me onto the training ground, looking dazed.
I fired a pass toward him at full first-team strength—the kind I even held back on in senior matches.
A pass rocketing away at top speed.
Surprisingly, Lucas was receiving my passes.
And in the final pass as the five minutes ticked down, he delivered top-tier movement and finishing.
"Aah..."
A world-class talent lives on our Manchester United U-18 training ground.
A striker trapped in an environment that doesn't suit his introverted nature.
Finding this out didn't mean I could drag him straight into the first team.
No matter how much I'm the ace up top, they'd just see it as typical seventeen-year-old nonsense.
He's held out fine so far, so let's have him hang in there a bit longer.
Once my influence at Man United grows and Lucas Cruijff has some solid proof of his talent.
Reel him up to the first team the moment he's ready.
Until then, the best we could do was pray for solid signings before the three days left in the transfer window ran out—like leaving water out for passing birds.
And someone was already executing that prayer better than anyone.
Streamer Ppanye's Man United transfer window waiting room.
She'd whipped up a fresh PPT and was deep into her lecture-slash-prayer session.
Ppanye's brand-new YouTube channel.
True to form, the title of her very first upload was peak Ppanye.
『ManU Big Signing Frequency Tune-In』
Ppanye, ever vigilant on community buzz, knew full well folks were shocked she'd called Marc Bernal and Mado Murcia.
But skipping high-probability targets on purpose? No fun in that.
Her fix: cast a wide net of predictions.
Ridiculous dream picks like Mbappé and Yamal mixed with rumor-backed ones like Osimhen and Rodrygo.
Balanced just enough to dodge suspicion but spark "damn, this girl's onto something."
Three days until the winter window slammed shut.
And Manchester United? Personal terms done—big signing incoming.
Mike Maignan's buzz exploded the day after Ppanye's stream.
Two days later—window nearly shut—his transfer sealed.
Manchester United's winter window wrapped with Maignan as the capstone.
In that brief midseason month, they plugged holes everywhere.
Defensive midfielder: Marc Bernal
Left-footed center-back: Mado Murcia
Goalkeeper: Mike Maignan
Local ManU fans? Ecstatic.
But the real win was elsewhere.
We'd nearly lost Ban Yeager right after signing him—to Tottenham's siren call.
No renewal yet, but fresh off the boat? Surviving winter window intact was victory enough.
New owner.
Qatari-backed rich ManU diehard Sheikh Jassim? Game-changer.
Three matches post-window.
Newbies sat out, but smart club direction lifted spirits alone.
Enough to bury the West Brom draw with solid results.
Round 30: 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers.
Round 31: 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers.
Round 32: 3-2 win over Blackburn.
Defense still shaky, but three straight league wins fired up the title chase.
Locked at 3rd, but stretched gap to 4th-place Sheffield United by three more points.
Closed to 1 point behind 2nd-place Leicester (down from four).
Neck-and-neck now—even shaved two off leaders Leeds United.
No shakeups in table over three rounds, but a firm title step forward.
All in ten frantic days.
Ban Yeager dominated on-pitch as expected—and off it, pure gold.
"Lad... post-retirement, scouting or coaching?"
"I'm seventeen."
"Ahem... fair..."
"Coach, real talk—with our club's state, I gotta play till forty."
"Hahaha!! Spot on! Till forty as player, then...!!"
"Haha... focusing on playing for now."
U-18 boss Clayton Blackmore's beaming because of my pick.
Our shy egoist striker finally cracked his shell.