In the Chinese broadcast booth,
Zhan Jun couldn't hide his emotions.
An Asian player had led a once-fallen Premier League giant out of the shadows.
On the grandest of final stages, under the eyes of a hundred thousand spectators, he scored four goals in the final!
Leading his side to a 5–0 demolition of Manchester United!
Bringing Arsenal their long-awaited first trophy in eight years!
At this moment,
even as a lifelong Liverpool supporter, Zhan Jun felt dazed.
Liverpool too had been starved of silverware for years, still struggling along the road of revival.
But Arsenal's moment of rebirth had already arrived ahead of schedule!
Under Kai's leadership,
this youthful, storm-raising Arsenal side would unleash an unstoppable whirlwind across the continent!
For Arsenal fans, this season held infinite promise!
For a moment, Zhan Jun could only feel his heart race.
Jealousy, admiration, longing—he couldn't put the emotions into words.
On the pitch,
the temporary podium had already been built.
FA officials had arrived.
Arsenal's players returned from the dressing room, dressed in clean kits.
When Kai led his teammates back into the spotlight,
the stadium erupted in wild, thunderous cheers!
The trophy lift!
The moment Arsenal fans had dreamed of for years
was finally about to happen before their eyes!
"OOHHHH!!"
"Arsenal! Arsenal!"
"Come on you Gunners!"
"Come on you Gunners!"
A searing red wave swept across the stands.
Just like in the FA Cup final six months earlier,
Manchester United—runners-up again—went up first to collect their silver medals.
Wayne Rooney shoved his medal straight into his pocket,
then stormed down the tunnel without a word.
The rest of the United players, faces dark and heavy, followed in silence.
And once they were gone,
Arsenal's moment of glory arrived!
Kai led his teammates up onto the podium.
FA officials draped gold medals over each Arsenal player one by one.
Then—
the heavy trophy
was handed into the hands of Arsenal's captain, Kai!
"Congratulations, Kai! You are England's unmatched star!"
"And I must also thank you, on behalf of the entire English game—thank you for bringing the Ballon d'Or back to England not long ago! You are the pride of every football fan in this country!"
The FA official passed the trophy to Kai and shook his hand firmly.
"At the same time, I have a small, perhaps shameless request."
The FA official's eyes flickered with nervousness.
"Steven Gerrard may already have spoken to you about this. But let me say it directly, Kai—
you are the pride of English football, a living legend!"
"I beg you to lead England at the upcoming European Championship, and at the World Cup two years later!"
"To awaken the sleeping Three Lions—and sweep aside all opposition!"
Their conversation was snapped feverishly by reporters.
Though no one knew exactly what was said,
the media were certain of one thing:
Anything involving Kai was guaranteed front-page news.
He was a walking headline machine—
every move he made tugged at the hearts of the press and millions of fans!
Under Wembley's night sky,
Kai raised the trophy
and stepped to the front of the podium.
Arsenal's players, already brimming with anticipation, looked up eagerly!
With a sweeping gesture,
Kai called Wenger and Rice onto the podium.
Two legendary coaches who had dedicated more than a decade of their careers to the Gunners.
They joined their players under the burning gaze of the fans!
As the supporters roared with passion,
Kai held the trophy aloft, chanting in rhythm.
His Arsenal teammates fell in step, moving with the beat.
And then—
Amidst the feverish roar of the stadium,
Kai suddenly raised the trophy high above his head!
In that instant—
Wembley erupted!
Fireworks and cannons burst into the sky,
scattering into a rain of dazzling colors.
Deafening cheers and shouts exploded from both the stands and the podium!
"Champions!"
"We are the champions!"
The fans were in a frenzy!
At last—
they had waited for this very moment!
The moment Arsenal would finally lift the trophy!
The heavy silverware gleamed under the night sky.
Kai passed the trophy around.
Every Arsenal player rushed to kiss it, eyes glistening with tears.
Very soon, as cheers shook the stadium,
Kai was handed the individual award for the League Cup Final MVP.
Four goals, one assist, a breathtaking performance!
Undisputed man of the match!
This was a night of milestones,
another glorious peak in Kai's career!
On the touchline, under the adoring eyes of the crowd,
a tearful Arsène Wenger threw his arms around Kai.
"Thank you for everything you've given the Gunners, Kai! You are Arsenal's legend, England's treasure! You will be remembered in history forever!"
The elderly Professor and the young Gunner King embraced tightly.
Applause thundered through the stands—
a scene the fans loved to witness.
"Gunner King!"
"Gunner King!!"
Arsenal supporters roared at the top of their lungs.
Beneath the night sky of Wembley,
the Gunners' celebration carried on endlessly.
Back in the dressing room,
the players drenched each other with champagne in wild abandon.
The championship trophy stood proudly at the center of the room.
It was a night to lose oneself in!
Champions—
they had done it!
Headlines exploded across England the very next morning:
Eight Years of Waiting! Arsenal Lift the League Cup!
A Sensational Night at Wembley! Kai's Home Ground!
Manchester United Crushed 5-0 in the Final! The Ferguson Era Ending?
Four Goals in the Final! Arsenal Captain Destroys the Red Devils!
Kai's First Trophy with Arsenal: This Is Just the Beginning!
League Cup Final MVP! The Undisputed Big-Game Player!
After the unprecedented League Cup final,
English football was shaken to its core!
One breaking report after another emerged.
Fans everywhere engaged in heated debate.
This final—
originally hyped as a clash of titans,
had turned into a completely one-sided affair.
Arsenal's young captain had controlled the game from start to finish!
A four-goal haul in the final,
a 5–0 demolition of Manchester United!
The scoreline also set a new record—
the largest winning margin in League Cup final history!
The mighty Red Devils had once again become the backdrop to Kai's brilliance,
just as they had in the FA Cup final.
At United, the aftermath was chaos.
The Glazer family was at a loss,
while Sir Alex Ferguson's determination to retire grew stronger than ever.
The club's hierarchy had no idea how to respond.
Humiliated on the grandest stage,
with their legendary manager contemplating stepping down—
the Red Devils were in turmoil.
"How do we lure that Arsenal prodigy to Old Trafford?"
"Only if we sign him can we stop Sir Alex from retiring early!"
The United boardroom was in panic.
Meanwhile, as the Premier League giants continued their relentless pursuit of Kai,
some sharp-eyed journalists noticed something else:
Representatives from various national teams
had recently been getting very close with Kai's agent.
It was obvious.
The timing couldn't be ignored—
A world-class tournament was fast approaching.
The European Championship was only a few months away!
And the World Cup loomed just two years later!
At this point, Kai stood alone at the very top of world football.
His national team decision
was pulling at the hearts of millions of fans worldwide!
They all longed to see—
this generational superstar tearing up the international stage.
And now, after Arsenal's triumph in the League Cup final,
only one fixture remained in their February schedule:
the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 clash against Valencia!
Victory there would mean Arsenal's return to the Champions League quarterfinals!
Having just lifted the League Cup,
the Gunners' supporters were hungrier than ever for European glory!
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