Super Wingstorm

”I’m back!”

Yang Yang opened the door and walked in to find Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, and Vermaelen sprawled out in the living room, watching the morning sports news while waiting for him to bring back breakfast.

”God, you’re finally back! I’m starving,” Ibrahimovic exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Yang Yang chuckled and walked toward the dining table, holding breakfast in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

”Why are you so late today?” Vermaelen asked with concern.

Yang Yang usually came back very early and had never been this late. They had just been thinking that if he didn’t return soon, they would have to drive out and look for him.

”We were worried you’d been kidnapped,” Maxwell chuckled.

”They’d have to be blind to kidnap me. I don’t have any money,” Yang Yang said, shaking his head.

”Hey, don’t say that. The sports news just did a segment on you. Everyone’s saying you were the number one hero in Ajax’s home victory against Arsenal last night. If a kidnapper really decided to snatch you, the club would definitely pay the ransom,” Maxwell said with a laugh.

”Tch, they’re all blind. I was clearly the man of the match last night, so why is the whole world praising him?” Ibrahimovic shook his head indignantly, looking as if he’d been gravely wronged.

”It’s perfectly normal. The guy actually played well,” Maxwell shot back.

Vermaelen, mouth full of food, nodded vigorously in agreement.

”Actually, it’s mainly because I’m young, so there’s more of a story to hype up. The whole world already knows Ibrahimovic, so there’s no novelty in hyping him up. But nobody knows me, which makes it easier for them to create buzz,” Yang Yang explained with a smile.

’After spending so much time together, he knew exactly how to handle Ibrahimovic.’

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the Swedish striker slammed his hand on the table in approval. ”Exactly! You need to maintain this clear-headed perspective. Don’t be misled by those ignorant fools. You’re still too young. You have to keep working hard to improve yourself, you hear?”

By the end, the guy had adopted the tone of a seasoned veteran admonishing a junior. The sight nearly made Maxwell and Vermaelen die of laughter. ’Is he just playing dumb, or is he really that simple-minded?’

”Hey, wait a minute. There are only three servings. Where’s yours?” Ibrahimovic asked, discovering the problem as he wolfed down his food.

”I already ate,” Yang Yang said with a smile.

”You ate?” The three of them exchanged glances, all picking up the same signal from each other’s faces: ’Something’s up.’

”Yeah, I ran into a friend earlier. We chatted for a bit and had breakfast together...”

”Wait,” Ibrahimovic immediately leaped up from his seat, leaning in to stare at Yang Yang. ”A friend?”

”A guy or a girl?” Maxwell asked, ready for gossip.

”It’s not that hot girl who wrote you a love letter, is it?” Vermaelen’s eyes widened with envy.

Yang Yang shook his head with a wry smile. ”Sorry to disappoint you all. It was a guy.”

”Oh my god, you had breakfast with a guy?” Ibrahimovic put on a shocked expression.

”Something is amiss,” Maxwell deduced like Sherlock Holmes.

”With you acting like this, I’m suddenly feeling very unsafe,” Vermaelen said, feigning fear.

Yang Yang was completely speechless. Shaking his head, he said, ”Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. It was Van der Vaart.”

”What the hell? You had breakfast with him?” Ibrahimovic’s expression changed instantly.

Everyone on the team knew that he and Van der Vaart were famous for not getting along.

Maxwell and Vermaelen were also surprised. Van der Vaart never socialized with them privately, and he didn’t even live nearby. Why would he show up out of the blue in Oude Kerk to have breakfast with Yang Yang?

Yang Yang didn’t think Ibrahimovic would actually be angry, so he just smiled faintly and explained, ”I ran into him while jogging by the Oudekerk Lakefront. He was just sitting in his car by the lake, staring into space. I felt like something was on his mind, so I chatted with him for a bit. He said he had a fight with his girlfriend and came out for a drive.”

The moment he heard the words ”for a drive,” Ibrahimovic was instantly annoyed. ”Bullshit. Going for a drive in a crappy Audi.”

Maxwell and Vermaelen looked at each other and smiled. ’Ibrahimovic really can be childish sometimes.’

Van der Vaart had bought his Audi when he renewed his contract, a little after Ibrahimovic got his Porsche. It wasn’t as expensive as the Swedish striker’s car, but it was the latest Audi S-series model, so it was inevitable that people would secretly compare them behind their backs.

”Why did he and Silvia fight?” Maxwell asked, ever the gossip.

Yang Yang shook his head. ”I didn’t ask about that. But from what he said, it sounded like Silvia wanted him to go with her to a party in the next couple of days, but he didn’t want to go. He plans to focus on training and the matches. Plus, he was in a bad mood last night, so they bickered a bit and it turned into a fight.”

”That makes sense,” Maxwell said with a nod.

”What do you mean?”

