6 p.m., Old Trafford Press Room.

The signing ceremony for Liu Yun to join Manchester United officially began. Liu Yun glanced down, and there were far more Chinese reporters in front of him than local British reporters.

Chinese reporters were keenly aware of two contradictory issues.

On Manchester United's side, manager Jose Mourinho and chairman Woodward both attended the signing ceremony.

It is important to know that Manchester United's club president generally does not appear at the signing ceremony of ordinary players. Unless it's a superstar signed.

Could it be that Manchester United regards our proud Uncle Liu Yun as a superstar?

can look at the player number officially announced in the afternoon, and the old lieutenant's Manchester United jersey number turned out to be 46. This is obviously the jersey number of a fringe player.

Of course, the explanation of the official announcement in the afternoon was that the old lieutenant had just celebrated his 46th birthday, and the jersey number corresponded to his age.

This explanation is somewhat difficult. I think that the British legend Matthews returned to Stoke City at the age of 47, and he didn't see Stoke City give him a No. 47 shirt. This is not a British football tradition.

There is no such football tradition in the whole world. How many size jerseys do you wear at what age?

These Chinese reporters are all old fritters who have been rolling in the football circle for many years. Soon they understood. Maybe Manchester United's signing of Liu Yun is like Wolfsburg's signing of Zhang Laxi. Exclusively for commercial purposes.

Does the old lieutenant want to be the chief manager of the water dispenser like Zhang Laxi?

The signing begins, and both parties sign the contract. Then Mourinho smiled and handed Liu Yun a No. 46 shirt with "LIU" printed on the back.

Liu Yun took the jersey, and there was another shutter flash.

"Dear coach Jose Mourinho, I'm a journalist for The Sun. Manchester United's player number for Liu is 46, does this mean that Liu can only be a fringe player at Manchester United? ”

I am afraid that only the reporter of the "Sun", the most authoritative newspaper in football, dares to ask it.

Mourinho just said it to Liu Yun 46 in the morning. At this time, he couldn't tell reporters that he had planned to let Liu Yun be a marginal player, and he didn't even plan to give him the opportunity to be on the cold bench. If this is said, it will seriously affect Manchester United's commercial interests in China.

Mourinho was thinking about how to answer reporters' questions subtly, but Liu Yun showed the wisdom of the Chinese and helped his head coach to relieve the siege.

Liu Yun said: "Can I answer this question for Coach Mourinho? The number 46 was picked by myself. As you know, I am 46 years old. Chinese people pay attention to a 'color head' in everything they do, and the 'color head' is luck. I think the number 46 will definitely bring me good luck. ”

Jose Mourinho's heart is happy. Liu, this guy, is too good at dealing with the media. Mourinho simply sang a double reed with Liu Yun: "That's right. That's right. As for what fringe player or main player, it depends on his performance. Everybody knows my coaching style, even if you're worth tens of millions of pounds, if you don't perform well, you'll be on the fringe of the team. ”

Woodward watched from the sidelines, and was even more overjoyed. Such a player who can deal with the media could not be more suitable for the commercial interests of Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson personally came to his aid to testify at the Labour Department hearings.

"Liu, I'm a reporter for Football Night. How do you feel about joining Manchester United? ”

Liu Yun replied: "I think any player dreams of being able to join a great team one day. Manchester United is a great team! To be honest, I'm very emotional right now. Please also rest assured by Coach Jose Mourinho, Chairman Woodward, friends from the media and Manchester United fans around the world. I will definitely do my best to help the team. ”

Liu Yun has always been forty-six years old and has the experience of a middle-aged person. When he set up a breakfast stall, from the city management to the ruffian, what kind of people from three religions and nine streams have he never seen? Doing small business on the roadside, you have to see people and talk about people, and talk about ghosts. Those life experiences have made him more than capable of dealing with the media.

A group of reporters asked Liu Yun more than a dozen questions, and Liu Yun answered them all without leakage.

The signing ceremony ended at 8 p.m. Liu Yun joined Jose Mourinho and Woodward for dinner in the team's cafeteria.

The team is on vacation, and the restaurant is empty.

It's just an informal dinner. The restaurant chef brought fish and chips to the trio.

Mourinho is temperamental and not pretentious in the slightest. He grabbed the fries and said as he ate them, "With all due respect, Liu." Our front line is full of talent right now. Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Rashford, Mitchell 。。。。。 Of course, Ibrahimovic is recovering from his injuries。。。。。 It's hard for me to guarantee that you'll get a chance to play in a competitive match. ”

Mourinho can fool the media, but he will never deceive his players.

Liu Yun nodded: "I'm mentally prepared." ”

Mourinho added: "Liu, I want to apologize to you. To be honest, number 46... It's the number I said. I know this can hurt your feelings. But football is like that, strength is everything. Small numbers are reserved for players who can play the main role. ”

Woodward glanced at Mourinho. He knows Mourinho. He can speak wildly and provoke the media. But he told the truth to his players. Sometimes it's a plus, and sometimes it's a disadvantage. Because his truthfulness often hurts a player's self-confidence severely.

Liu Yun didn't care: "No. 46, I feel pretty good." Maybe one day, my shirt will make it into Manchester United's team honour showroom. The sign below must be the 46-year-old guy Liu who has joined Manchester United and wears the number 46 shirt. Ha ha. ”

Liu Yun is joking. The joke made Mourinho and Woodward laugh.

It's just a joke. Jerseys into the team's honor showroom? You know, the ones who can display the shirt there are players of the level of Manchester United's Three Saints, Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona.

When the meal was almost finished, Woodward said to Liu Yun very seriously: "Liu, now the club has a very important task entrusted to you. ”

Liu Yun wondered, he had just joined the team, what important tasks could he have?

Woodward continued: "In 10 days' time, the club wants you to return to China to do a promotional event for Chevrolet in your capital, Yanjing. ”

Liu Yun was stunned. Ten days later, it's Europa League final day! Manchester United will compete with Ajax for the Europa League!

Manchester United finished sixth in the league this season, only qualifying for next season's Europa League. If you want to compete in next season's Champions League, you can only win this season's Europa League!

The importance of this game for Manchester United speaks for itself.

Liu Yun secretly thought: On the occasion of such an important competition, send me back to China to do brand promotion? It seems that Manchester United are really using me as a vase.