📰 BBC Sport: Manchester United Crowned Kings of Europe Again After Historic Seven-Trophy Season
📰 Sky Sports: Ling's Red Empire: United No. 7 Leads Club Into a New Era of Dominance
📰 Manchester Evening News: From Academy Gem to European Icon — Jeremy Ling Breaks the No. 7 Curse and Restores United to the Summit
📰 The Athletic: Mourinho, Ling, and the Making of a Modern Dynasty at Old Trafford
📰 Fabrizio Romano: Here We Go! Eden Hazard Set to Join Real Madrid This Summer
📰 Fabrizio Romano: Here We Go! Antoine Griezmann Expected to Complete Barcelona Move
📰 MARCA: Florentino Fires Warning at United: "Madrid Were Denied a Three-Peat — Now We Will Make Them Suffer Too"
📰 AS: Real Madrid Reload for Revenge as Europe Turns Its Eyes Toward Ling's United
📰 Catalunya Football: Laporte: "Barcelona Have Been Away From the Champions League Final for Too Long. Next Season, We'll Show Our Determination."
📰 Manchester Legacy: Ferguson Backs Ling to Become the Most Successful Player in United History!
...
On the night the Champions League final ended, the football world did not sleep.
Reports, rumours, opinion pieces, transfer exclusives, tactical breakdowns, emotional essays — everything poured out at once, flooding every major platform.
At the centre of it all stood Jeremy Ling.
He was not only the hottest name in football because of the trophies he had won. It was also because of the way he played.
Some players played as if they were searching for the camera.
Ling played as if the camera was searching for him.
As long as he stood on the pitch, even without the ball at his feet, the lens seemed naturally drawn toward him.
You never knew what he might do the moment the ball arrived.
Look away for even half a second, and you might miss a dribble, a turn, a pass, or a soul-shaking burst of acceleration that changed the match completely.
...
In China, especially in Bin City, the celebrations had already reached fever pitch.
More children appeared on football pitches than ever before, and without exception, they all seemed to be wearing the number 7 shirt.
That number, once merely a digit printed on fabric, had become almost sacred to them, the beginning of a lifelong dream.
Football elements across the city multiplied overnight.
On the landmark building in the city centre, a giant poster showed Ling holding the Champions League trophy.
Beside it, the huge screen on the skyscraper played his career goals on loop, one thunderous strike after another, turning the city skyline into a moving shrine to football.
On forums, fan groups, and social platforms, comments surged like a flood.
📱 @RedDevilsCN ✔
Back-to-back Champions League winners. Seven trophies. Ling is not just amazing anymore — he's entering legend territory. 🔴🏆
| ↳ 📱 @ThirtyYearsUnited
| Reply: I've supported United for thirty years and still couldn't sleep all night. This season feels unreal.
| ↳ 📱 @BinCityNo7
| Reply: The whole city is wearing No. 7 shirts today. Kids are playing football everywhere. This is what inspiration looks like.
📱 @UCLHistoryWatch ✔
Can Manchester United become the first club to win three straight Champions League titles since the modern reform? After this season, you can't rule anything out.
| ↳ 📱 @TacticalDragon
| Reply: It won't be easy. Zidane is back at Madrid, Barcelona have Griezmann coming, Bayern are rebuilding, PSG still have money, and everyone will target United now.
| ↳ 📱 @LingBeliever7
| Reply: Doesn't matter. If Ling is there, there's always hope. I'm done doubting him.
📱 @TransferStormLive ✔
Rumours tonight: PSG prepared to test United with a €280m package for Jeremy Ling. Sources close to Paris claim the wage proposal would be "record-breaking."
| ↳ 📱 @SaudiBallWatch
| Reply: PSG money is nothing compared to the Saudi rumours. Al-Hilal reportedly offered €180m per year, private jet access, a full service team, luxury mansion, and even a Chinese school built locally for his future kids.
| ↳ 📱 @OrdinaryWorkerFC
| Reply: If Ling doesn't want that deal, I'll go in his place. I'm willing to suffer inside luxury cars and mansions.
| ↳ 📱 @RealityCheckVAR
| Reply: Brother, you're not "suffering." You're collecting benefits.
📱 @UnitedRecruitmentHub ✔
Big question now: what do Manchester United need next season? Left-back depth, centre-back stability, another defensive midfielder, and maybe one more left-sided attacker.
| ↳ 📱 @OldTraffordScout
| Reply: Keep Ling, protect Ling, build around Ling. Everything else comes second!
| ↳ 📱 @No7Dynasty
| Reply: The squad is strong, but if United want a three-peat, they need to refresh before everyone else catches up.
...
While the discussions raged in China, the Manchester United players rested for one night before flying back to Manchester the following day.
The usually calm city had been completely ignited.
