The number ten is absolutely the number that represents the core of a team in football.
And the most famous number tens in football are also dazzling with stars:
For example, the two great football kings Pelé and Maradona, Roberto Baggio, the Samba Elf Ronaldinho, the Portuguese King Figo, and the Argentine King Messi!
The jersey number is not only used to distinguish players on the field, but also a very important part of professional football culture.
Generally speaking, if jersey numbers are assigned according to position, the numbers for left and right wingers are 7 and 11.
However, some forwards or midfielders also like this number.
In Raiola's opinion, Mark, as the team's top star, should wear the number that represents the core.
This is an honor and a declaration.
This is also why he emphasized that Mark must wear the number ten jersey when negotiating with the club.
When Mark wears the number ten, which represents the team's core, he can convey a message to the public:
Mark is the core of Wolfsburg!
Perhaps according to his position and playing style, the number 7 or 11, representing a winger, would be more suitable for Mark.
However, both the number 7 and number 11 jerseys already have owners.
The former is the Bundesliga veteran Caligiuri, who just joined the team last season;
The latter is the number of the team's veteran, "Uncle Biscuit" Olić.
No matter how much the club values Mark, it's impossible to directly take away their numbers and give them to Mark.
That would be too cruel!
Fortunately, Mark is not that obsessed with team numbers, nor does he have any special preferences.
What's more, the number ten is the number worn by various football kings and Ronaldinho at Barça, and it also represents the team's core.
Of course, he was very happy to accept this new number.
From number 45 to number ten, this also represents his new beginning and new role at Wolfsburg.
The most obvious change was that in training, Mark was already wearing the red vest of a starter!
"Are you doping?"
This was the first thing De Bruyne said to Mark after the first training session back with the team.
And this was also the unified thought in the hearts of his other teammates.
Nothing else, just because Mark was much stronger than the last time they fought side by side!
Too obviously strong, too out of place!
During the pre-season training, most of the focus was on building up physical fitness.
Aside from a slight lack of physical endurance, Mark had made significant progress in Speed, explosiveness, and confrontation.
Especially in internal training matches, Mark's strength was visible to the naked eye.
No one could defend against him!
Originally, only R. Ricardo Rodriguez in the entire Wolfsburg team could somewhat limit Mark's dribbling breakthroughs.
But this time, even R. Ricardo Rodriguez couldn't keep up with Mark's breakthrough rhythm.
Often, after a change of pace or a feint, he would easily glide past R. Ricardo Rodriguez!
Many times, it required two or even three players to assist in defense to somewhat limit Mark's breakthroughs and force him to pass the ball.
Facing his teammates' shock, Mark, who was sitting on the bench rehydrating, narrowed his eyes in a very showy manner, tilted his head slightly at a forty-five-degree angle, and replied with a magnetic voice: "I just got stronger..."
Such a pretentious answer made De Bruyne roll his eyes and directly retort, "Get lost!"
"Hahaha..."
However, the first training session back with the club also made Mark realize a serious problem:
That is, the club teammates were much weaker than the National Team teammates.
Compared to National Team teammates like Müller, Kroos, Lahm, and Hummels, club teammates like Perišić, Caligiuri, Gustavo, and Naldo were clearly more than one level lower.
Only two players in the entire Wolfsburg team had a skill level close to that of the German National Team's starting lineup: De Bruyne and R. Ricardo Rodriguez!
At this moment, De Bruyne's words pulled Mark's thoughts back to reality: "Speaking of which, when you called me K just now, I almost didn't react."
"I think it's convenient to call you that on the field, and the opponents won't know I'm calling you. It's very deceptive, isn't it?"
"You can also call me M... uh, let's just call me L!"
At this moment, Malanda, who was sitting nearby, also leaned over and interjected: "I can be M, you can call me M on the field from now on!"
Mark is M, Malanda is also M, this is so logical!
Mark's mouth twitched, and he waved his hand dismissively, "Yes, yes, yes, I know you're M, no need to go around telling everyone."
