The next morning, Theodore still woke up at the crack of dawn.
Even though ball training was out of the question, he couldn't just sit around his apartment and do nothing.
Grabbing his crutches, he hobbled down to the Bodymoor Heath gym and started a grueling upper-body strength session.
The brutal tackle from the derby had taught him a harsh lesson about the sheer physicality of the Championship.
He needed to bulk up.
A stronger frame was the only way to survive in this league.
After sweating it out all morning, he headed to the medical room for another round of treatment.
By the afternoon, he was back in his apartment, catching up on sleep.
He woke up to his phone buzzing. It was his parents calling all the way from Norway.
Xia Dongguo and Marianne Bjorn had watched the horrific tackle live while working at their small family restaurant.
They were frantic with worry and were ready to drop everything and fly to Birmingham to look after him.
Theodore had to spend ten minutes talking them down.
"Mom, Dad, don't worry, I'm fine," he promised gently.
"I'm an athlete. Taking knocks is just part of the job. I've got the best medical staff looking after me."
It took some effort, but he managed to convince them to stay at The Fjord, promising to answer their daily check-in calls.
He hung up and grabbed his water bottle, intending to head back to the gym for some extra core work.
But his phone buzzed again.
It was his agent, Jonathan, leaving him zero time to train!
"Hello? What's up?" Theodore asked.
"Congratulations, Theo!" Jonathan's voice was vibrating with excitement. "You've just landed a massive endorsement deal. It's from China—Tsingtao Beer. They are offering a €10 million fee to make you their new global ambassador!"
Jonathan sounded like he had just won the lottery himself.
"I see," Theodore replied calmly, unfazed by the staggering number. "When do we sign the contract?"
"Tomorrow at noon! Their executives are flying straight to the Aston Villa training ground to sort the paperwork and shoot the commercial. I've already cleared it with the club."
"Good." Theodore nodded. "Is there anything else? If not, I'm heading back to train."
"Actually, there is one more thing," Jonathan added, his tone turning serious.
"The phone hasn't stopped ringing. Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Newcastle, Chelsea, Tottenham... they've all reached out. You are at the top of their target lists for the summer transfer window. No official offers to Villa yet, but that's normal. The bids will come flooding in once the season ends. It's time to start thinking about your future, kid."
...
The next day at noon.
Accompanied by Jonathan, the Tsingtao executives arrived at Bodymoor Heath.
Theodore reviewed the paperwork and signed the massive contract.
After the heavy taxes and Jonathan's agent commission were deducted, Theodore still walked away with over five million euros hitting his bank account.
Seeing that kind of life-changing money deposited made him smile.
The commercial shoot kicked off immediately
Since he was still under strict orders not to put weight on his left foot, the director had him shoot the entire advertisement sitting comfortably in a leather chair.
By 2:00 PM, they wrapped the shoot, and Theodore dragged himself straight back to the gym.
Meanwhile, outside on the grass, the rest of the squad was sweating through tactical drills, preparing for their Wednesday night clash against Nottingham Forest.
Forest was sitting 7th in the Championship table and in solid form.
Dean Smith wasn't taking them lightly.
With Theodore sidelined, the creative burden fell entirely on Jack Grealish.
Grealish had also taken a nasty hit during the derby, but because he was subbed off early, the bruising wasn't serious.
He was fit to start.
...
Match day arrived.
8:00 PM under the floodlights at Villa Park.
This was Theodore's first time experiencing a match from the stands.
He tried to go incognito, fully equipped with a baseball cap, dark sunglasses and a face mask.
But it was useless.
The hardcore fans recognized him almost immediately.
He spent most of the first half signing autographs and taking selfies, barely getting a chance to watch the pitch.
Down on the grass, his teammates put in a brilliant shift.
Grealish and John McGinn stepped up, both finding the back of the net in the first half to give Villa a comfortable 2-0 lead.
In the second half, Nottingham Forest threw everything forward, but Dean Smith parked the bus.
Villa absorbed the pressure beautifully, securing a gritty 2-0 victory.
...
A week later, Aston Villa geared up for another tough fixture against Middlesbrough.
Boro was facing an injury crisis of their own, missing key midfield engines Lewis Wing and John Obi Mikel.
Villa capitalized on the weakened opponent.
Just 21 minutes in, Grealish whipped a brilliant cross from the wing, and Tammy Abraham buried a towering header to make it 1-0.
After grabbing the early lead, Dean Smith tweaked his tactics, ordering his players to drop deep and set up a rigid defensive wall.
Without their midfield generals, Middlesbrough couldn't orchestrate any real danger, and Villa comfortably defended their narrow lead to the final whistle.
...
Two days later, the massive FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton loomed over Villa Park.
Meanwhile, Theodore's left ankle was healing fast.
