Chapter 74: Second Half Season Opener

[The opening match of the second half of the Premier League is a showdown between Manchester City and Brighton. A battle between the current 1st place and a team in the relegation zone.]

[Manchester City, zero signings in the winter transfer market despite being in a title race? Is it confidence, or arrogance?]

Manchester City did not sign a single player in the winter transfer market.

There were, of course, reasons for this decision.

The biggest reason was that Manchester City’s current squad was much more solid than anyone had expected.

With starting-caliber players in every position, except for maybe the goalkeeper, we had enough for a flexible rotation, even if it wasn’t a perfect double squad.

This was possible because the young prospects signed for each position—namely me, Guerrero, Sanchez, and Castillo—all performed beyond expectations.

The second reason was Manchester City’s financial limitations.

Although Manchester City once thrived, known as the ‘club of capital,’ its performance gradually declined, leading to several changes in ownership.

The current owners, the Ravencroft family, are a British aristocratic family with a long history, but unlike previous owners, they have taken a very conservative stance on financial investment.

Of course, they weren’t always so conservative.

Investment, after all, begins with expectation.

That’s no different for a football club.

The Ravencroft family must have had their own blueprint when they acquired Manchester City.

But for the past few years, Manchester City had betrayed their expectations.

Plummeting performance, accumulating deficits, declining brand value… the magnificent dream they once held was already shattered.

‘Of course they wouldn’t feel like splashing the cash.’

Anyone who has ever invested, even a little, would know.

The feeling of watching a stock you bought with high hopes continue to fall.

Who would decide to invest more while watching the stock price only go down, no matter how much you average down?

Especially when you don’t know when it might be delisted.

From their perspective, just signing Coach Peter Guardian and young prospects like us was already enough of an investment—perhaps even an excessive one.

Our current first-place standing isn’t enough to change their minds in one fell swoop.

We need something more than a temporary rise in performance to fully regain their trust.

Yes, what we need is this season’s championship trophy.

We desperately needed it.

‘If we fail to win the title this season and don’t receive proper investment… I don’t know about other teams, but we’ll never be able to beat Manchester United.’

I heard it from Gayoung-nuna.

Yoo Heesung and Manchester United were already negotiating a contract.

If we miss out on the championship this season and face the next season as we are… it’s a guaranteed loss.

My presence wouldn’t change that.

No, I might not even be here myself.

If we don’t win, can I really remain on this team?

The current Manchester City is not a final destination for players, but merely a layover.

A selling club that cashes in on good players for high transfer fees—that’s our current reality.

Of course, I don’t want to leave Manchester City.

But there are plenty of ways they could send me away.

‘It’s quite simple. They just have to stick me in the reserves until I say I want to leave.’

Just then, a KakaoTalk notification chimed.

[Father-in-law – Taewoo, is our Manchester City finally going to win the title? If so, I can truly die with no regrets.]

[Mother-in-law – What do you mean die with no regrets? Taewoo will win it for us not just once, but many times. You have to live and enjoy it all.]

[Father-in-law – Is that so? Hehehe. Taewoo, ahem. I’ll give my approval for one trophy.]

[Damin – Dad! Don’t say weird things!]

A smile spread across my lips as I looked at the screen.

‘Right, since when did I start worrying before anything even happened?’

The championship trophy is just a result.

My job is simple.

Do my best in every match, and play like myself in every moment.

If I do that, the championship will naturally follow.

‘I’ve been too emotional lately. It’s time to play like myself again.’

Ah, right.

Still, I have to do what I have to do.

[Me – Thank you for your approval.]

[Father-in-law – Hahaha, that’s right. Go win it and come back, Taewoo.]

[Damin – ?]

We were confident we were hiding it well.

We believed we were putting on a perfect performance, acting indifferent whenever we met, feigning awkwardness in front of others.

But reality was different.

When I asked Mina, “When did you find out?”, she looked at me as if I was absurd and shot back a question of her own.

“Did you really think no one would notice when you’re that lovey-dovey?”

Hearing Mina’s words, I realized just how blatantly obvious our acting had been.

The way my tone of voice changed unknowingly whenever I saw Damin, the smiles we couldn’t hide whenever we met.

All those moments we believed we were acting were, in fact, the most certain evidence.

‘Tsk, I guess there’s a reason a guy this handsome ended up playing football.’

The world is fair, after all.

***

Brighton is currently in 19th place, deep in the relegation zone.

If things continue this way, their relegation could be confirmed, so they made major reinforcements during the second-half transfer window.