Casually taking off his training top, De Bruyne suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, Michelle wants to ask about your progress with Hisch..."
Hearing this, Mark shrugged and casually replied, "It's just the progress of having dated once."
At this moment, Malanda, who was sitting nearby, interjected again: "Who is Hisch?"
"Don't you read the news?"
Although a little impatient, De Bruyne still enlightened his young Belgian brother about the relationship between Mark and Hisch.
"Mark, are you in love?!"
"Is that why you bought a new car?!"
Hearing Malanda's surprised look, Mark also gave him a thumbs up: "You're really awesome!"
Compared to the German National Team, Mark felt the club atmosphere was more comfortable.
Perhaps it was because in the German National Team, he was just an inexperienced rookie.
But at Wolfsburg, he was the club's big darling!
The perception is naturally different!
After the first day's training session, Wolfsburg also uploaded the content of the first day's training back with the team on its official website and social media.
Not only that, the club also specially filmed a promotional video for Mark wearing the number ten jersey.
The video content was an edited compilation of Mark's brilliant moments from last season in the Bundesliga and the World Cup, which then faded into complete darkness.
Immediately after, a spotlight'snap' illuminated the entire space, and Mark, wearing Wolfsburg's number ten, stood under the spotlight, with his back to the camera.
As the camera zoomed in, Mark turned around, made a "666" celebration gesture with both hands, and had a brilliant smile on his face.
The video's title was also very cool: "Wolfsburg's New number ten, a Bundesliga Work of Art!"
As soon as the video was released, its views, likes, and comments skyrocketed.
With the video's warm-up, Wolfsburg's official store also officially launched Mark's number ten jersey!
Although they had anticipated the fans' enthusiasm and prepared five thousand jerseys in advance.
However, the club still underestimated Mark's popularity in Wolfsburg, and even throughout Germany.
Before the official store opened, Wolfsburg fans and Mark's followers had already formed a long queue outside the door.
Their only goal was to be the first to buy Mark's number ten jersey!
And in just a few hours, all five thousand jerseys prepared by the club were sold out!
The number of people in the queue outside the store did not decrease at all.
In addition to the five thousand in-stock jerseys, the number of jerseys pre-ordered on the club's official website was even more exaggerated, reaching an astonishing forty-five thousand—this portion came from orders placed by Mark's fans from all over the country, and even international fans.
Combined, Mark's number ten jersey achieved an astonishing sales volume of fifty thousand on the first day!
Based on an average of ninety euros per jersey, fifty thousand jerseys would be four and a half million euros!
This was just one day's sales!
Which also happens to be Mark's annual salary figure.
In other words, in just one day, simply by selling Mark's jerseys, the club could afford to pay Mark's salary for a year.
This sales figure even surpassed the total jersey sales on the day the team won the German Cup at the end of last season!
This is enough to prove Mark's status in the hearts of Wolfsburg fans and his immense popularity throughout Germany!
According to the team's commercial department statistics, Mark's jersey sales could easily reach the top three in the Bundesliga, and his number ten jersey sales would definitely far exceed those of other players in the team.
It could even rival established superstars like Müller and the Robben and Ribéry duo!
Of course, this is all closely related to his explosive performance in the World Cup.
The only goal he scored in the final was widely reported by the German media and was called "the most important goal in German football in the past two decades."
It's not an exaggeration to say that Mark is the most popular player in German football today!
Coupled with his handsome face, which is no less than that of an idol star, it is a huge bonus.
Everyone is looking forward to seeing Mark, who has both looks and skills, perform brilliantly on the Bundesliga stage in the upcoming new season.
Will he continue to perform well and dominate, or will he hit the rookie wall and fall from grace?
The answer to this question will be revealed in the upcoming Bundesliga season!
As time entered August, the curtain of the five major Leagues was drawing closer.
The Premier League even just finished the Community Shield match and is about to usher in its first round of opening games.
However, as the Bundesliga, which opens later among the five major Leagues, there is still half a month left.
Teams are also seizing the last moments to make transfer moves.
