7-4.
The unbelievable score caused an uproar everywhere.
The score alone was shocking enough, but the fact that Ho-young had recorded every single attacking contribution by himself was hard to believe even after seeing it.
A double hat-trick, plus an assist.
It was proof that Guardiola's tactics built around Ho-young had worked.
"At this rate, winning the Champions League will be easy too!"
"As expected of Young."
"That guy really is a monster."
While some players reacted like that in astonishment, others looked at Ho-young with strange expressions, as if what they had seen made no sense.
Awe.
That was what filled Wembley Stadium.
Ho-young had produced countless astonishing performances up to now, but this was the first match like today's.
And since he had recorded a double hat-trick against a big club like Manchester United, the impact was bound to be enormous.
The rest of Manchester City's players had played more than well enough too, but Ho-young's performance had been so overwhelming that their presence was completely overshadowed.
It was, without question, the best match he had played so far.
[Before the award ceremony begins, today's match highlights will be shown on the big screen. Let's all take another look.]
[Wow... even watching it again, it's incredible. It feels new every time you see it. Is that really the kind of play a human can produce?]
[Look over there. Ho-young is doing it, isn't he? Ho-young is human!]
Ho-young's performance kept replaying.
Most of the highlight video was made up of his plays.
At this point, people were starting to get suspicious.
[I've changed my mind. I don't think Ho-young is human. He looks like some perfectly built machine. Or maybe a robot that came back from the future.]
That was not said as a pure joke.
Because no matter who watched it, today's display was simply beyond human.
[I imagine a lot of experts will start analyzing it today. But I suspect it will end in frustration again. No matter how much they study Ho-young's play, the result is always the same.]
It cannot be approached with common sense.
That was the shared opinion of the experts regarding Ho-young.
He was absolutely worth studying, but even then, the meaning of it was limited.
He was beyond common sense, so he could not be understood.
And in the underground press room, more extraordinary scenes followed.
This time, it was Guardiola's solo interview.
"Did anything happen in the dressing room after the first half? The first half was remarkable already, but Ho-young's play especially seemed to reach another level in the second half."
"Yes, I had a truly astonishing experience today."
"What happened?"
Guardiola answered with a look that suggested he could hardly believe it himself.
"Today, I saw someone even more mad about football than I am."
"!"
For Guardiola, who devoted every waking hour to football, to say something like that was shocking in itself.
"And who would that be? Ho-young?"
"That's right. I trusted that player today, and once again he repaid that trust. That is why we were able to beat Manchester United."
Guardiola's voice was firm.
His deep gaze made it clear.
That he trusted Ho-young, and that he would continue to do so.
The journalists murmured among themselves.
"There's definitely trust between those two."
"That's how it looks to me too. They haven't been together long, but they already seem to share a mental bond."
"No, it's not that simple. It may be their first time on the same team, but they've known each other for 4 years now. What started as a bad connection has turned into a perfect match."
Guardiola's honest interview kept the journalists whispering for quite some time.
Then one reporter's question broke the silence.
"This time I'd like to ask something off the pitch. Manchester has undergone an incredible transformation in just 7 months. Last season, Ho-young changed it, and over the past 2 months, you and Ho-young have changed the team together. We know you signed Iniesta. Could you give us a little hint about your plans going forward?"
"Of course, I always have plans. The important thing is deciding when to make them happen. Today we scored 7 goals, but we also conceded 4. So naturally, reinforcing the system is necessary."
"Then which positions are you looking to strengthen? Or could you give us a small hint about the kind of player you want to sign?"
"Signings, hm, I'll have to discuss that. The transfer window still has more than 3 weeks left, after all."
And upstairs, in the interview room, Ho-young's solo interview was underway as well. A male reporter in glasses, his face flushed red, was firing questions in rapid succession.
"Today felt like watching a film! The self-made scissors kick, the change in the ball's direction, the slightly different kicking motion, the crosses that have become unrecognizably more perfect, and so on! How are we supposed to take all that? You have to explain yourself right now."
"I did it, so it worked."
"...?!"
"I did it, and it worked."
What else was he supposed to say here?
That he had worked hard and succeeded?
No, that answer would only be deception toward those who did not possess talent.
That was all Ho-young could say.
"It is the result of using the talent and ability I was given without holding anything back."
"Then does that mean we can keep expecting this kind of play from you in the future?"
"If I can maintain today's condition every day, then maybe. But football is unpredictable. Still, let me make one thing clear. It is too early to be surprised. We still have many dreams we have yet to achieve, and we will achieve many of them going forward."
"You mean Ho-young's dreams?"
"I've spoken about my dreams countless times in past interviews. But I'm not talking only about my own dreams. Teammates who want to win the Champions League, our chairman who wants our shirts to be the best-selling in the world, and our owner who always wants to give us his full support. I will work to make everyone's wishes come true."
"Ah, I see what you mean. So can that be taken to mean you want to make Manchester City the best club in the world?"
"That's right. This is Manchester City's era now. We will prove it this season."
The match that ended 7-4 sent a massive shock across the world.
Countless articles about the match dominated the front pages of every major portal site all day, and football communities everywhere argued endlessly about it.
The heated reaction to the match showed no signs of cooling down, even as time passed.
[Ho-young, 6 goals, 1 assist, MOM, Community Shield winner, quadruple... "It is a satisfying result, but there are still mountains left to climb."]
└What mountain is he even trying to climb? Feels like he's already cleared all 14 peaks of the Himalayas.
└Maybe it's not Earth.
