"Are you out of your mind? Why are you saying these things in front of the kids?"
"If it wasn’t for all my hard work playing football, how would you have the money to live in a villa, drive a luxury car, and be a wealthy wife? Without , you’d still be in the Côte d’Ivoire slums drinking porridge!"
The couple started arguing in front of the four children and ended up parting unhappily.
The wife drove the kids to school one by one.
Leaving Toure standing alone, bewildered in the living room.
Just last night, as soon as he got off the plane, he received a call from the mayor of his hotown.
In the past, the local officials would always ask him for all sorts of things—road and bridge repairs were one thing.
But this ti the reason was truly absurd!
The mayor said the city had plans to build a space base to launch spacecraft to explore the universe and asked Toure for a loan of 4 million British Pounds to support the developnt of Côte d’Ivoire’s space industry.
Toure was instantly infuriated, years of frustration finally erupted at this mont.
"Are you kidding ?! With Côte d’Ivoire’s industrial level, you’re talking about building spacecraft? You can’t even make a motorcycle! And you have the nerve to ask for money? Be honest, how much of this money is going into your own pocket? You think I’m an ATM?"
Toure argued with the mayor over the phone.
And imdiately hung up and blocked him.
At this mont, Toure finally realized.
He’s already 32, how many more years can he play football in his pri?
He doesn’t want to live for others anymore, he wants to make the most of the last years of his career!
He wants to prove to the world that Toure is a master, whether at Barça or at Manchester City.
He has the ability to play as a starter on any team, and he would never just coast along while drawing a starter’s salary.
That’s not what Toure should be doing.
If he were like that, in 2010, after winning the treble at Barça, he wouldn’t have left Barça and gone all the way to England.
He rembered why he left Barça: I don’t want to play as a center back, I’m a midfielder!
Thinking of this, Toure’s resolve grew stronger.
He grabbed the car keys and floored the pedal.
With a roar, the 8-cylinder rcedes C63s sped away like an arrow, heading straight for Manchester City’s training ground.
...
"Hey, what’s the occasion? You’re here for extra training too!"
Hearing the old security guard say "too", Toure knew without thinking he was talking about Delph.
Unlike the last ti when he made up an excuse to the security guard about picking up the kids and coming by, this ti Toure made no attempt at concealnt.
"If my teammates are training, then I have to train too, otherwise, at my age, if I don’t have any more gas to play, I’ll have to compete with you for a security guard job!"
Toure parked the car, cald down a bit, changed his clothes and shoes right in the car, and headed straight for the gym.
As he walked briskly, he silently recited in his mind:
"Delph, oh Delph, although you complained last ti about seeing no future playing at Manchester City, you actually have quite the ambition. Haha, if I don’t hurry up and train, I’ll lose the starting position this season to you. In your dreams!"
Toure already considered the younger Delph as his imagined opponent for the defensive midfield position and was determined not to lose to this kid.
However, as he approached the gym door, Toure sensed sothing was off.
From inside ca the noise of heavy breathing and the constant clanging of dumbbells and barbells.
Toure found it strange, could Delph alone make such a racket?
When he pushed the door open, the scene before him left Toure utterly dumbfounded!
At 9 AM on a rest day, Manchester City’s gym was bustling with activity and lively!
Delph was lying on a bench by the door doing dumbbell flyes, holding two striking 25-kilogram dumbbells in both hands, pushing back and forth with well-defined muscles;
Fernando and Fernandinho, both Brazilian defensive midfielders, were also there, one doing barbell bench presses and the other spotting, chatting with each other;
David Silva, the usually slight Spanish attacking midfielder who rarely visited the gym, was at that mont cycling away on the exercise bike, the whirring chain sounding like an aircraft engine;
Opposite Silva, Bony was working out his legs solo, "45, 46, 47, co on, you are the best!"
What surprised Toure the most was seeing the French player Nasri in the gym!
In Toure’s mory, this Frenchman usually had poor discipline, often acting nonchalant;
Last season, he was fined 20,000 British Pounds by Pellegrini and suspended for two matches for being late by 20 minutes.
In the daily morning training, he was always the last to arrive, almost coming in at the very last minute.
Yet here he was, sweating profusely on a rowing machine, continuously working his back muscles back and forth.
Including Toure, there were actually 7 players in the Manchester City gym actively training on a rest day!
Seeing Toure standing dumbstruck at the door, the players who were training only cast him a brief glance, waved a greeting, and then went back to their workouts.
Toure thought hard, Fernando, Fernandinho, Delph, and himself, all four recognized defensive midfielders of the team, were all present.
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