Rise of a Football God

Chapter 166 A surprise

After Fulham's first game of the new season, the league game against Manchester United, they had 7 days to rest and prepare for the next game.

Fulham's next game was to take place between them and Leicester City in the premier league, and it was also their first home game of the new 2024/2025 season in Craven Cottage, making the players even more motivated to show up.

Of course, before the game though, there were certain things that Sam decided to set in order after his call with Austin.

One of these things was building a relationship outside the pitch with Fulham's new signing, Emile Smith Rowe.

The story of how Emile Smith Rowe eventually ended in Fulham was not news to any premier league fan. Afterall, it had been building for a long time.

Emile Smith Rowe alongside Bukayo Saka of Arsenal were once dubbed as the 2 star boys having graduated from the academy together.

During the early days of Mikel Arteta in the premier league, when a teenage Bukayo Saka started getting a prominent role in the Arsenal team that was in a transition period, Emile Smith Rowe also had a prominent role in midfield.

He may not be the best player on the pitch, especially when he was lining up with the likes of Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey in midfield but he was not completely invisible too. Emile Smith Rowe did his thing in the middle of the pitch tidily, helping Arsenal tick and win games.

But then, as Mikel Arteta started building the team in his image, Emile Smith Rowe consistently started being reduced to a peripheral player on the pitch.

First was the acquisition of Kai Havertz from Chelsea as the coach opted to play the German international in midfield at first. And then, later, the acquisition of Declan Rice from West Ham completely destroyed his hopes in consistently making the Arsenal starting XI.

At first, Emile Smith Rowe was determined to stick with his boyhood club since he was a versatile player who could play across the midfield and forward lines.

But even in attacking roles, Mikel Arteta made moves in the transfer market, bringing in the likes of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City and Leandro Trossard too. These acquisitions finally clarified him of his position in Mikel Arteta's plans.

He was not in the coach's plans.

No matter who you are as a professional football player, no matter your nationality, no matter your mentality, or even your skin color, there was only one reaction after making such a damning realization, devastation.

Even the likes of legendary players like the old version of Cristiano Ronaldo lashed out when he discovered he was not in Erik Ten Haag's plans in Manchester United, Emile Smith Rowe was just a youngster in comparison.

Dealing with such a big blow to his career was hard.

Every academy graduate from most big clubs in the world dreamed of playing for their childhood club till they retire, retiring as a legend but not all of them get to fulfill this big dream, and Emile Smith Rowe unfortunately fell into this category.

Even as Emile Smith Rowe completed his move to Fulham, it was clear that the player was yet to completely let go of his past ghosts from Arsenal.

He was talented, but even the best players don't play close to their best when they are not in the right mental state.

Smith Rowe's performances since coming to Fulham was more or less buoyed by Sam's willingness to strike an understanding with him on the pitch.

And now, after the talk with Austin, Sam decided to take it a step further.

He asked a few teammates and easily got Emile Smith Rowe's number. Sam did not know how to beat around the bush, he went straight to the point.

"Hey, man, you free?"

"Can I come over so we'll work out and train together?"

At first, Emile Smith Rowe was stunned. The media may be concocting stories about their telepathic chemistry on the pitch, but only he truly knew how estranged he still was with the Nigerian prodigy.

This was why when Sam took the initiative to call him, he was stunned but then he agreed. "Are you sure you're not occupied by other…?"

"Nah, don't worry about me," Sam interrupted him with a grin. "I am completely free and available to train with you".

That morning, Sam met up with Smith Rowe in the streets of Fulham where together, they started jogging that early in the morning.

If Smith agreed, Sam wanted to make him his jogging partner just like he did with Austin when they played together in the NPFL for Enyimba.

At the end of their jogging, Sam led him to Craven Cottage where they used the stadium's gym to complete their work out.

At the end of it all, both players were sweating profusely but Emile Smith Rowe had a rejuvenated smile on his face as he looked at the Nigerian.

"Sam, you do this every day?"

