We made you the King of Prisoners, and now you've become the King of Football?

Chapter 27 I Really Can't Do Anything With You

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep—"

Three long final whistles completely drowned out the cheers and clamor inside the Stade Louis II.

"Alright! With the referee blowing the final whistle, this key match of the 16th round of Ligue 1 has officially come to a close!"

"With this crucial six-pointer, Monaco won 2-0, taking all three points."

"With 29 points, they overtook the underdog Caen, who suffered a defeat this round, and successfully jumped to second place in the standings!"

"Thank you for watching Lay's Sports! This is commentator Sun Chen. See you at the next match!"

……

"Oh la la la la la la la~~"

The Monaco locker room was filled with the jubilation of victory.

"I can't do anything with you, sit up straight!"

"That was a cold shot in Ligue 1 that will be remembered in football history."

"The stadium was so quiet that only the sound of cleats scraping against the grass and the gasps of the fans in the stands could be heard."

"Monaco is trapped in a 1-0 lead, with no three points yet. The whole team is exhausted and they are almost empty-handed against Caen, who were the dark horse at the time and ranked second in Ligue 1."

"Kylian Mbappe did not choose to play it safe and back down..."

"Who asked you?"

Mbappe, who scored the first goal of the match, seemed to be on steroids.

He was demonstrating his goal-scoring move to Jiang Ming, boasting with great emotion about how cool he had just scored.

Suddenly, the locker room door was pushed open with a loud bang.

Assistant coach Caldera poked his head in and immediately spotted Mbappe: "Kilian! The boss wants you to go to the post-match press conference to get some exposure!"

Mbappe's hand, which was halfway through making a gesture, suddenly stopped.

A press conference? That's great!

That's a place that can be featured on television.

It might help me gain some fame, which could pave the way for me to run for president later.

Forget about bragging to Jiang Ming anymore, Mbappe didn't even change his jersey, grabbed his jacket and threw it on, then rushed out with Caldera.

Jiang Ming picked up the water glass beside him, shook his head dramatically, and sighed with a weary expression, "Ah, young people are just so immature..."

Upon hearing this, B Seat, who was next to him, suddenly stopped using the towel he was using to dry his hair, looked up with a strange expression, and frowned.

But his shy nature prevented him from openly criticizing him; he just muttered to himself, "So you're a seasoned pro, aren't you?"

……

The next day.

London, England.

In Tottenham Hotspur's training center, the afternoon sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the desks, and the black coffee in the cups was still steaming.

"Boss, this is Monaco's recent match data," the assistant coach said softly, placing a stack of documents on the corner of the table.

"No need for too much detail, I just need a quick look."

Pochettino took a sip of coffee, casually picked up the document, flipped through a couple of pages, and waved his hand dismissively.

"Anyway, we're currently leading by three points, so the next league match is the focus. The Europa League shouldn't be a big problem."

Tottenham just won 1-0 away against Qarabag in the last round, taking away three points with the most economical score.

Currently in Europa League Group J, they sit comfortably in first place with 10 points, while Monaco and Anderlecht are tied for second and third place with 7 points each.

Unless the worst happens, they are guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage in the final round.

But the probability of that worst-case scenario is too low.

After all, they are Tottenham Hotspur!

Up front, Harry Kane has scored a whopping 8 goals so far this season.

Son Heung-min, who just transferred from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, was also involved in 5 goals;

In midfield is Dele Alli, England's hottest young star right now, who has already contributed 2 goals and 2 assists this season and has a bright future ahead of him;

The defense is a top-tier, luxurious lineup, comparable to the best in the Premier League.

With Vertonghen and Alderweireld forming a central defensive pairing, Dier can also play both up and down the pitch, and can even move forward to play as a defensive midfielder when necessary.

With Danny Rose on the left and Kyle Walker on the right, their ability to sweep up and down the field is unmatched in the entire Premier League, not to mention that Kieran Trippier is also on the bench.

Looking at the team as a whole, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is perhaps the weakest link.

Moreover, the next game is at their home stadium, White Hart Lane, so they don't even have to travel far.

