Three days later.
January 1, 2020.
Aston Villa traveled to Turf Moor to face Burnley.
Burnley sat 20th in the Premier League, rooted firmly to the bottom of the table.
Considering the opponent's dismal form and the congested holiday schedule, Dean Smith heavily rotated his squad.
Star player Theodore Bjorn wasn't even included in the matchday squad.
Key figures like Jack Grealish, John McGinn, and Douglas Luiz were named on the bench, rested for tougher fixtures ahead.
Despite fielding a weakened lineup, Aston Villa completely overwhelmed Sean Dyche's men.
They dictated the tempo from the first whistle, scoring three goals in the first half alone to establish an unassailable lead.
Striker Wesley became a nightmare for the Burnley defense.
The Brazilian target man bullied the center-backs, completing a spectacular hat-trick with a mix of towering headers and clinical strikes.
Thanks to Wesley's heroics, Aston Villa secured a comfortable 3-0 away victory.
The winning streak extended to a staggering 21 matches.
Following the Burnley match, Aston Villa traveled to Craven Cottage for the third round of the FA Cup against Fulham.
Fulham had suffered relegation from the Premier League the previous season after a 19th-place finish.
Although they were performing well in the Championship—currently sitting in third place—the gulf in class between the two sides was evident.
Aston Villa arrived brimming with the confidence of league leaders.
Once again, Theodore Bjorn did not start, resting on the bench.
After kickoff, Fulham adopted a highly pragmatic approach. Manager Scott Parker knew going toe-to-toe with Villa would be suicidal.
For the entire first half, the home side sat deep in a compact, disciplined defensive shape.
Parker's strategy was clear: absorb the pressure, hold firm for forty-five minutes, and hope to snatch a goal on the counter in the second half.
Parker's tactics worked flawlessly in the opening period.
Fulham's impenetrable low block completely frustrated Aston Villa's rotated attack.
At halftime, the score remained 0-0.
Dean Smith wasn't panicked. He still had his ultimate trump card sitting on the bench.
At the start of the second half, Theodore Bjorn took to the field.
The moment the teenager crossed the white line, a palpable sense of anxiety washed over the Craven Cottage crowd.
Theodore's reputation preceded him.
In just 20 Premier League appearances this season, he had amassed a terrifying 34 goals and 31 assists.
His mere presence on the pitch struck genuine fear into the hearts of the Fulham players and supporters alike.
It took just five minutes for Theodore to validate that fear.
In the 50th minute, he received a sharp pass from Douglas Luiz in the central channel.
The moment the ball touched his boot, Fulham panicked.
Four white shirts collapsed on him instantly. Defensive midfielders Josh Onomah and Kevin McDonald, center-back Alfie Mawson, and full-back Cyrus Christie converged on the teenager with alarming speed.
It didn't matter.
With an impossibly quick shift of his left foot, Theodore created a microscopic window of space.
Before the trap could fully close, he unleashed a ferocious strike.
The ball tore past the scrambling defenders like a tracer bullet.
A second later, it nestled perfectly into the bottom corner!
1-0.
Theodore had effortlessly dismantled Fulham's defensive plan with a single swing of his boot.
The goal was a crushing psychological blow to the home side.
The man they feared most had scored with his very first touch.
For Fulham, the nightmare was just beginning.
Eight minutes later, from almost the exact same position, Theodore executed an identical strike, beating goalkeeper Marek Rodák for a second time.
2-0.
The tie was effectively over.
With a two-goal cushion, Aston Villa could dictate the remainder of the match at their own pace.
Fulham, trailing at home, were forced to abandon their defensive shape and attack.
The roles reversed entirely.
Villa dropped into a solid defensive block, inviting pressure and preparing to strike on the counter, while Fulham pushed men forward desperately.
Unfortunately for the Championship side, they lacked a player capable of unlocking a defense like Theodore Bjorn.
Fulham's attacks were blunt, their shots routinely blocked by committed Villa defenders throwing their bodies on the line.
The more Fulham pushed forward, the more vulnerable they became at the back.
In the 76th and 85th minutes, Aston Villa ruthlessly exploited the gaps.
A pair of lightning-fast counter-attacks resulted in goals for Grealish and Wesley.
Both goals were orchestrated by immaculate assists from Theodore Bjorn.
The final whistle blew.
Aston Villa cruised to a 4-0 victory, advancing to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Theodore Bjorn finished with a devastating two goals and two assists in just forty-five minutes of action.
....
With the match concluded, the focus shifted off the pitch.
The January transfer window had officially opened across Europe.
For teams chasing titles or battling relegation, January was a frantic scramble for reinforcements.
Aston Villa, however, had no intention of dipping into the market.
Their current squad was operating at a historic level.
In the Premier League, their 21-game winning streak had opened up a massive 9-point gap over second-placed Manchester City, and a staggering 12-point lead over third-placed Liverpool.
