If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my Patreon!!!
Go to https://www.patreon.com/Tang12
___________________________
Francesco Lee was no longer just a winger. He was Arsenal's spearhead. Their hope. Their answer to every question Manchester United asked. And he tried his best to tried score the goal that made them win.
Then came the 82nd minute.
Chaos.
It began with a challenge—an ugly one.
Marouane Fellaini, all flailing limbs and frustration, lunged into Jack Wilshere near the halfway line. It was late. It was reckless. Studs caught ankle, and Wilshere collapsed in a heap, clutching his leg in agony. The whistle blew, sharp and immediate, but it was already too late.
Flamini was the first to arrive, charging at Fellaini like a man possessed. "What the hell was that?!" he roared, chest-to-chest with the towering Belgian. Behind him, Theo Walcott joined, then Alexis, then Koscielny. They surrounded Fellaini, arms waving, words flying, faces twisted in fury.
Fellaini stood his ground, unapologetic, his fists clenched.
Manchester United players surged to his defense.
Chris Smalling pulled Flamini back by the shoulder.
Blackett stepped between Fellaini and Alexis.
Di María shoved Walcott away, barking in Spanish.
And then—like a match to dry leaves—it exploded.
Players from both sides were in a full-blown confrontation. Pushing, shoving, screaming. The referee and his assistants were in the middle of it, trying in vain to restore order. Yellow cards flashed in the air like lightning bolts in a thunderstorm, but it didn't matter.
The crowd roared, part horror, part exhilaration.
And at the heart of it all stood Francesco Lee—burning.
He wasn't even near the tackle, but he sprinted to the center of the storm the moment Wilshere went down. And as he arrived, so did someone else.
Robin van Persie.
Their eyes locked across the chaos.
The history between them was too thick, too raw to ignore. Van Persie, once a hero in red and white. Now, to Arsenal fans, nothing more than a ghost in red.
"Tell your teammates to back off," Van Persie snapped, stepping in front of Francesco, his jaw clenched tight.
Francesco didn't even blink. "Or what?"
"Or learn your place," Van Persie sneered. "You're still young. Be humble."
That was it.
Francesco's expression hardened, his voice low and deadly clear. "A traitor can shut his mouth."
Van Persie flinched, but Francesco wasn't done.
"You kissed the badge. Lied to the fans. Lied to Arsène. And for what? A title? Now you're rotting on their bench."
The Dutchman's eyes widened, nostrils flaring.
Francesco leaned in, voice like venom. "The manager's dedication to you is worth shit. Because you're a shitty player now. And you always were."
The temperature dropped. The world seemed to pause.
Even the players around them noticed.
Walcott pulled Francesco's arm, trying to cool him down. Di María barked at Van Persie to let it go. But it was like trying to contain a storm already unleashed.
Van Persie stepped forward, chests almost colliding. "Say that again."
Francesco didn't move. "You heard me the first time."
Security moved to the sidelines. Wenger screamed from the touchline. So did Van Gaal. The fourth official got between the two players, eyes wide with panic.
A yellow card was flashed in each direction.
But the damage was done.
Francesco turned away last, jaw tight, fury still simmering in his chest. He glanced down at Wilshere, who was now sitting up, limping to his feet with the help of Flamini and the physio.
And in that moment, something shifted.
Old Trafford wasn't just watching a football match anymore.
They were witnessing a war.
The referee restarted play, but the fire hadn't gone out. It had only spread.
The ball rolled back to Flamini, who took a deep breath and switched play to Bellerín on the right. Arsenal didn't slow. They didn't sit back.
They surged.
Like they were feeding off the fury.
Bellerín flew down the flank, exchanging passes with Özil before sliding it through to Walcott. Theo cut inside Blackett, used his pace to dart into space, and spotted Francesco at the edge of the box.
This was the moment.
Walcott crossed low. Francesco took one touch with his left foot, flicking the ball behind his right.
Spin.
He turned Jones again—made him vanish like smoke in the wind—and struck it clean.
De Gea dived.
Post.
Again.
The ball cannoned off the inside of the woodwork, danced across the line, but somehow didn't cross it. De Gea pounced on it, lying flat, eyes wide.
The groans from the Arsenal end were almost painful.
But Francesco didn't throw his hands up.
He turned.
Clapped.
"Again!" he shouted to Walcott. "Again!"
There was something different in his voice now.
Command.
Leadership.
This wasn't a teenager asking to be trusted.
