Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

In the southeastern French city of Avignon-Arles, at Arles' home ground, the Parc des Sports d'Avignon, the stadium with over ten thousand seats was packed to capacity.

But the Arles fans had gone from thunderous cheers to complete silence—all in just twenty minutes.

Arles 0-2 Bastia.

This Mediterranean town, once called "Little Rome of the Gauls," where Van Gogh painted his famous sunflowers along the Rhône River, now lay as quiet as the lazy afternoon sunlight.

Silent and still.

Arles head coach Estevan watched as Maolida received De Rocca's assist and slotted the ball home, shaking his head in resignation.

He knew De Rocca was exceptional.

He had specifically assigned players to mark De Rocca, but when he saw the young midfielder escape from a three-man press and deliver a perfect pass to Maolida, despair set in in heart.

This was why, when Transfermarkt updated the latest valuations for French league players, De Rocca's worth overshadowed everyone else's.

De Rocca's current valuation had shocked the entire Ligue 2.

After all, most Ligue 2 clubs' entire squads were valued between twenty to fifty million euros.

De Rocca alone was worth thirty million!

His valuation might have been inflated by his age and potential, but Estevan had witnessed his ability firsthand in this match.

The first goal came from De Rocca drawing multiple defenders to the right flank, creating space for David and Rothen's combination play, with Rothen finishing.

The second goal was pure individual brilliance from De Rocca—beating three players before delivering the assist.

The home fans at Arles, disappointed with their team's performance, had even raised banners reading: "On est montés pour redescendre!" (We went up just to come back down!)

This referred to Arles' historic achievement two years ago when they finished third in Ligue 2, defeating the season's third-worst Ligue 1 team over two legs to create both club and regional history.

Last season, they became the first team from the Avignon region to participate in the top flight.

At the time, Arles fans were ecstatic, and the Parc des Sports d'Avignon was renovated as a key municipal project.

Unfortunately, this newly promoted side was completely overwhelmed in their first Ligue 1 season.

Consecutive defeats shattered the team's confidence. Throughout the entire season, they managed just three victories, becoming the league's bottom team and the worst-performing promoted side in history.

They were relegated last season.

This season, after dropping back to Ligue 2, Arles faced a financial crisis due to massive losses from their Ligue 1 campaign. They were forced to sell key players, significantly weakening their squad.

Mid-season, the French Football Federation docked them points for financial irregularities, their president resigned, and the club teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and restructuring.

Conceding nearly two goals per match, they became Ligue 2's worst defensive team.

Now, in just twenty minutes, Bastia had helped Arles meet their two-goal concession quota, with the potential to extend their lead further.

As David celebrated with De Rocca and the others, looking at this struggling team, he felt confident about becoming a regular starter after his summer transfer.

This was why he had agreed to join Arles in the summer window—the current Arles squad was simply too weak, allowing even a veteran like David, who could barely get game time at Bastia, to become a key player.

The match resumed with Arles players struggling with poor form and morale. They looked destined for relegation to the National Championship.

With team morale already low, conceding two quick goals completely destroyed their mental state.

Shortly after kickoff, Arles midfielder Rocchi made a crucial error. His miscommunication with a teammate—passing backward when his teammate was making a forward run—gifted possession directly to Bastia.

Rocchi shook his head in frustration.

This thirty-year-old French midfielder had started his career at Cannes as a promising talent, earning a move to Paris Saint-Germain at age twenty.

But after two unsuccessful years, PSG loaned him to Bastia for a season, and Bastia declined to make the move permanent.

Rocchi had since wandered between clubs like Ajaccio, Metz, and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

This summer, with Arles facing financial constraints, they signed him on a free transfer.

However, his performances hadn't impressed the club—his only redeeming quality was being cheap.

The situation on the pitch didn't improve despite Rocchi's head-shaking.

Estevan shouted frantically from the sideline: "Get back and defend, you idiots!"

Any coach with even a shred of ambition couldn't tolerate such lazy play from his players.

The Arles players, accustomed to their coach's fury, managed to avoid complete collapse and tracked back to halt Bastia's attack.

Bastia then settled into their positional play.

Minutes later, when the ball reached De Rocca's feet, sunlight streamed across his back.

His lightning-quick footwork, weaving through patches of light and shadow, faced defender Balde with a touch, a pull, and a push.

Balde was nutmegged.

De Rocca didn't look back at Balde, his gaze piercing through the covering defender Soro toward the goalkeeper's position.

After experiencing Ligue 1-level defending in the match against Rennes, facing Ligue 2 defenders—despite their occasional rougher, more brutal challenges—was like a complete mismatch.

De Rocca moved through them like they weren't there.

With a simple feint in front of Soro, the defender was completely wrong-footed and could only watch helplessly as De Rocca's back disappeared.

In the next moment, sunlight, youth, and football merged into one as the ball flew toward goal.

Swoosh!

Whether goalkeeper Butelle's vision was impaired by the sun or De Rocca's shot was simply too precise, the ball nestled in the net.

0-3!

Bastia extended their lead!

After scoring, De Rocca sprinted toward the away section, arms outstretched to the traveling fans.

"Yes! De Rocca scores!"

On the sideline, Hadzibegic celebrated excitedly—this was his most thrilling moment of the day, seeing De Rocca push toward the golden boot.

The Ligue 2 commentator, after his passionate description of the goal, declared: "This is what thirty million euros looks like in Ligue 2! The only way to stop De Rocca is to foul him! In less than half an hour, Arles has been completely dismantled!"

The home fans, after witnessing this goal, transformed their silence into scattered applause for De Rocca.

Then the applause spread until the entire stadium was clapping.

Clap, clap, clap!

Thunderous applause filled the air!

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