He was finally back on the grass doing light ball work.
On the eve of the cup clash, the teenager marched into Dean Smith's office and demanded a spot in the match squad.
He even pushed to start the game.
But Smith wasn't going to take that gamble. He compromised, putting the kid on the bench. He knew perfectly well that a Championship side like Aston Villa was heavily outmatched by a Premier League team like Brighton.
If they were going to pull off an upset, they desperately needed Theodore's magic.
But his ankle was only 80% healed.
Throwing him into the starting eleven was too reckless.
...
Match day arrived.
Villa Park was buzzing with raw, electric energy.
Over 40,000 Villa fans packed the stands, hungry for a cup upset.
Up in the gantry, the Sky Sports crew was ready for the broadcast.
"Welcome, football fans, to a massive night of FA Cup action!" Gary Weaver greeted the audience.
"Aston Villa hosts Brighton in the quarter-finals. Let's run through the lineups."
"For the hosts, Dean Smith sets up in a 4-1-4-1. Lovre Kalinić is in goal. A back four of Alan Hutton, Tommy Elphick, Tyrone Mings, and Neil Taylor. Mile Jedinak sits deep. The midfield four features Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane, John McGinn, and Jack Grealish, with Tammy Abraham leading the line."
"For the Premier League visitors, Chris Hughton goes with a strong 4-3-3. Mathew Ryan is between the sticks. Bernardo, Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy, and Martín Montoya form the defense. Davy Pröpper, Dale Stephens, and Beram Kayal sit in midfield, playing behind a dangerous front three of Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Glenn Murray, and Anthony Knockaert."
Weaver paused, his tone shifting. "But the name everyone is looking at is on the Aston Villa bench: Theodore Bjorn. After missing two straight games with that ankle injury, we are all hoping to see the teenager get some minutes tonight. It's a massive test. Villa are 4th in the Championship, while Brighton sit comfortably in 10th place in the Premier League."
The moment the referee blew his whistle, Brighton took control.
Playing away from home didn't faze the Premier League side one bit.
Out on the wing, Jahanbakhsh was proving to be a nightmare, constantly cutting inside to unleash dangerous shots.
Meanwhile, Brighton's midfield general, Dale Stephens, was running the show. He kept launching pinpoint long balls right over the top of the Villa defense, picking out their veteran striker, Glenn Murray.
Murray is a classic English target man.
Built like a tank and deadly in the air, he had already bagged eight goals in the Premier League this season.
In the 10th minute, that threat became a brutal reality.
Murray tracked a searching long ball from Stephens dropping into the penalty area.
The 35-year-old veteran cleverly leaned his heavy frame into Villa center-back Tommy Elphick, throwing the defender off balance before leaping into the freezing air.
Elphick couldn't handle the sheer physical presence.
Murray won the header cleanly, snapping the ball toward the goal.
Boom!
1-0. Brighton struck first.
"What a finish!" Weaver shouted. "The veteran Glenn Murray breaks through the Villa defense with a trademark header! Just ten minutes in, and the Premier League side takes the lead."
The roaring Villa Park crowd instantly fell dead silent.
You could see the frustration sinking into the eyes of the home fans.
On the touchline, however, Dean Smith remained surprisingly calm, almost as if he had expected to concede early against top-tier opposition.
Desperate to respond, Aston Villa poured forward after the restart.
Jack Grealish was everywhere, trying to force his way down his favored left flank. But the Brighton defenders were disciplined and ruthless.
Grealish tried to dribble past the full-back three separate times, and every single time, he was cleanly dispossessed.
Villa's attack hit a frustrating brick wall.
Then, things went from bad to worse.
In the 21st minute, the Villa defense crumbled again. Jahanbakhsh isolated Alan Hutton out wide, using his slick footwork to leave the veteran full-back in the dust.
Without breaking stride, the Iranian winger whipped a nasty, outside-of-the-boot cross deep into the penalty area.
Once again, Glenn Murray was waiting. Despite being sandwiched by two Villa center-backs, the big man threw his body forward into a brave diving header.
Thump.
The ball rocketed straight into the top corner of the net, leaving Kalinić stranded!
2-0. Brighton was cruising.
"Is this the true gap between the leagues?" Don Goodman gasped on the broadcast. "Brighton looks far too strong for them tonight. This is the first time all season I've seen Aston Villa look this rattled. They are being outclassed."
On social media, the fans were panicking.
"Brighton is just playing with them right now. It's a total mismatch."
"A mid-table Premier League team is bullying a Championship title contender."
"Smith needs to put Theo on right now! If we keep playing like this, Brighton is going to humiliate us in our own stadium!"
Watching the live stream, thousands of fans nervously waited to see if the injured teenager would be called upon to save the day.
....
Mc will be playing in the premier league soon, dont expect they win a premier league tho.