This was a man taking the game by the throat.
And United—despite their earlier lead—began to retreat. Smalling barked orders. Jones looked shell-shocked. Fellaini, already on a yellow, played with caution. Van Persie, rattled from the argument, was barely moving.
In the 85th minute, Arsenal came again.
Özil played a brilliant reverse ball to Alexis on the left. He drove at Valencia, chopped inside, and curled a ball into the near post.
Francesco met it—diving header.
Inches wide.
The net rippled from the breeze of it.
De Gea didn't even move.
Wenger turned to Bould, murmured something through clenched teeth, but stayed stoic.
Van Gaal, meanwhile, was frantic. He gestured for his players to drop back, to keep the draw. He knew Chelsea were still trailing. A United win would be glory. But a draw?
A draw would make Arsenal champions.
Francesco knew it too, but he want to win and not a draw.
And in the 87th minute, Arsenal got a free-kick just outside the box.
The scene felt like déjà vu. Francesco placed the ball himself, just like he had in the first half.
The wall was set.
De Gea positioned himself.
Francesco stood over it—calm. Confident. Focused.
The whistle blew.
He struck it.
Over the wall. Curling. Dipping.
Top corner?
Not this time.
De Gea flew and tipped it over.
World-class.
The stadium applauded despite allegiances.
Francesco jogged back, sweat dripping, heart pounding—but eyes still full of purpose.
The fourth official held up the board.
+5 minutes.
Five minutes to history.
Time seemed to blur. The weight of a season compressed into seconds, hearts pounding in unison across the red half of north London. On the touchline, Arsène Wenger was on the edge of his technical area, fists clenched by his sides. Across from him, Louis van Gaal barked orders with desperation that barely disguised his panic. Every pass now was a heartbeat. Every run, a prayer.
Arsenal were not playing for the draw.
They were playing for legacy.
For invincibles past and promises made.
And then—it happened on the 90+4th minute.
Jack Wilshere, still limping from Fellaini's brutal challenge, took the ball near the halfway line. The Arsenal-born boy, forged in the fire of English football, danced past Mata with a sudden burst. He lifted his head.
There he was.
Francesco Lee.
In the pocket of space between Smalling and Jones, moving along the shoulder of the last defender like a whisper through smoke.
Wilshere didn't hesitate.
He threaded the pass.
It was exquisite.
A thing of poetry—curving and skipping over the grass like it knew its destination before it even left Jack's foot. One touch, perfectly weighted.
Francesco was through.
Old Trafford held its breath.
De Gea advanced. His arms out. His eyes wide. A giant in gloves.
But Francesco didn't blink.
One touch to control. One to shift the angle.
And then—
Bang.
Low.
Precise.
Into the far corner.
De Gea stretched—but he was grasping at shadows.
The net bulged.
3–2.
Hat-trick.
Francesco Lee had done it.
There was no roar at Old Trafford.
No protest.
Just silence.
Like the breath had been sucked from every United fan in the stadium.
But not the away end.
Not the Arsenal fans, packed tightly into the top corner of the stadium, who erupted like a volcano finally let loose. Flags waved, fists punched the air, songs exploded from a thousand throats at once.
And Francesco?
He was already running.
Straight to them.
Arms out wide, legs pumping, emotion pouring from every pore.
Behind him, the entire Arsenal team chased him—Özil, Flamini, Alexis, Wilshere, Walcott, even Mertesacker lumbering from the back, a grin tearing across his face.
But Francesco reached first.
He skidded on his knees just before the hoardings, rising to his feet with a roar that cut through the night.
"COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!"
He screamed it with everything he had. Face flushed. Eyes wild with joy. Sweat pouring. He turned to face the sea of red and white, then grabbed the Arsenal badge on his chest.
Kissed it.
Held it there.
Like it was the most sacred thing in the world.
And in that moment—it was.
It was everything.
The Arsenal fans were delirious. Grown men hugged strangers. Children stood on seats, eyes wide with awe. One man had tears running down his cheeks, fists in the air, repeating Francesco's name like a prayer.
On the bench, Wenger smiled—a rare, unfiltered smile. The kind of smile that said everything without a word. Steve Bould slammed his hands on the dugout roof in celebration. Jorge Mendes, in the VIP box with Leah and Francesco parents, leapt to his feet, his phone already buzzing with messages from every corner of the footballing world. Leah hug Francesco mom Sarah who cried, while Francesco dad Mike was roaring happily.