More than ten thousand fans gathered at the airport, waiting for their heroes to return.
From above, the crowd looked like a sea of red, restless and roaring, every scarf and flag trembling with the same feverish joy.
Whoosh!
The moment Ling walked out holding the Champions League trophy, the area around the airport exploded with thunderous cheers.
"Manchester United!"
"Manchester United!"
The riot police strained to hold the security cordon, terrified the barrier might collapse under the pressure of the crowd.
But even they underestimated the determination of United fans.
A child wearing Manchester United's number 7 shirt took advantage of his small size, slipped between the police, ducked under the barrier, and crashed straight into Ling's arms.
"Ling, I skipped school just to take a photo with you!"
The little boy was so excited he kept touching Ling's sleeves and shoulders, as if checking whether his idol was actually real or just a mannequin from the club shop.
"Photo, photo!"
Ling tucked the Champions League trophy under his left arm, lifted the boy with his right, and asked a teammate to take the picture.
Once the photo was done, Ling handed him gently to the police.
"Let them escort you out, or you'll get trampled," he reminded him kindly.
On a day like this, nothing could be allowed to go wrong.
A stampede, a clash, even one serious accident would ruin the celebration.
As the boy was being led away, he looked back with shining eyes.
"Will you bring the Ballon d'Or back to Old Trafford next year?"
"I will."
Ling nodded with a smile.
Perhaps he should have been more modest.
Perhaps he should have said he would try, or that the result depended on the voters, or that he would wait for the announcement.
But what was the point?
He was a seven-trophy winner!
And he had absolute confidence.
The United players finally forced their way through the crowd and boarded the club bus waiting outside, collapsing into their seats with sighs of relief.
"Our fans are insane," Maguire said, though his face was full of satisfaction. "I never expected anything like that."
After all, being loved by that many fans proved he was an excellent player.
Well...
Maybe just a little behind Ling.
Maguire waved enthusiastically out the window.
Not a single fan looked his way.
Instead, every gaze seemed fixed on the window seat in the third-to-last row on the right side of the bus.
That was Ling's usual spot.
The bus, carrying the Manchester United crest on its side, slowly headed toward Old Trafford.
Horns blared nonstop along the route, and fans followed them for as long as they could, turning the road into a moving celebration.
Under the lenses of countless media cameras, the Manchester United players surrounded Ling as they carried the trophy into the club museum.
Here, the history of the Red Devils was preserved.
The museum divided Manchester United's past into eras, guiding visitors through the club's triumphs, tragedies, rebirths, and glory days.
It felt like walking through the emotional memory of Old Trafford itself.
The photos on the wall stretched across generations.
Billy Meredith.
Matt Busby.
Eric Cantona.
Wayne Rooney.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
And now, Jeremy Ling.
Looking at the photos, Ling smiled brightly.
This was their golden era!
The curator of Manchester United's trophy room was Giovanni, a seventy-six-year-old Manchester resident and lifelong United supporter who had witnessed the club's rise, fall, pain, and resurrection.
With trembling hands, he opened the glass cabinet.
The small silver plaque beneath it read:
2018-2019 UEFA Champions League
Manchester United's fifth European Cup in club history!
Under the old UEFA rules, Manchester United would once have been able to keep the trophy permanently.
Unfortunately, UEFA had abolished that rule after the 2008-09 season.
"Damn UEFA," Giovanni muttered under his breath.
During a training course for Premier League club museum curators, he had once met Liverpool's museum curator.
That man had said, with the sort of smile only a Liverpool fan could wear, "We have the real Champions League trophy with our name engraved on it. Sadly, it will forever stay in the Liverpool Museum, and you'll never get the original trophy again. But if you ever want to come see it, contact me. I'll give you a twenty percent discount on tickets."
"Damn Liverpool," Giovanni muttered again. "Damn UEFA."
Then he turned solemn.
With hands he had washed countless times, he accepted the Champions League trophy from Ling, carefully wiped it down, and gently placed it inside the transparent display case.
Even though he would have to take it out again on the day of the victory parade, he still could not bear the thought of even the smallest stain touching it.
Because to him, this trophy was not just silver.
It was the future!
"Ling," Giovanni suddenly asked, "you haven't lost your Champions League final shirt, have you?"
"It's still with me," Ling replied curiously. "Why?"
He had not thrown it to the fans or exchanged it after the match because he wanted to keep it as a personal memento.
"That shirt was left by Roy Keane."
Giovanni pointed toward the number 16 shirt displayed in the distance.
"It represents a great era. I hope the shirt that represents this new era can stay here too."
Ling looked at the display for a moment.
"Alright. I'll have my assistant bring it over later."
He did not think too much about it.
If Manchester United wanted it, then he would give it to them.
After all, one day, he would have his own statue standing here too.
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