As for Wolfsburg, most of the new signings have basically arrived.
De Vrij, Sebastian Jung, Hunt, Bendtner, and Guilavogui have all donned Wolfsburg's training kits and joined this big family.
It's worth mentioning that Hunt, who was initially a bit displeased that the team was unwilling to give him the number ten, had an epiphany after personally witnessing Mark's dribbling skills and free-kick prowess during training:
In front of this super talent, he truly wasn't qualified to wear the number ten!
...Wolfsburg's pre-season preparations, in addition to allowing new signings to adapt to the new environment and tactically integrating the team's lineup as much as possible, primarily focused on the lineup changes of their competitors.
Last season, Wolfsburg finished third, only behind Dortmund and Bayern.
This season, if they want to challenge for the Bundesliga title, they must defeat Dortmund and Bayern!
Therefore, they are also very concerned about the transfer activities of the two Bundesliga giants.
As the defending champions, Bayern Munich also brought in several stars this summer.
First, they signed full-back Juan Bernat from Valencia, and then brought in veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina from Liverpool.
Adding to that the free transfer of Dortmund's star striker Lewandowski and Frankfurt's midfield core Rode, Bayern also spent half a small target this summer.
However, there are ins and outs.
After signing Lewandowski on a free transfer, Mandzukic was finally able to leave, transferring to Juventus.
Kroos's transfer to Real Madrid, however, had a visible impact on Bayern's midfield.
As the only world-class attacking midfielder in the Bundesliga, Kroos was the midfield maestro of this Bayern team.
His departure raised concerns among Bayern fans.
As a replacement for Kroos, they brought in midfield master Xabi Alonso from Real Madrid, but he was criticized for being too old, with his running Speed on the field even slower than the referee's.
Nevertheless, Bayern's core starting lineup was well preserved, and their overall strength remains in a League of its own in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund, on the other hand, faced the embarrassing situation of their star striker being signed by a rival on a free transfer.
With Lewandowski's departure, they could only reluctantly accept reality and began to strengthen their attack.
They first preemptively bought Serie A Golden Boot Immobile, then acquired Hertha BSC's striker Adrian Ramos, and welcomed back Shinji Kagawa, who had struggled at Manchester United and Real Madrid, and former prodigy Şahin.
The addition of young Freiburg center-back Ginter also deepened the Yellow Submarine's defensive reserves.
Seeing that both major rivals had strengthened, Wolfsburg suddenly felt that their own operations seemed too childish.
After all, they casually made several tens of millions of euros in transfers without batting an eye.
While Wolfsburg either signed free agents or took players on loan, with their biggest move being spending seven million euros on a Dutch League center-back.
Of course, they could also say that Wolfsburg only buys what's right, not what's expensive.
Blindly buying famous stars is not Wolfsburg's style.
Besides, if paper lineups could determine the outcome of a match, then there would be no need to play football; awards would simply be given based on market value.
As the Bundesliga opening drew closer, the team's pre-season preparations were in full swing.
The team's final warm-up match before the official season was against the 3. Liga team Stuttgarter Kickers. The purpose of the warm-up match was to quickly integrate new signings into the team, practice tactics, and allow players to find their confidence.
In the warm-up match, Mark, De Bruyne, Gustavo, and other key players all started.
The huge disparity in strength meant that the outcome of the match was decided from the very beginning.
In this match, Mark started as the right winger.
In the first half, he was unstoppable on the right flank, making several precise crosses as if he were in a no-man's-land.
Playing against a 3. Liga team, Mark didn't need many fancy moves or shoulder feints; it was just one word:
Fast!
After delivering two assists in the first half, helping the team to a seven-nil lead, Hecking made a complete rotation at halftime, substituting all eleven starters!
Ultimately, Wolfsburg crushed the 3. Liga team Stuttgarter Kickers with a score of eleven to nil.
This is a traditional German football art form:
If you can score double digits against an opponent, you won't hold back!
As for the team that was crushed, they won't hold a grudge; instead, they see it as a form of respect for giving their all!
....
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