Francesco Lee. The name on everyone's lips.
The camera panned to van Gaal, motionless, lips tight, shoulders slumped. The script had flipped. The villain had been humbled on his home turf. The boy who stayed had become the man who conquered.
As Francesco jogged back to the center circle, high-fiving his teammates, slapping hands, bumping chests—he turned once more to the fans and thumped his heart.
This wasn't just a hat-trick.
It was a coronation.
He looked to Wilshere, the man who'd delivered the assist, and the two embraced. "That was magic," Francesco said, half-laughing, still trying to catch his breath.
Wilshere grinned. "No, mate. That finish—that was fucking legendary."
In the center circle, Smalling and Jones stood with hands on hips, shell-shocked. Van Persie looked away, jaw clenched, humiliated. The man once cheered for scoring against Arsenal, now watched as Arsenal celebrated a title at his new home.
As the game restarted—barely any time left—there was nothing more United could do.
The final whistle blew barely a minute later.
The away end lost it.
Chants rang out.
"Champions, champions, ole ole ole!"
Francesco sank to his knees at the center circle, eyes to the sky, arms raised. Around him, his teammates formed a circle of joy. Wenger stepped onto the pitch, his expression somewhere between relief and bliss. For the first time since the Invincibles, Arsenal were champions again after 11 years.
As the final whistle's echo faded into the night air, Francesco remained kneeling at the center circle, overwhelmed—breathing in the moment, the noise, the sheer magnitude of what had just happened. Around him, his teammates were running, leaping, shouting, crying. Wenger stepped onto the pitch—slowly, almost reverently—his eyes locked on the young man who had just carried his team, his vision, and perhaps even his legacy, over the line.
Francesco stood as the manager approached.
And then—it happened.
Wenger, the usually reserved, almost philosophical man of football, didn't say a word at first.
He just hugged him.
Tightly.
The kind of hug that says everything words cannot. The kind of embrace that only happens when years of hope, faith, and belief all pay off in a single, unforgettable moment.
"Thank you," Wenger whispered.
Again.
"Thank you."
And again.
"Thank you."
His voice cracked with emotion. The weight of a decade lifted, finally. The critics, the near misses, the heartbreaks—gone. All of it washed away by this moment, by this boy he had watched grow, nurtured, believed in even when others doubted. And now, this boy had become a man. A leader. A legend.
Francesco hugged him back tightly, his voice thick with emotion. "You gave me everything, boss. I meant it when I said I'd stay forever."
Wenger pulled back slightly, his hands still on Francesco's shoulders, and looked into his eyes. "You didn't just stay, Francesco. You became the heartbeat of this club. And tonight… you became eternal."
Francesco smiled, tears now freely slipping down his cheeks. Behind them, Mertesacker had lifted Walcott in the air, while Flamini ran around waving the Arsenal flag like a lunatic. Özil knelt in prayer, overcome. Wilshere was embracing his dad on the sideline. The away fans, still singing, were louder than ever. They weren't just celebrating a trophy. They were celebrating a resurrection.
"Francesco!" shouted Leah, suddenly breaking through the crowd.
Francesco turned just in time to catch her in his arms as she jumped at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "You did it," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. "You bloody did it."
He kissed her, his hands on her waist, still half-lost in the surreal euphoria of it all.
"I told you I would," he said with a grin. "For Arsenal. For you. For all of us."
Nearby, his parents were being swarmed by Arsenal staff and players' families. His mum, Sarah, was wiping her eyes with shaking hands, still sobbing in joy. Leah broke from Francesco's arms for a moment and went to hug her, holding her like a daughter would. Mike—Francesco's dad—was roaring at the top of his lungs, arms up, face red with happiness as he shouted toward the stands, "That's my son! THAT'S MY SON!"
Jorge Mendes had tears in his eyes too, though he tried to mask them behind his sunglasses, failing miserably. His phone never stopped buzzing in his hand, but he didn't care. His star client, his golden boy, had just delivered one of the most iconic moments in football history.
They knew it was Francesco Lee who led them. The boy from north London. The fan who stood in the stands as a child. Now the king who conquered Manchester. Now the name chanted by generations, and will be the face of Arsenal's new era.
________________________________________________
Name : Francesco Lee
Age : 16 (2014)
Birthplace : London, England
Football Club : Arsenal First Team
Championship History : None
Match Played: 34
Goal: 42
Assist: 12
MOTM: 8