"If you love football but don't like Liverpool, then I've got nothing to say," Henry said with a laugh.
Gerrard covered his face beside him, utterly baffled by what Henry was saying.
"Henry, cut it out—there are over a million people watching this live!"
Henry smiled and gestured for Gerrard to relax.
"I'm not finished yet."
"But if you love Liverpool and don't like Leo Lin, then you're an idiot!"
Henry's flamboyant praise of Leo Lin was unfolding during the highly anticipated official Premier League semifinal recap show.
Legends from across the league had gathered, with the spotlight firmly on Liverpool's semifinal performance against Manchester City. After all, the other semifinal saw Arsenal cruise through with ease, leaving little worth dissecting.
Arsenal legend Vieira, also a midfielder, focused more on defensive play.
Back in his day, his towering frame, sheer strength, and relentless physicality made him a universally acknowledged, legendary defensive midfielder in Premier League history.
Had Makélélé not existed, debates about the league's greatest holding midfielder would likely have ended with Vieira.
"I watched the entire match live," Vieira said. "After it was over, I only had one thought—Leo Lin is terrifying."
He pulled up Leo Lin's match statistics.
"Just look at this performance."
"He ran nonstop for the full ninety minutes. And this kind of movement is even more exhausting—it's not just long-distance running, but constant changes of rhythm, which place huge demands on a player's cardio."
"And on top of that, he completed four successful one-on-one dribbles, plus four interceptions and three tackles on the defensive end."
Vieira shook his head as he spoke, his tone filled with disbelief.
"It's unbelievable. He's like a combination of me and Kaka!"
After Vieira finished, Lampard, Gerrard, and others shared their own perspectives.
The livestream's viewer count kept climbing. Word spread rapidly, and more and more fans poured in to watch the post-match analysis.
Leo Lin himself was watching as well. As the central figure being praised, he found the experience oddly surreal.
These were names he had only ever seen growing up—on TV broadcasts or splashed across newspaper front pages.
And now, the people who had lived only in his memories were all gathered together, dissecting and praising his performance.
The program ran for a full hour. It had originally been a standard analysis of Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal's semifinal matches.
But once Vieira set the tone, the legends collectively broke down Leo Lin's performance piece by piece, praising it over and over again. The live chat scrolled at a frantic pace.
"I personally witnessed Leo Lin riding a train from England to France!"
"An eyewitness? Then it must be true!"
"I've been following Lin's growth—he still has massive potential!"
That single post-match show pushed Leo Lin straight to the top of the sports trending charts, claiming the number-one spot.
Clips and analysis videos from the program spread like wildfire online, quickly surpassing ten million views.
Such staggering traffic and engagement soon caught the attention of the new media industry.
A football app called Football Alliance—currently the most popular and widely used football app in England—approached Leo Lin.
They were eager to compete head-on with every major football app on the market and were determined to attract more users.
At the same time, Football Alliance planned to build a brand-new global football section centered around Leo Lin, aiming to draw users away from competing platforms.
In Europe, football was undoubtedly the most effective way to open up the market.
When McLaren, the head of Football Alliance, saw the explosive growth rate and astonishing view counts of Leo Lin's videos, he made a decision on the spot: no matter the cost, they had to sign Leo Lin.
He wanted Leo Lin to become Football Alliance's newest brand ambassador.
The offer was quickly delivered to Barnett, filled with sincerity.
It was a five-year long-term contract, starting at £2 million in the first year and increasing by £1 million each year. Leo Lin also retained the right to decide whether to renew the deal for an additional three years.
The renewal fee alone was astronomical. Football Alliance was fully committed to expanding its user base, and Leo Lin was the prime asset they were determined to secure.
Naturally, other football apps also made offers—they had no intention of letting Leo Lin go.
The strongest competitor was undoubtedly the Enchanting Football News app, which boasted what it claimed was the world's most professional football database and an enormous fan base.
However, Football Alliance kept raising its bid, eventually pushing it beyond what Enchanting Football News was willing to accept.
The head of Enchanting Football News even posted a sarcastic message online:
"Some people have lost their minds. They'd rather gamble huge sums on an uncertain future than spend money fixing their own company's coffee machine."
The post mocked Football Alliance's headquarters, where coffee machine issues had reportedly gone unresolved for a long time.
It was a jab at Football Alliance, implying that a company careless about details would struggle to make real breakthroughs in the software industry.
Football Alliance didn't care in the slightest. Their only concern was that they had successfully secured Leo Lin.
After the long-term deal was signed, Football Alliance immediately created Leo Lin's official account on the app. Any user who downloaded and registered could now follow him directly.
From time to time, Leo Lin would appear in a live match broadcast, posting comments and watching the game alongside fans. For football lovers, this was an irresistible draw—and it further expanded Leo Lin's global influence.
Barnett understood that if they were thinking long-term and aiming for more individual honors, this kind of exposure and operation was essential.
Once Leo Lin's personal account went live, Football Alliance announced it across all platforms and released a promotional video made especially for him, welcoming him to the app.
They hoped the video would attract even more users, boosting traffic while building Leo Lin's brand.
Football Alliance was a well-regulated and reputable football app. It partnered with UEFA and multiple leagues to broadcast matches, while also providing historical match data and detailed player statistics.
At the same time, it strictly prohibited any illegal activity, striving to offer fans the cleanest and most comfortable viewing experience possible.
Signing Leo Lin came at a massive cost.
Those expenses might prevent Football Alliance from turning a profit for some time, but as a well-funded company, they weren't chasing immediate returns. Their priority was expanding their user base.
And the results proved that their decision was absolutely right.