A few days later, the enthusiasm for Chu Zheng to win the European Golden Boy Award subsided a little, and Leicester City also ushered in the opening game of the Little Devils schedule in late December.
Leicester City's opponent in the 17th round of the Premier League is Everton, which is ranked 10th in the Premier League standings.
Although Everton ranks in the middle of the pack this season, their record is 5 wins, 8 draws and 3 losses, and they lost to Manchester City and Arsenal.
In the summer window of this year, Everton made very little moves in the transfer market and maintained a small-capacity strategy. They spent less than 20 million in total. After buying center back Mori from River Plate for 9.5 million, they spent another 4.2 million from Barcelona.
Bought Deulofeu.
In the second round of the Premier League this season, during Everton's away game against Southampton, Everton fans even rented a helicopter and raised a banner: "It's time for Ken Wright to leave."
Venting their dissatisfaction with club owner Ken Wright's inaction in the transfer market.
But in fact, Everton didn't really do nothing.
Their most important signing in the summer window was actually their success in retaining Stones, the indispensable core of the team's defense.
December 19, 14:00 London time.
There is still an hour before the game, but the King Power Stadium is already crowded and fans have already entered the stadium ahead of schedule.
Because before the start of today's game, Leicester City prepared a small pre-match ceremony for Chu Zheng.
Last night, Chu Zheng, Zhao Dudu and Mario dressed up to attend the Golden Boy Award Ceremony of "Turin Sports News".
The spherical trophy that Chu Zheng had just brought back from Italy quickly became the plaything of Vardy, Kante and others before it was even warm.
For this award that is far away from them, Leicester City players all expressed envy and curiosity.
It's rare to get to play with the Golden Boy Trophy up close, so how could they miss this opportunity.
"Hey, Chu, can I take a bite? I want to see if it's pure gold!" Vardy sat next to Chu Zheng, stroking the golden ball back and forth under the light, deliberately scaring Chu Zheng.
Chu Zheng looked helpless and said: "Jamie, I have already bitten it secretly. This trophy is made of gold-plated brass!"
"Haha!" Suddenly the locker room burst into laughter.
At this moment, assistant coach Paul suddenly pushed open the locker room door, grabbed the doorknob, leaned forward and said with a smile: "Chu, it's time!"
Chu Zheng nodded to Paul, then took the trophy and followed him out of the locker room.
At this time, the domestic sports channel live broadcast room, in order to allow domestic fans to see the small ceremony prepared by Leicester City for Chu Zheng, the broadcast signal was connected in advance.
In front of the studio, He Wei and Zhang Lu were already chatting animatedly.
After a while, the big TV in the studio suddenly burst into violent applause and cheers from the fans!
The two of them turned to the TV at the same time, and saw in the zoomed-in camera, Chu Zheng, who was dressed more formally in a casual suit, walked out of the aisle, holding a golden spherical trophy in his hand.
"This is a small ceremony prepared by Leicester City for Chu Zheng before the game!"
"Chu Zheng is showing his Golden Boy trophy to all the fans at the scene!" Seeing Chu Zheng appear, He Wei began to explain with a smile.
"Chu Zheng won the European Golden Boy, the highest award for young players, which will also be of great benefit to the reputation of Leicester City Club..."
On the field, feeling the applause and cheers pouring in from all directions, Chu Zheng raised the trophy with both hands and the smile on his face became more intense.
He likes this feeling of being surrounded by stars!
People, in fact, are more or less vain!
Even the monsters on TV will pat their chests twice to show off after successfully wrestling Ultraman!
In the stands, Zhao Dudu also put his hands to his mouth, followed the fans in the stands and kept cheering, smiling brightly.
"My brother is so handsome!" At Chu Zheng's house, Chu Ling held Lin Mengmeng in her arms and smiled while watching Chu Zheng on TV.
"Uncle has always been handsome!" Lin Mengmeng continued.
Chu Ling glanced down and said: "It's no use trying to flatter my brother, I will never repair your car for you!"
