Chapter 5: A Fortunate Find

Page 1/3
Chapter 5: A Lucky Break

“When is the new season starting?”
“Let’s enjoy the warm-up matches first!”
“Wait, it looks like Van Persie didn’t come to the US with Arsenal?”
“Selling the captain again? Our club’s falling apart!”

Inside the Xinglang Sports live broadcast room, fans were buzzing in the comment section.

The International Champions Cup match between AC Milan and Arsenal was about to begin.

After a summer filled with the European Championship, fans eagerly awaited the new season’s start.

At this very moment, the hottest news was naturally the transfer headlines reported by major media outlets.

Among these, the most closely watched transfer story of the European transfer window was undoubtedly the fate of Arsenal’s captain, Van Persie.

Van Persie had not traveled with the team to the United States—an extremely significant signal.

The only question was: where would Van Persie end up?

Could it be true, as many British media claimed, that Van Persie had already been in contact with Manchester United?

Would Arsenal really sell their captain and offensive core to their rival, Manchester United?

Of course, whether Arsenal could still be considered a rival to Manchester United was questionable.

After all, Arsenal had gone seven years without a trophy.

The live broadcast camera swept over Arsenal’s bench, giving a brief one- or two-second close-up of Olivier Giroud, the French international striker newly signed by Arsenal this year.

Clearly, he was widely regarded as the player brought in to replace Van Persie.

Then the camera zoomed in on Arsenal’s coach Arsène Wenger for almost ten seconds.

The professor, now sporting silver hair, looked somewhat weathered by the long trophy drought.

Once the academic coach who had dethroned Manchester United’s dominance in the Premier League, Wenger now appeared worn by the years of struggle.

“Professor Wenger is under a lot of pressure right now,” commentator Zhang Jun’s voice echoed.

“According to British media reports, Van Persie’s departure from Arsenal is a done deal. Arsenal is unlikely to allow Van Persie to leave on a free transfer next season because his move will bring in a considerable transfer fee. The only question is: where will Van Persie go?”

“Media sources say Van Persie is increasingly linked with Manchester United.”

Zhang Jun knew exactly what fans cared about now.

Compared to the soap opera surrounding Van Persie’s transfer, this match attracted less attention.

After all, it was just a friendly.

At that moment, the camera shifted to AC Milan’s bench.

Li Mo was neither a “Van Persie replacement” like Giroud nor a venerable figure like Professor Wenger in the football world.

Page 2/3

Of course, he couldn’t expect the live broadcast organizers to give him any special close-ups.

However, fans from Longguo were sharp-eyed.

They immediately noticed that there was someone on AC Milan’s bench who looked different from the other players.

“Is that a Longguo player on Milan’s bench?”
“Maybe he’s from Waiguo or Bangguo?”
“Didn’t you check the roster? There’s a name that sounds like a Longguo name.”
“Limo?”
“The profile says he’s mixed-race—father from Longguo, mother Italian.”
“Mixed-race? Where do you see that?!”

The fans debated among themselves.

The match began.

Both teams started the first half with their main lineups.

Perhaps because it was the first preseason match for both sides, offensive coordination was chaotic, and the starters seemed half-asleep. The quality of play was hard to praise.

The first half ended scoreless.

Before the second half began, both teams made wholesale substitutions—an entire eleven-for-eleven swap.

AC Milan fielded a mix of first-team substitutes and youth players, as did Arsenal.

This gave Li Mo his first chance to represent AC Milan’s first team.

He partnered up front with Pato, who had drunkenly returned to the hotel just past midnight after partying in a New York nightclub the previous night, while Li Mo’s close friend Petagna played just behind them as an attacking midfielder.

AC Milan maintained their customary 4-3-1-2 formation in the second half, while Arsenal switched to a 4-3-3.

Wearing the number 49 jersey, Li Mo’s debut carried no star aura; on his very first touch, he was immediately robbed by Mertesacker from behind!

In the second half, Arsenal’s central defense paired German defender Mertesacker with Swiss defender Jürloff.

Mertesacker was a German international, and his strength was unquestionable.

This scene drew a furrowed brow from Allegri on the sidelines.

So far, he hadn’t discerned what unique qualities Li Mo brought to the pitch.

Li Mo was slightly taken aback but quickly realized that even though this was just a friendly, it was a first-team match.

The intensity and pace were in a completely different league from youth matches.

Page 3/3

He understood that to earn opportunities, he had to quickly adapt and integrate into this top-tier league’s rhythm and physicality.

Li Mo chose a simple way to blend in: run more, observe more, think more.

This was the advice Inzaghi had always given him—active movement, constant observation, and relentless thinking.

Soon, Li Mo got the ball again.

This time, he didn’t hesitate; before receiving the ball, he had already planned his next move.

He moved laterally, glanced behind the defensive line, and seeing no opening, immediately passed back to Pato.

The instant he passed, he turned and ran a hook around the defender, attempting a timed run to beat the offside trap.

If Pato had immediately returned the ball, Li Mo might have had a one-on-one chance on goal.

Unfortunately, like someone still half-asleep, Pato fidgeted after receiving the ball, faked left and right, then passed back to the fullback.

Li Mo was caught in Arsenal’s offside trap and had to retreat, waiting patiently for another chance.

Mertesacker didn’t pay Li Mo much attention after the interception.

Compared to Li Mo, Pato, Milan’s forward partner in this match, seemed the player who truly needed close marking.

His underestimation led to Arsenal conceding a goal in the 53rd minute.

AC Milan launched an attack down the flank.

Fullback Acerbi broke through and reached the byline but could only weakly curl the ball towards the goal under pressure.

Arsenal defender Jürloff nudged the ball with a header at the near post.

The ball reached the far post.

As the camera swung over, commentator Zhang Jun suddenly shouted: “Li Mo!!!”

Following the commentator’s roar, Li Mo, appearing unexpectedly at the far post, seized a “lucky break.”

Facing the aerial ball, Li Mo simply bent his knees slightly and used his chest to direct the ball into the open net.

One-nil.

AC Milan took the lead.

The Arsenal players stood stunned, staring at the far post.

AC Milan players were also momentarily taken aback.

It was Li Mo’s close friend Petagna who reacted first.

“Beautiful!!!”

He raised his arms and excitedly rushed over to Li Mo.

Scoring on his first appearance for the first team was a milestone for a youth academy player like Li Mo.

It meant the door to opportunity had been opened!

(End of chapter)