└He's already protected Earth, so maybe now it's time to protect space.
└At this rate, they might sweep every competition this season.
└They just need to polish the defense and midfield a bit. Rotate James Milner, Gareth Barry, Michael Johnson, and Vieira.
└More than that, they probably need to think about Ronaldinho and Adebayor's spots first. Honestly, they're a level below Ho-young.
└True. No matter how hard Dinho tries, his age makes it tough for him to start regularly in the Premier League.
└Then who's coming this time? Honestly, with Manchester City where they are now, it feels like anyone would say yes.
└One sentence is enough. "Ho-young is calling."
Ho-young's effect was tremendous.
Winning all kinds of competitions, all-time great performances, showings, and even his improved looks.
As various factors positively affected the club, its asset value increased exponentially.
With the end of the official shirt sponsorship deal with Umbro approaching, Adidas stepped in with a big offer and a huge sponsorship package.
Umbro, whose stock had risen day after day last season thanks to sales of Ho-young's shirts, fought hard to renew the deal, but once Nike entered the race in earnest, Umbro stepped aside.
Because Umbro was a Nike subsidiary.
In the end, it came down to a showdown between Nike and Adidas, with Adidas offering Manchester City a 5-year deal worth £200 million, around €46 million per year.
Nike was not willing to lose either, and put forward a deal worth £240 million, around €56 million per year.
And Manchester City agreed to a deal with Nike.
That figure was more than five times larger than their previous contract with Umbro, and higher than the recently renewed shirt deals signed by Arsenal and Liverpool.
Of course, it was still lower than the enormous deal Manchester United had with Nike, but that was unavoidable because the scale of their global fanbase was different.
Considering Manchester City's fanbase, this deal was already beyond common sense.
And it had only stopped at that level because of the risk that Ho-young might return to Real Madrid. If there had been any guarantee that Ho-young would stay at City, then a colossal 10-year deal would likely have been completed.
In any case, one thing was clear. Manchester City were currently enjoying the biggest boom in their history.
At the end of last season, Manchester City's fanbase, the Citizens, had been estimated at 10 million, but recent figures showed that the number had already surpassed 40 million.
Those were believed to include Real Madrid fans and supporters who had come in after the Europa League.
[Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak: "The leap to becoming a big club is not far away. We will spare no support in building the greatest team in history."]
Having already made enormous profits, the club's board promised full support in every possible way for the club's rise.
The investor was Mansour.
There was more than enough money.
All that remained now was to look through the shopping list.
August 9.
Today, 2 days after the Community Shield.
Ho-young attended a club meeting in his capacity as captain.
That alone showed just how enormous the influence he wielded at the club had become.
There was no one who envied it or disliked it.
Even the sporting director at the meeting genuinely welcomed Ho-young's presence.
Because to everyone working at Manchester City, Ho-young was, in the most literal sense, their savior.
"Right then, now that everyone's here, let's begin."
The meeting began with Guardiola's briefing.
The main agenda was the positions that needed strengthening and the list of transfer targets.
"As you can see from the material in front of you, the biggest issue with our current team is here. When the ball drops into the third line, it stays there for too long. That means we cannot escape the opposition's press smoothly, and we are unable to build proper attacks. Also, when the team comes under pressure, Ronaldinho and Adebayor lack some explosive force. So the positions we need to strengthen are defensive midfield and dedicated wingers who can serve as Ho-young's two arms."
Players who were dedicated but also explosive, and who could also carry out defensive duties from time to time.
That was exactly the type of player Guardiola wanted.
At that, the sporting director asked,
"Don't we have James Milner?"
That was true.
James Milner was a winger who could be dedicated and take on defensive responsibilities.
But then Ho-young spoke.
"He's doing well even now, but I think there's a high chance he'll grow much more in the future. However, at this stage, he still lacks the destructive force to tear through the front line. His work rate and pace are excellent, but in other winger-specific abilities he falls behind Ronaldinho. Still, his advantage is that he can cover an extremely wide range of positions. So if you're thinking of using him in rotation, I believe using him as a rotation option for both midfield and the wings would be a good solution."
When Ho-young analyzed James Milner so thoroughly, the sporting director let out a laugh.
"Haha... that does sound right. You know him better than I do. You really do have a good eye for players."
"A player's teammates are always the ones who know him best."
Ho-young was right.
As it happened, Guardiola had already been planning to use James Milner as a rotation player until he developed further.
Much like Park Ji-sung at Manchester United.
But the sporting director still seemed to have something on his mind.
"Of course, what I'm saying is only one opinion, so feel free to ignore it. You're the manager, after all, and I have no right to interfere."
"Please, go ahead."
"Very well. If I may say one thing, wouldn't it be better to go with a stable and balanced 4-2-3-1? I can't help feeling we've started conceding too many goals."
"If we operate with a double pivot without thinking it through, then Young will have to cover much more ground in both attack and defense. And the team's threat level would drop as well. It would also affect the player negatively. In the long term, it would become a burden."
"Hmm... that may be true, but once Young moves up front, the midfield becomes too light."
"Too light..."
Guardiola fell into thought for a moment.
It was then that Ho-young joined the conversation.
"Then we just have to make it the opposite."
"The opposite?"
"Heavier."
"Hahahaha. Nicely put."
The sporting director laughed heartily, and Guardiola agreed as well.
"The rebuilding hasn't even begun yet."
"Yes, just as the manager says. We have to build it from now on. A perfect Manchester City."
Ho-young and Guardiola.
Just as they said, Manchester City's transformation was only just beginning.
(To be continued.)