They particularly focused on strengthening their defense, which was the team’s biggest weakness.

They signed central defender Marcos Heira from Portugal’s Braga and brought in promising defender Pim de Jong from Ajax.

They also paid attention to strengthening their midfield by signing defensive midfielder Joaquín Fernández from Argentina’s River Plate.

But there was one transfer news that didn’t receive much attention in Europe.

A piece of news that was a hot topic only in the Korean and Japanese football communities.

[Japan’s Top Prospect, Nakamura Kenji, Confirms Transfer to Brighton… A Showdown with Premier League Leader Manchester City’s Jeong Tae-woo in His First Match]

The news broke that Japan’s top prospect, Nakamura Kenji, had confirmed his transfer to Brighton.

The headline about a showdown with Manchester City’s Jeong Tae-woo in his very first match caught my eye.

That’s right.

It was that Nakamura Kenji from the Olympics.

Just a year ago, the situation was different.

Playing actively in the Japanese J-League, he was rated a cut above Jeong Tae-woo.

It was only natural.

While Jeong Tae-woo was running around high school fields lifting the national championship trophy, Nakamura was already performing at his peak as a goal scorer in the J-League.

But time had turned everything upside down.

“I can’t understand why the Korean players are getting so much attention. I have already proven my skills on the professional stage, and they are still mere amateurs. In this match, I will show them the true difference in our skill levels.”

His arrogant declaration before the Olympics.

But now, reality had taken a path completely opposite to his words.

Jeong Tae-woo, whom he had once dismissed as an ‘amateur,’ had completely dominated Japan in the Olympics and was now writing a new history in the Premier League.

He received immense praise from football fans worldwide for setting an unprecedented record of 17 consecutive clean sheets.

In stark contrast to Jeong Tae-woo, who was leading Manchester City’s charge to first place, Nakamura was merely a rookie signed as the last hope for a struggling Brighton in the relegation zone.

“You’ve just transferred to Brighton, and your first match is against Manchester City. What is your mindset approaching this game?”

At the reporter’s question, Nakamura’s eyes glinted coldly.

People don’t change easily.

You can’t fix people.

Just as these sayings go, a year had passed, but his arrogance and stubborn refusal to admit defeat remained the same.

‘Right, I was just not in good condition during the Olympics. This time will be different.’

He still remembered it clearly.

The smug look on Jeong Tae-woo’s face and the words he said after his shot was blocked at the end of the match.

He had even studied Korean just to understand those words.

‘Don’t be discouraged? This time, I’ll be the one to say that to you. Right to your arrogant face.’

“Mindset, you ask…”

A faint smile hung on Nakamura’s lips.

“I don’t think much of it. They’re just lucky to be in first place. In the first game of the second half, they’ll realize it. That their luck ends here… I’ll show them myself.”

“Manchester City has the iron wall, Jeong Tae-woo, who blocked all of Japan’s shots during the Olympics. He’s also being praised as the best goalkeeper at the moment. Are you confident?”

“Of course.”

A cold confidence laced Nakamura’s voice.

“Goalkeeper is a position that requires a lot of experience. He’s about to face his limits soon… and it’s just his bad luck that he has to meet me to experience those limits sooner.”

Naturally, this interview became a huge topic in the European football world as well.

Jeong Tae-woo, in his current form, was already acknowledged as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

And now, some unknown striker had suddenly appeared and dismissed him.

Not just Manchester City fans, but also fans of other clubs who had experienced Jeong Tae-woo’s iron wall, all criticized Nakamura’s remarks.

“Isn’t he a bit arrogant?”

“He clearly doesn’t know how good Jeong Tae-woo is.”

“Ha, who does he think he is? Jeong Tae-woo has blocked the best strikers from our team… this is just absurd.”

The match was about to begin, drawing interest in Asia as a mini Japan-Korea showdown, and in Europe as the ‘debut of an arrogant rookie striker.’

While warming up, Nakamura spotted Jeong Tae-woo walking across the pitch.

He slowly made his way towards Jeong Tae-woo.

‘Hehehe… you must be nervous too. Now that I’ve come to Europe.’

Just as the two finally met, the jumbotron happened to be showing the scene.

“You, today-“

“Who are you?”

Nakamura’s face froze for a moment.

‘Wh-who am I? No way. It was such a hot topic before the game… No, this is definitely a ploy to mock me. I won’t fall for it.’

“That kind of-“

“I’ll swap jerseys with you after the match. See ya.”

Having said his piece, Jeong Tae-woo turned and walked away as if he had no further business.

“Son of a b*tch!!”