August 1st.
Arsenal once again hosted Celtic at home.
Fly continued to start in this match.
Given his good performance against AC Milan in the previous game, Arsène Arsène Wenger had sufficient reason to keep him on the field.
Even if Chamakh, the Moroccan, was unhappy, he didn't dare to openly oppose the Professor.
Now he just hoped that Fly would reveal his true colors and make a fool of himself!
Only then could he firmly secure a starting position.
It's important to know that the three attacking positions for Arsenal currently didn't have absolute starters.
Even Van Persie, who had the strongest inherent ability, was only a semi-starter at Arsenal due to his injury-prone nature and rebellious personality.
Not to mention Chamakh, whose ability was inferior to Van Persie.
Arsène Wenger had always selected players for Arsenal's attack based on their current form.
A healthy Van Persie had the highest priority.
The Tsar Arshavin was second, and Chamakh was last.
Nicklas Bendtner was purely a substitute striker; unless the players ahead of him were injured, he wouldn't get a starting spot.
As for Walcott, it depended on the opponent.
However, under normal circumstances, his priority was still second, just behind Van Persie, and tied with Arshavin.
After all, as the fastest winger in the entire Premier League, his core competitiveness was very obvious.
Even after Fly joined the first team and he became the second fastest, he was still much faster than other players!
Fly guessed that Walcott's speed ability value, according to the system's rating, should be around 97.
Let alone the entire Premier League, even in the whole of Europe, it would be hard to find someone faster than him.
Even Gareth Bale, who was gradually making a name for himself at Tottenham.
In terms of absolute speed, he couldn't compare to Walcott.
It can only be said that although Xiao Hu (Little Tiger) had many shortcomings, speed alone was enough for him to gain a foothold in a European giant club.
Facing Celtic in a friendly match.
Arsène Wenger directly changed the formation to 4-3-3, with Fly, Arshavin, and Walcott partnering as the three forwards.
The midfield consisted of Nasri, Alexandre Song, and Fabregas.
The defense was still Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, and Clichy.
The goalkeeper remained Almunia.
Although Celtic were the Scottish Premiership champions.
Compared to a European top 5 leagues giant like Arsenal, their inherent ability was still quite a bit lower.
In this match, Fly first assisted Arshavin to score in the 25th minute of the opening.
Then, in the 56th minute of the second half, he consecutively dribbled past Celtic defenders Lovens and the South Korean Cha Du-ri, cut inside and shot; the ball bounced off Celtic goalkeeper Sausks' leg and into the net.
In the 65th minute, Celtic midfielder Ledley assisted forward Hooper to pull one goal back.
In the 71st minute, Song intercepted Ledley's ball in the center and then threaded a through pass to Walcott.
Walcott sprinted like lightning all the way, powerfully cut inside, and scored a goal.
In the 82nd minute, the substitute Van Persie capitalized on a misplaced pass from the Celtic defense, scoring a world-class goal from the edge of the box to extend the lead to 4:1, essentially securing the victory.
In the 84th minute, Celtic crossed from the left, and forward Samaras headed the ball into the net, reducing the deficit to two goals.
In the 89th minute, substitute Wilshere's long-range shot caused Celtic goalkeeper Sausks to spill the ball, and Van Persie followed up to score, completing his brace.
The final score was set at 5:2.
It has to be said that Arsenal's defense was really not good.
They even conceded two goals against Celtic.
When Fly thought of Barcelona, the ultimate big boss of this season in the original timeline, who won five trophies, he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.
He remembered all too well how miserable Arsenal had been in those years.
Every time they qualified from the Champions League group stage, they would either face Barcelona or Bayern.
With the current level of this Arsenal squad, there was basically no chance against these two teams!
Especially against Barcelona, the current European overlords.
But Fly's fragmented memory told him that Arsenal's performance against Barcelona in the Champions League this season wasn't bad.
They even came close to eliminating Dream Three.
It could be said that they were the toughest opponent Barcelona faced on their way to winning the Champions League this season.
If it was truly as he remembered, then this season's Arsenal definitely had great potential!
At the very least, they should have ambitions and not be satisfied with just finishing in the top four.
Fly didn't come to Arsenal just to finish in the top four.
As someone dedicated to becoming the GOAT of football, how could he tolerate the team he was in slacking off?
"I wonder if I can hint to Dad Li to inject some funds into the club. After all, he's my biological father, supporting his son's career is perfectly fine, right?"
Fly had already set his sights on Dad Li.
Little did he know that Arsène Wenger had the same idea.
If Arsène Wenger knew that Fly didn't need his hint and was already actively thinking about asking Dad Li for money.
Arsène Wenger would definitely be moved to tears.
It's not easy, it's not easy!
Who knew the bitterness in Arsène Wenger's heart all these years!
Watching his arch-nemesis Sir Alex Ferguson lead Manchester United to win trophies like crazy, and even his once harmless neighbors started harvesting honors after a Russian oligarch took over.
On the other hand, what about Arsenal?
Plagued by debt issues, it was impossible to spend big in the transfer market.
Arsène Wenger's 'best squad already' was largely a choice made out of necessity because he couldn't sign the players he wanted.
If he could really get a sufficient transfer budget, how could Arsène Wenger be satisfied with the current squad?
August 7th.
Arsenal played their final friendly match before the start of the season.
Polish Super League team Legia Warsaw hosted the visiting Arsenal.
In this match, both teams went all out, almost abandoning defense, and played a thrilling goalfest.
Ultimately, Legia Warsaw lost to Arsenal with a score of 5:8.
A total of 13 goals were scored by both teams combined.
Fly scored a hat-trick in this goalfest, instantly making a name for himself.
If it were a typical young player, playing a friendly against an unknown team from Poland.
Unless he scored 5, 6, or even more goals at once.
Otherwise, no media would report on it at all.
But Fly was different.
Since arriving at Arsenal, he had become a subject of interest for many European media outlets, especially Fleet Street.
Coupled with his dominant performances in youth matches and the added popularity from having a celebrity girlfriend.
Whenever he performed even slightly well in a match, the media would report on it extensively, and even if his performance was unremarkable, it would still be reported.
The difference was that the former was praise, while the latter was criticism and disparagement.
Fortunately, Fly understood the media's nature too well and didn't take it seriously at all.
After the match against Legia Warsaw.
Arsenal flew back to London the same day and began their pre-season preparations.
Fly, before the season started, allocated his system points to his ability values.