Hearing her mother's words, Lin Mengmeng immediately withered. She sighed like an adult and then struggled to slide off Chu Ling's lap, switching to another target to please.
Su Ping had a faint smile on her face and was a little distracted watching the glorious Chu Zheng on TV.
To be honest, Su Ping never expected that her son would reach this point.
At the scene, Leicester City and Everton players were already lined up in the tunnel, waiting for the referee to come on.
In the Everton crowd, Lukaku looked at Chu Zheng, who was supported by thousands of people on the field, and he was a little distracted.
Lukaku was extremely impressed by Chu Zheng.
However, he didn't expect that Chu Zheng would quietly run in front of him after not seeing him for more than half a year.
After a while, Chu Zheng left the field amid even more enthusiastic cheers and applause from the fans, and the time was approaching 15:00, the kick-off time.
The live TV footage shows the starting lineups of both teams for this game.
Leicester City:442
Goalkeeper: Schmeichel
Defenders: Danny Simpson, Wasilevskiy, Morgan, Fox
Midfielder: Mahrez, Kante, Chu Zheng, Albrighton
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki, Vardy
"Leicester City's lineup has changed in this game. Center defender Huth has been suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards. Drinkwater and Schlupp also reported injuries before the game!" glanced at Leicester.
Manchester City's starting lineup, He Wei said with a smile.
After finishing speaking, Zhang Lu continued: "Huth's suspension actually has a great impact on Leicester City's defense."
"We all know that the two central defenders Huth and Morgan are very capable of heading the ball."
"Especially Huth, a player who is tall and powerful and has excellent aerial control ability."
"But today it's just Morgan!"
"If Ranieri still has to play defensive counterattack today, then the defense of Leicester City, which lacks the high point of Huth, will probably face a severe test."
He Wei nodded and said: "If Leicester City can win this game, then they will win the first half of the league championship!"
Everton:(433)
Forward: Lukaku
Attacking midfielder: Koné, Ross Barkley, Deulofeu
Midfielder: Cleverley, Barry
Defenders: Baines, Funes Mori, Stones, Coleman
Goalkeeper: Howard
Seeing the appearance of Everton's starting lineup, He Wei continued: "Compared to Leicester City, Everton's team is full of injured soldiers today."
"Jajcar, Oviedo, Hibbert, Browning and McCarthy are all suffering from injuries!"
"It is worth noting that in the past 6 meetings between the two sides, Everton has 1 win and 5 draws, and has yet to lose..."
"Lukaku has recently scored in six consecutive rounds of the Premier League. He currently ranks second in the Premier League scorer list with 12 goals, second only to Vardy. His form this season is also quite amazing!"
"Therefore, how to limit Lukaku's performance will be the key to whether Leicester City can win the game!"
On the court, after the players from both sides shook hands, Chu Zheng and Lukaku walked to the center circle together.
To be honest, Chu Zheng really didn't dare to recognize the Lukaku in front of him.
Compared with last season, the Lukaku in front of him is obviously two sizes bigger from top to bottom, and he is already a bit like the iron fool in the 2018 World Cup.
"Chu, I will never be knocked down by you easily this time!" Lukaku turned to look at Chu Zheng, with an extremely confident smile on his face.
Upon hearing this, the corner of Chu Zheng's mouth twitched.
Chu Zheng visually estimated that Lukaku's current weight is definitely over 88kg.
If Lukaku gained muscle and became like this because he was knocked away last time, then he has committed a big sin.
"That's not necessarily true!" Looking at Lukaku's head that had become smooth, Chu Zheng laughed.
After leaving Lukaku, Chu Zheng looked back at Lukaku's figure, which was as strong as a bear. He was smiling.
After gaining so much weight, it goes without saying that flexibility and balance will definitely be affected.
However, no one else has Lukaku's physical talent. He just adds muscle when he says it, just like blowing up a balloon.
Chu Zheng had a hunch that if he met Lukaku head-on in today's game, he might not be able to gain any advantage in physical confrontation.