Beating Monaco and advancing is a piece of cake.

The assistant coach hesitated for a moment, then added in a low voice, "Mainly because... this match has been generating a lot of buzz in England recently, and the media is all talking about it."

"Oh?" Pochettino raised his eyes, somewhat surprised. "Our match against Monaco? What kind of buzz could that possibly generate?"

He thought it was some kind of trouble caused by their opponent in the next Europa League round.

If Monaco were to be without players due to injuries, awarding them a 3-0 victory would save a lot of effort.

The teaching assistant didn't say anything, but took a copy of "RMC" magazine out of his bag and handed it to him: "Take a look at this."

Pochettino took the magazine and opened it; the headline on the first page almost blinded him:

Monaco's two rising stars have emerged, sweeping through Ligue 1! Is Paris Saint-Germain already panicking?

"What the hell?" Pochettino frowned, completely bewildered.

Even when Kane, whom he personally promoted, won the Premier League Silver Boot last season, he wasn't hyped up by the media to this extent.

Whose subordinate is this?

"Boss, there's more on the next page," the teaching assistant pointed.

Pochettino turned to the second page, and wow, he even saw a close-up of Son Heung-min on it, with an even more outrageous headline:

Asian Clash of Titans! Jiang Ming vs. Son Heung-min! Monaco Sets its Sights on White Hart Lane! Determined to Conquer North London!

"……Oh."

Pochettino stared at the headline for three seconds, then couldn't help but chuckle.

When people are speechless to the extreme, they can actually laugh out loud.

So these French media outlets are really daring to exaggerate?

Pochettino tossed the overhyped magazine back onto the table and casually asked, "Who are these two lads?"

"First, there's that French kid named Kylian Mbappé, 17 years old. He came on as a substitute in the match against Caen and scored a goal in his first game for the first team," the assistant coach replied, flipping through his notes.

"He previously played in the U19 and European U19 Championships, competing across age groups, so his talent is quite good."

"Oh, that's not that outrageous," Pochettino scoffed, dismissing it. "What about the other one?"

He wanted to know which Asian came from that could be compared to Son Heung-min.

Son Heung-min is a highly efficient striker who scored double-digit goals in the Bundesliga for two consecutive years. Who can compare to him?

And that name... Jiang Ming?

It's too short; it doesn't have the feel of a long name like those of Japanese players.

Could it be from South Korea? If it is, then the media hyping up an Asian showdown is understandable; two South Koreans facing off is just a way to generate buzz.

"His name is Jiang Ming, he's from China, and he's also 17 years old..." the teaching assistant whispered.

"Oh?" Pochettino was taken aback, somewhat surprised. "A Chinese player?"

In his mind, wasn't the Chinese Super League just a place that only spent money to buy foreign players?

If young players can't even get playing time, how can they possibly develop any good prospects?

The only Chinese players he could recall were Dongfang Zhuo from Manchester United and Fan Zhiyi from Crystal Palace.

"Boss, I suggest we keep a close eye on this Jiang Ming," the teaching assistant said in a low voice.

"Oh? What's wrong? Is this kid really that good?" Pochettino frowned.

"It's not that it's incredibly powerful, it's just so strange..."

The assistant coach scratched his head, hesitating to speak: "He was only temporarily promoted to the first team because Monaco has had too many injuries recently. Before, when he was in the U19 team, he was a fringe player and his performance was terrible."

"But I don't know why, it's like I suddenly had a breakthrough in the last two weeks."

"In the match against Anderlecht, he came on as a substitute and contributed a goal and an assist; then against Marseille, he started and provided two assists; and against Caen, he came on as a substitute and provided an assist."

"In three first-team matches, he was involved in a total of five goals, two of which were when he came on as a substitute."

Pochettino's eye twitched upon hearing this.

Involved in five goals in three games?

Even though Ligue 1, like the Bundesliga, is jokingly referred to as the "farmers' league."

But such efficiency is simply too high for a 17-year-old player.

He sat up straight, finally picked up the Monaco match data seriously, and started flipping through it...