Chapter 26: Arsenal's Chief Scout

  After the final, this World Youth Cup also thoroughly fell, and in the previous third-place match, the powerful Brazilian team relied on excellent defense and sharp counterattacks to defeat Argentina 1-0, taking third place in this competition.

  In the end, Gao Jun won the Golden Ball award with 9 goals and 3 assists in one less match, helping his team win the championship. Cesc Fabregas of Spain won the Silver Ball award with 6 goals and 6 assists, while Bruno, the goalkeeper of Brazil, surprisingly won the Bronze Ball award for his outstanding performance throughout the tournament.

  The Golden Boot winner was even more suspenseful, with Gao Jun scoring an astonishing 9 goals to take the award, while China's Jiang Chen took silver with 7 goals. The bronze medal went to Spain's Fabregas. As for the most frustrating player in this tournament, it has to be Fabregas. Not only did his team fail to win the championship, but he also missed out on two individual gold medals. Although this won't affect his future prospects, especially since he's already been eyed by Arsenal, Fabregas still deeply resents Gao Jun for stealing the honor from him...

  Due to previous commitments, the head coach of the national youth team, Liu Chunming, finally lifted the restrictions on reporters' interviews with players. As the biggest focus of this competition, young Gao Jun was naturally the first to be interviewed. To avoid private harassment, Liu Chunming simply brought him to the post-match press conference. After two or three reporters asked Liu Chunming simple questions at the beginning, the reporters then began to concentrate on bombarding Gao Jun with questions...

  "Having won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot at this World Youth Championship, are you now so excited that you can't sleep?" a reporter asked routinely.

  "No, it was just half an hour after the game that I got a bit excited, and compared to individual awards, I value this championship won by the whole team more." Gao Jun shrugged his shoulders and replied.

  "Indeed a 'cold-blooded killer', are you able to score so many goals also related to your cold personality?" asked a female journalist from the country.

  "Fine, with this cold face of mine, I guess this nickname is inevitable......", Gao Jun thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, but immediately corrected and counterattacked, "Auntie, I'm just calm, not indifferent. A calm mindset can certainly help seize opportunities, but the technique of shooting still requires diligent training to cultivate."

  "Auntie?", the young and beautiful female reporter suddenly collapsed, but Gao Jun was not very old anyway, still with a cute and innocent face, calling her "auntie" wasn't entirely wrong either. This was truly "a mute eating bitter melon, having bitterness that can't be expressed." However, this also served as a warning to the other female reporters, to pay attention to their tone when asking questions, children's words are harmless, but won't be as restrained as adults...

  "You are the biggest discovery of this World Youth Championship, and it's likely that soon European clubs will invite you, including those from the top five leagues. Domestic fans also hope that you can go abroad as soon as possible to accept advanced concepts and improve yourself faster. What do you think about this?" asked He Wei, a famous CCTV commentator and sports journalist who was in charge of the live broadcast.

  Gao Jun had considered this beforehand and replied confidently, "As for this, I hope to repay Coach Xu's kindness after going abroad, so there's no rush for now. However, if I had to choose, the Bundesliga would be my first choice, it's suitable for East Asian players."

  "This experience, I'm afraid no one in the country can match it. Everyone thinks that being able to study abroad is already good enough, who still has the mind to be picky? ", He Wei looked at Gao Jun with admiration and immediately continued to ask, "The national youth team is about to disband, with your strength, entering the national youth team as a core player is a matter of course. So have you ever thought of taking it one step further and directly entering the national team? In that case, you would be the youngest national player in Chinese football history, and possibly no one can break your record for many years to come."

  "It's still too early, my body is not ready yet. If I were to participate in the adult team competition, I can only be responsible for non-ball movement and stealing shots, which may not meet the requirements of the national team. Anyway, I'm still young, there's no need to rush."

  ......

  Liu Chunming had promised everyone before the game that after it ended and before returning home, he would give them a day off to stroll around Helsinki. Gao Jun wasn't one for lively scenes, but couldn't resist his teammates who were on good terms with him, so he followed them out of the hotel to take a walk. At first, everyone was full of praise for the foreign scenery, but soon felt that this Nordic city was too dull and returned to the hotel feeling uninterested. Who knew that not long after they got back, a teammate came over to pass on a message saying the coach was looking for him.

  "Could it be that you're not satisfied with my tactical adjustments during the game? Now that the game is over, are you going to settle accounts?" Gao Jun's eyes narrowed as he knocked on Liu Chunming's door with a hint of suspicion.

  "Come in yourself, the door is not locked." Liu Chunming said from inside the house.

  Gao Jun pushed open the door, but saw that in addition to Coach Liu Chunming and the team's translator, there was also a foreigner he didn't recognize, and he couldn't help but feel some confusion. Liu Chunming saw this and smiled as he explained, "Xiao Gao, congratulations! This is Mr. Steve Rowley, chief scout of Premier League powerhouse Arsenal. He has been very impressed with your performance in this tournament and thinks highly of your potential, so he wants to invite you to join Arsenal..."

  Nowadays, Arsenal is a true European giant and is famous for cultivating young players. Even Gao Jun, who had previously said that he wanted to repay Xu Genbao's kindness, couldn't help but feel excited when he heard that Arsenal was sending its chief scout to invite him over. However, he quickly calmed down and humbly replied in fluent English, "This time I have such a good performance must thank the coach and teammates, it is not all my credit, you are overpraising me."

  "Your English is great, it surprises me," Steve Rowley said with surprise, but he obviously didn't understand the Chinese modesty. He shook his head at Gao Jun's previous answer and said, "No, your teammates can only be described as having characteristics, but you are a true genius. Even if they develop well in the future, it will be difficult for them to enter a big club like Arsenal and become a main player, but you are completely different..."