Furthermore, Villa was still alive and competing fiercely on all four fronts—the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup, and League Cup.
Therefore, General Manager Jesús García Pitarch's top priority wasn't recruiting new players; it was securing the future of their crown jewel.
Exactly one year prior, Theodore Bjorn had been promoted from the U17s to the first team.
At that time, Pitarch had handed the unproven youngster a three-year contract worth a modest £40,000 annually.
Given Theodore's meteoric rise to global superstardom, that contract was now laughably inadequate.
Wanting to nip any potential transfer saga in the bud, Pitarch convened an urgent meeting with the club's hierarchy.
The board was unanimous: Theodore must be offered a new five-year contract immediately, making him the highest-paid player in the squad by a significant margin.
He was simply too important to lose.
Aston Villa's position at the summit of English football was built almost entirely on the teenager's shoulders.
Losing Theodore Bjorn would be akin to the West losing Jerusalem.
However, when Pitarch formally approached Theodore's agent, Jonathan, he was met with an unexpected response.
Jonathan politely informed the General Manager that it was "premature" to open contract negotiations.
Furthermore, Jonathan explicitly stated that Theodore had not yet made a decision regarding his long-term future.
The implication was clear: Theodore might leave Aston Villa!
This wasn't a negotiation tactic, it was Theodore's genuine perspective.
If he managed to secure an unprecedented quadruple this season—winning the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, and Europa League—he would strongly consider seeking a new challenge in a different league.
If he conquered England at eighteen, the Premier League would have nothing left to offer him.
...
January 9th.
Aston Villa faced Leicester City in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.
The match was held at the King Power Stadium.
The 32,000-seat arena was packed to capacity.
The Foxes' supporters were desperate to witness a giant-killing on home soil.
Unfortunately for the Leicester fans, Dean Smith had no intention of resting his talisman.
Theodore Bjorn was named in the starting lineup.
The moment his name was announced, the prospect of a Leicester victory evaporated.
Desperate to contain Villa's attacking threat, Brendan Rodgers deployed a highly defensive 3-5-2 formation.
His strategy was simple: flood the midfield with five bodies to suffocate Theodore Bjorn.
From kickoff, Youri Tielemans was tasked with a relentless man-marking job.
The Belgian midfielder shadowed Theodore's every move, his sole objective to deny the teenager any space to receive the ball.
Wherever Theodore went—even trotting over to take a corner kick—Tielemans was glued to his side.
It was a suffocating, physically demanding tactic.
Unfortunately, it proved entirely useless. Theodore's individual brilliance simply overwhelmed the tactical setup.
In the 10th minute, Theodore suddenly dropped deep, losing Tielemans momentarily, before launching a surging run straight into the Leicester penalty area.
Arriving perfectly on time, he met a pinpoint cross from McGinn on the right flank.
Despite being challenged by two Leicester center-backs, Theodore powered a header into the net.
1-0.
Conceding so early shattered Leicester's fragile game plan.
Desperate to equalize, the Foxes abandoned their defensive shape and began forcing the issue.
Jamie Vardy, James Maddison, and Ben Chilwell all attempted speculative long-range shots, but none troubled Tom Heaton.
Aston Villa, comfortable with their lead, dropped into a solid defensive structure.
Even Wesley retreated into his own half to assist the midfield block.
In the 21st minute, the familiar partnership struck again.
Theodore and Grealish combined to aggressively dispossess James Maddison in the center circle.
The ball spilled to Theodore. Without taking a touch, he swept a gorgeous, defense-splitting long pass out to Anwar El Ghazi on the wing.
El Ghazi drove into the box and calmly chipped the ball over the advancing Kasper Schmeichel.
2-0!
For the remainder of the match, Aston Villa focused on ball retention.
With a brutal schedule of two matches per week looming, Dean Smith saw no reason to expend unnecessary energy chasing a third goal.
A 2-0 away victory in a two-legged tie was an excellent result. Pressing for more only increased the risk of injuries.
Seeing Villa ease off, Leicester City also backed down, unwilling to provoke the league leaders into another attacking frenzy.
The match concluded without further incident. 2-0.
Villa would host Leicester in the second leg a week later.
But before that, they faced a massive Premier League fixture.
Aston Villa would host Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
In their first encounter at the Etihad, Villa had stunned the champions 5-3.
Theodore had been unplayable, registering four goals and an assist.
His performance that day had deeply haunted Guardiola.
For City, the math was simple.
They trailed Villa by nine points. If they harbored any hope of defending their Premier League title, they had to win at Villa Park.
Guardiola and his coaching staff spent agonizing, sleepless nights reviewing hours of Aston Villa footage, desperately searching for a tactical blueprint to neutralize Theodore Bjorn.
Despite their meticulous analysis, they found no glaring weakness.
They had to face the monster head-on.