Rise of a Football God

Immediately after receiving the best morning news from his system in the form of his very own passive skill, excited, Sam finally woke up, going about his day with gusto as he started with his daily system quest.

Just as he got set in his gym clothes, about to jog out, his iPhone beeped with a new notification and it was from his coach.

It was the fixture for Fulham's next game.

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 31)

(Nothingham Forest – Fulham)

(2nd April, 2024)

Seeing the message, Sam felt a bit nostalgic all of a sudden.

It still felt just like yesterday when the Fulham agent came all the way to Abraka, Nigeria to get his signature in December last year. Heck, it still felt like yesterday when he and his dad just stepped foot in London, England.

But in the blink of an eye, it was already 4 months.

"How time flies," Sam muttered before quickly jogging out.

He didn't know why his coach could not send the fixture on the night after the game like he did normally, but he had a guess. 'He's exhausted'. He thought.

The players were not the only ones who were exhausted after the grueling game in Bramall Lane against Sheffield United, the rollercoaster of emotions throughout the second half also left Coach Marco Silva extremely exhausted.

Sam guessed that this was the reason why his coach sent the fixture only now. Besides, personally, he was still feeling the hangover.

In the second half, he wore himself out, both mentally and physically.

This morning, Sam's legs still felt heavy. He frowned slightly as he thought about the fact that their next game was just in 2 days.

There was no way for the Fulham players to be at 100% for that game, but it was what it was, the grueling nature of professional football at the highest level.

Sam could only hope that he and his teammates would pull through.

He didn't just jog out this time. Having learned his lesson from recent days, he wore a gray Gucci hoodie, burying his face with the hood so that he would be less recognizable in the streets of Fulham.

These days, he was no longer a figure of obscurity in Fulham.

Though it was already reducing as the recency bias of the EFL Cup died, Sam was still very much a cult hero for Fulham fans already and he was popular.

With this disguise though, Sam hoped to evade them. At first, he was able to avoid attention but when he was jogging back, he realized how naïve he was.

The fans already knew the hotel where he stayed, and most of them already knew that he came out every day to jog too. They blocked Sam, forcing him to sign more autographs, take pictures, and even do videos!

Celebrity life was not for the weak.

In a way, he enjoyed it too though, it was refreshing when it was not toxic.

"Sam, please don't leave Fulham, play for us forever".

"Sam please win us the premier league! You can do it, right?"

"Sam, please help us win the next game against Nottingham Forest. My dad promised me a box of chocolate if Fulham wins".

Sam responded with smiles to all the fan wishes, and when he was done, he finally jogged back to his hotel, completing his daily system quest.

Entering the hotel premises that morning though, he could not help but notice a new white girl that he had not seen before. He knew she was new because he had never seen her in the hotel before.

Sam would have ignored her as he entered the hotel, but she took the initiative to wave at him, stopping him.

She smiled, exposing her cute dimples. "Sam, right? You're the Nigerian who plays for Fulham FC, I know you". She chuckled with her soothingly sweet voice.

Sam smiled back at her, extending a hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you".

"Nice to meet you too," she took his handshake, still smiling. "Since I already met you here, I guess I'll just make it to your next home game. That's against Nottingham Forest, right?"

"No," Sam chuckled, suddenly more confident as the conversation steered in a direction that he was knowledgeable in. "Our game against Nothingham Forest is an away game, we'll be going to their home stadium in The City Ground".

"Oh," she sighed, seemingly disappointed.

"If you'll stay long enough though, you can visit Craven Cottage to watch our next game, it'll take place on the 6th".

"Oh!" She finally brightened up again. "I think I'll stay that long. I'll definitely make it Sam, and don't lose, make sure you win".

"We will!" Sam said confidently, grinning, and then he was finally about to walk in when this girl stopped him.

"Wow, so mean," she chuckled. "You won't even ask for the name".n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Oh, sorry, my bad". Sam scratched his short black hair. "You're?"

"The name is Kayla, Kayla Banks".

Sam smiled, deliberately moving animatedly as he faced her with a smile. "Ok Kayla Banks, it's nice to make your acquaintance, how's the family?"

She chuckled. "Not funny!"

"I know". Sam laughed and then, he finally left, entering inside the hotel and quickly locating his hotel room.

Once he was inside his room, he quickly forgot about Kayla. He met a lot of people these days, meeting one more person did not register deeply in his brain.

Entering his room, he went straight to his bathroom before taking his bath and freshening up, getting ready before leaving for training at exactly 7:15am.

Again, Sam was the first Fulham player to arrive for training.

Like in recent weeks, as soon as he arrived, the first thing he did was use his game analysis A.I system perk to analyze his last game performance, noting down his weaknesses and strengths and with this, he drafted today's personal training plan.

He worked with that plan, commencing training before more Fulham players started showing up for training.

When the coach finally arrived, the finishing touches were done to make the pitch set for training and at exactly 8:00am, training started.

Today's training was nowhere as productive as the Fulham players hoped, almost all of them were still weighed down by fatigue.

Only Sam performed admirably after consuming a physical conditioning elixir earlier in the morning already.

Just like that, training came to an end.

The next day, Sam repeated the same routine and then the next and in no time, the D-day for matchday 31 of the premier league already approached.

Sam joined his teammates and went on a trip to Nothingham City.