”I’d heard a while ago that Van der Vaart often attends parties in Amsterdam. That’s how he and Silvia came to be known as the Dutch Beckham and Victoria. But the club, including Ronald Koeman and Van Gaal, are very unhappy about it. They think he should be focusing more on the matches and training.”

Yang Yang knew about Beckham and Victoria. Their relationship had led to a falling out between Ferguson and Beckham. In fact, the ”flying boot incident” in the locker room last year exposed the complete breakdown of what was once a father-son-like relationship to the public. Ferguson’s biggest complaint about Beckham was that after meeting Victoria, he stopped focusing on matches and training, getting caught up in too many social activities.

”It’s a tough situation. You know, a player’s career is full of uncertainty and it’s very short. But if you build a golden brand for yourself like Beckham did, you’ll be set for life even after you retire. Van der Vaart, Silvia, and their team behind the scenes have definitely considered that.”

As Maxwell said this, he shook his head again. ”But his form really hasn’t been good lately, and his conflict with Ronald Koeman has become public again. It puts him in a very awkward and sensitive position. If this isn’t handled well, the club might decide to make an example of him.”

Ronald Koeman has a typical ”big boss” management style, and Van Gaal is also known for being iron-fisted. With those two at the helm of Ajax, they would never allow a situation like Van der Vaart’s to fester. If a real problem arises, they wouldn’t hesitate to make an example out of anyone, even the team captain.

”What’s so surprising about that? Wasn’t it the same with last year’s captain, Qi Wu, and with Talabesi in the first half of the season?” Ibrahimovic retorted with a sneer. It seemed he was sneering more at Van der Vaart’s act of defiance against the club.

’It suddenly occurred to Yang Yang that while Ibrahimovic also defied the club and kicked up a fuss about wanting to leave, the guy never seemed to actually cross any major lines. He clearly had his own code for survival.’

”By the way, I’ve noticed that during matches, you and Van der Vaart don’t seem to communicate or connect much. You rarely pass to each other. That’s not a good sign,” Yang Yang said, looking at Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic didn’t deny it. Instead, he retorted with righteous indignation, ”He’s the one who doesn’t talk to me or pass me the ball. What am I supposed to do? Go suck up to him? You know how he is, strutting around like he owns the place all day.”

The two stars of the Ajax team were living proof of the saying: one mountain cannot contain two tigers.

They were of similar age and skill, with neither able to definitively overshadow the other. Combined with their daily friction, the rift between them gradually deepened until they became as incompatible as fire and water.

”I’ve always wondered, why did you fight for the captain’s armband? Do you want to be Ajax’s captain?”

”Bullshit! What’s so great about being captain? It’s a ton of pointless responsibilities with no real benefits. I’m not interested.”

”Then why did you fight for it?”

The Swedish striker was at a loss for words. ”It’s just... I saw him get it and I wasn’t having it, you know?”

Yang Yang and the other two could only shake their heads with wry smiles. ’Stirring up trouble like that really is his style.’

When he first saw Van der Vaart become captain, he had actually marched right up to Ronald Koeman and said that he wanted to be captain too, brazenly challenging Van der Vaart for the role and throwing the team’s morale into disarray.

”Whether you admit it or not, we’re all in the same boat now. Winning 3-2 against Arsenal at home was certainly thrilling, but the away game is what’s most crucial. I’m sure you know better than I do how terrifying Highbury Stadium can be. What we need now is unity, not division.”

Maxwell and Vermaelen both nodded in agreement.

Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart were Ajax’s two biggest stars and its core strength. If the two of them kept up this feud, it would be difficult for the team to perform at its best.

Only if they united could Ajax hope to make it out of Highbury Stadium in one piece.

But after listening, the Swedish striker offered no rebuttal, nor did he say another word.

’Knowing him as he did, Yang Yang was sure the words had sunk in. But as for what he would actually do... who knew?’

...

...

The day after Ajax’s narrow 3-2 home victory over Arsenal, major media outlets across the Netherlands and even all of Europe reported on the match, with a special focus on its first goal.

Yang Yang, the youngest goal-scorer in the history of the Champions League, had entered the sights of mainstream European media for the first time. The fact that he had directly or indirectly orchestrated all three goals in this match led everyone to believe that he would become another rising star for Ajax.

At the same time, however, the Dutch media once again turned its attention to Yang Yang’s contract renewal. After all, his current contract with Ajax was incredibly fragile; it was not strong enough to keep him in Amsterdam if he wanted to leave.

In response, Ajax’s technical director, Van Gaal, stated in a media interview that the team’s contract renewal negotiations with Yang Yang were proceeding very smoothly, and he was confident that Yang Yang would remain at Ajax.

”It’s the best choice for him and for the club.”

However, there was no statement from Yang Yang’s side, especially not from his agent, Raiola, who was in full charge of the negotiations.

This undoubtedly sparked a great deal of media speculation.