Sam grinned, looking at him. "Yeah, there's a reason I'm always fit for training".

"It's nice," Smith nodded. "I think I'll be joining you, that's if it's ok with you of course".

'I didn't even need to ask'.

Sam smiled. "Of course, it's ok with me".

And with that, it was sealed as his system finally lit up with notifications, confirming that his daily system quest was completed.

~----~

[You have completed System Daily Quest: Mentality Monster!]

[You have been rewarded with a low-grade physical conditioning elixir!]

~----~

Looking at the English player, Sam wondered. 'Am I the only one that can ingest the elixirs generated by the system?'

He knew it was risky to even think of something like this but looking at Smith Rowe, he could not help but want to help. 'Something like the physical conditioning elixir may help him in recovering his confidence faster'.

'And if we're to keep on winning games, I need him at his best'.

Sam knew right now that it was impossible to share the elixirs he got from the Ultimate Football System, but he wondered if one day he would level up the system to the level where it became possible.

'That's food for thought'.

After bidding farewell to Smith Rowe, Sam challenged the English player to which of them would get home, get set, and return to the stadium faster for training.

Well, Sam failed woefully because once he got home, he was surprised to see what seemed like a surprise box decorated with flowers and balloons by his hotel door. Sam checked with the hotel first to confirm that it was not something dangerous.

The peculiar thing though was that the hotel staff refused to tell him the identity of the person who sent it, only naming the courier man who brought it.

'Hmmm, what are they being so secretive about?'

'But the fact they're being secretive means it's safe and from a familiar person. I wonder who it is'.

Taking the surprise box, Sam entered his hotel room only to be startled by a sudden video call from his mom.

'Hmm, this timing'. He was suspicious.

And when he picked the call, still sweaty all over, he was right.

"Happy birthday!!!" His family screamed on the phone.

"…!" Sam was surprised and taken off-guard.

Not only his family was on this video call. Without him knowing, they already created a WhatsApp group with the name Happy birthday to Sam and they put him inside the group without informing him first.

Apart from his parents and his sister, the other people in this WhatsApp group were Ian, his best friend and then Kayla.

He blushed. 'Damn, mom! What were you people thinking?'

'We're not even dating yet!'

He was pretty sure that his mom was the one who suggested adding Kayla to the group. And then, in hindsight, this month really was his birthday.

He was so focused in preparing for the new season and making Fulham competitive for the title that he completely forgot about other aspects of his life.

His birthday was far gone, it was supposed to be on August 6th.

Sam scratched his head awkwardly. "I completely forgot".

"You moron," his mom berated smilingly, "who forgets his birthdays?"

"When Kayla told me you would forget after going to England, I vehemently disagreed since you were always so particular about birthdays while growing up".

She stared at him. "Does this mean my boy has now grown past birthday celebrations?"

"No mom, no!" Sam chuckled cheekily. "I just forgot".

Stay tuned to empire

And then, they sang a unified birthday song for him, congratulating him on his achievements so far before eventually asking him to open the surprise box.

Sam already expected to see something ridiculous, after all, his mom had a hand in the preparations but this, he did not expect something this ridiculous.

The first thing in the surprise box was a new food flask. Hesitantly opening it, Sam was flabbergasted to discover homemade Banga soup and starch inside all the way from Nigeria.

"Wait, mom, did you send this all the way from Nigeria?"

"Of course, what do you mean and why are you looking at me like that? It's my son's birthday, I will do anything for him!"

"Right," Sam sighed.

"Make sure you eat it!"

"Yes mom".

After the food flask, the other package in the surprise box was a phone, an iPhone. After more than a year of sticking with his iPhone 12 since his father got it for him, his family finally upgraded him to the latest iPhone 15 pro max.

This time, Sam smiled brightly. "Thanks dad!"

His family wanted to talk more but Sam was on a time schedule. "I'm sorry mom, let's talk later, I have a training session to meet".

And with that, Sam left for training.

He left in an incredibly good mood.