[Football] Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!

A tiger turns into a human? How is that possible?

Manchester City owner, oil tycoon, and Sheikh Mansour stares at the naked young man who has suddenly appeared in his tiger's cage. It takes him several hours to convince himself that this is real.

The guy's name is Leon. Three days ago, the sheikh bought him from Bengal, ahem, rescued him. He's the only tiger in the world with black, blue, and white coloring, making him a rare treasure.

To keep Leon from being taken to a lab, Mansour pulls him out and dumps him on his team's head coach, Guardiola.

Guardiola: ?

I'm a football coach. What am I supposed to do with a tiger... Send it to mess with the other team when we're losing?

Mansour has only one requirement: let him roam freely.

So after weighing his options, Guardiola hands Leon over to De Bruyne, the team's most experienced cat owner.

De Bruyne: ?

I'm raising a tiger... Is this for real? ^-^

Anyway, that's how Leon the tiger found a home at Manchester City. He starts living a life where he's human by day and a cat (a big cat) by night. <- This line has already been approved by Mao Ku, hehe.

Then everyone realizes that this tiger is all looks and no bite. He can choke on a piece of meat and land himself in the hospital, and instead of roaring, all he can do is whimper.

King of the beasts?

No, he's a useless little snack!

*

To Leon, being human or being a tiger is all the same. Everyone still kisses him, hugs him, and plays ball with him... Yuck! Get this ball out of my mouth!

Ah, that's better.

Oh! What's this ball? Let's play with it...

Yuck!

Then the fans discover that Manchester City has acquired a good-for-nothing who has nothing going for him but his looks. He looks fierce, but one shove from an opponent is enough to knock him over.

Fans: Who's this guy? Did he get in through connections?

Guardiola: ...

In a way, he really did get in through the back door. You could even say he's Sheikh Mansour's own son.

What can you do? Just raise him.

De Bruyne raises his hand: I have a question. Tigers are felines too. Would he behave better if he were neutered?

[Note]

A little worldbuilding for A Jiang's animal-themed football stories.

A short story, probably not too long: a heartwarming (and ridiculous) tale about football stars raising a tiger. Tiger Boy won't be an absurdly overpowered player. Having fun is what matters most.

Theme: Finding yourself