When the dust finally settled at Villa Park, the media made a decision that shocked a few casual fans but made perfect sense to anyone who actually watched the game.
Tammy Abraham walked away with the match ball after scoring a hat-trick.
But the official Man of the Match award went to Theodore Bjorn.
The reasoning was bulletproof.
The 17-year-old had his fingerprints on every single one of Aston Villa's four goals. Two direct assists, two pre-assists, and an absolute masterclass in defensive grit.
He did not just played well, he had completely dictated the tempo of a brutal Championship dogfight.
During the post-match press conference, the media swarmed Dean Smith.
"Coach Smith, a word on the 17-year-old Theodore?" a reporter from the Birmingham Sports News asked, leaning forward with his recorder.
"He walked away with the Man of the Match on his full debut. Thoughts?"
A massive, proud smile broke across Smith's stressed face.
"To be completely honest, I didn't expect him to be this good," Smith laughed, shaking his head. "It was a complete surprise. He's incredibly versatile. You plug him in as a deep-lying destroyer, he locks down the midfield. You push him up to the number 10, he carves the backline open. He's the most talented young player I've ever seen in my coaching career. Theodore Bjorn is Aston Villa's greatest treasure right now."
Overnight, the English sports media machine caught fire.
Sky Sports dedicated a massive front-page column to him the very next morning.
SKY SPORTS: The Midfield Maestro Birmingham Didn't Know It Had. >
"The 17-year-old Aston Villa midfielder delivered two brilliant, game-breaking passes to secure a hard-fought victory.
This Norwegian-Chinese teenager has already racked up four assists in just two appearances.
Despite his age, Bjorn displays a terrifying, cold-blooded maturity on the pitch.
Not only he feed the forwards, but his defensive work rate and stamina are off the charts.
It won't be long before the Premier League elite come knocking for this prodigy."
Sky Sports holds massive weight in England.
The second that article dropped, Theodore wasn't just a local Birmingham secret anymore.
He was on the map.
And the sharks started circling.
...
Deep inside Chelsea FC's scouting department, a loan-monitor named Vidil was compiling his weekly data report on Tammy Abraham.
While reviewing the tape of Abraham's hat-trick, Vidil's eyes kept drifting away from the striker and locking onto the number 33 feeding him the ball.
Vidil pulled up the teenager's background file. When he saw the kid was only 17, his jaw practically hit the floor.
He spent the next two hours obsessively cutting together a tactical breakdown of Theodore's defensive reads and line-breaking passes, firing the technical report straight to the private email of Chelsea's first-team manager, Maurizio Sarri.
...
The media and rival clubs weren't the only ones watching.
Jonathan Barnett, one of the most ruthless and powerful super-agents in world football, caught wind of the hype.
Barnett represented Jack Grealish, and during a routine phone call with the injured Villa captain, Grealish couldn't stop raving about the new kid who had taken his spot.
A 17-year-old kid running the midfield for a massive club like Aston Villa? Barnett smelled money.
The super-agent instantly cleared his schedule, making plans to personally attend Theodore's next match.
...
Meanwhile, back in Norway, the sports tabloids were absolutely losing their minds over their newest homegrown talent.
Norwegian Sports: 17-Year-Old Midfield Prodigy Tears Up the English Championship!
Norwegian World: The Future is Here! 17-Year-Old Theodore Bjorn and 19-Year-Old Erling Haaland Set to Dominate the Next Decade of Norwegian Football!
...
Aston Villa Player Dorms.
Midnight.
Theodore didn't care about the news articles.
He didn't care about the trending topics, the scouts, or the agents.
Sitting alone in the quiet darkness of his dorm room, he was entirely focused on the glowing blue holographic screen floating in front of him.
By completing the system's mandate to win the match, he had secured a massive payout: 5 free attribute points.
He analyzed his stat block with cold calculation. He had a plan.
He took one point and dumped it straight into his Long Pass attribute.
For a normal elite human footballer, 99 was the absolute ceiling.
But Theodore had a system.
[Ding! Limit Break: Long Pass 99 -> 100!]
A jolt of pure kinetic energy snapped through his right leg.
A rating of 100 wasn't just world-class anymore!
[Remaining Attribute Points: 4]
He took the final four points and slammed them all into Physicality.
Bastian Schweinsteiger's 82 physicality was great for surviving the Championship, but Theodore didn't just want to survive.
He also wanted to dominate!
He wanted to be a brick wall that grown men bounced off of.
[Ding! Physicality 82 -> 86!]
[Remaining Attribute Points: 0]
His muscles tightened violently, his core densifying as the system permanently rewired his physical makeup. When the burn finally faded, he pulled up his updated panel.
Host: Theodore Bjorn
Age: 17
Overall Rating: 75 (Grade: C!)
[Physical Attributes]
Speed: 72 | Physicality: 86 | Jumping: 71 | Health: 70 | Stamina: 79
[Technical Attributes]
Long Pass: 100 | Short Pass: 69 | Through Ball: 68 | Curve: 67 | Finishing: 68 | Long Shot: 69 | Set Pieces: 69 | Heading: 69 | Penalty: 68 | First Touch: 67 | Vision: 84 | Dribbling: 67 | Interception: 65 | Tackling: 74 | Sliding Tackle: 65 | Defending: 67
Star Player Skill Cards:
Andrea Pirlo's Long Pass (Peak)
Xabi Alonso's Vision (Platinum)
Bastian Schweinsteiger's Physicality (Platinum)
Hitting a 75 overall meant he was officially sitting on the borderline of a B-Grade player—starting level for a top-five European league.
It was a massive milestone, but Theodore knew he couldn't get complacent.
To force his way into a Champions League club, he needed a lot more skill cards.
...
The Next Day. 6:45 AM.
The training ground was completely empty, covered in a thin sheet of morning mist, when Theodore stepped onto the grass.
He was out there fifteen minutes before the coaches even arrived, pinging balls against the rebounder.
Aston Villa's next fixture was an away trip to face Reading.
Sitting in 12th place, Reading was a solid mid-table squad.
But their stadium was an absolute fortress.
They hadn't lost a single match at home in their last five outings.
Walking into the Madejski Stadium and walking out with three points was going to be a brutal task!