Super Wingstorm

"I saw Pete De Vries among the fans at Almere last night."

Chief Scout Tony Bruins Slotts reminded them, his brow furrowed with worry, "This is the second time Eindhoven has observed Yang Yang up close. I suggest we make our move as soon as possible."

Almere is Ajax’s satellite club, and Yang Yang is a die-hard fan of Van Basten. From any angle you look at it, there’s no reason for Ajax to let such a highly-touted player slip through their fingers, especially not to their bitter rival, Eindhoven.

If that were to happen, Ajax would be utterly humiliated.

"I agree with Tony. Back when Robben was at Groningen, we had the best chance, but Eindhoven beat us to the punch. If we had moved in time and snatched Robben then, the situation now would be completely different," Patrick Radru chimed in.

Robben has been one of the most dazzling rookies in Dutch football over the past two or three years. Along with Feyenoord’s Van Persie and Ajax’s Van der Vaart, he’s been dubbed one of the "New Three Musketeers of the Netherlands." But unlike Van Persie and Van der Vaart, who both came from the youth academies of major clubs, Robben started his career at Groningen in the northern Netherlands.

Back then, Robben drew a bidding war from the three major clubs, but in the end, Eindhoven was a step ahead. The Ajax staff has always regretted that. Otherwise, with Robben and Van der Meede on the wings, Ibrahimovic as the center forward, and Van der Vaart dominating the midfield, Ajax’s attack would have been invincible.

Unfortunately, Robben is now Eindhoven’s star player.

"I agree. Yang Yang is definitely capable enough to play for Ajax. And from what I’ve gathered, he clearly feels closer to us than to other teams. After all, he’s spent a year at Almere," Luther Carroll also stated.

Although it’s nominally just a satellite club, in reality, Almere can be considered part of the Ajax youth system.

A very small part, of course.

"How did he perform yesterday?" Van Gaal asked calmly.

Although he was pleased to see Yang Yang getting everyone’s approval, this was official business, and he would treat it as such, without letting personal feelings interfere.

"He did well, especially in the first half. He created several threats and scored a goal. To be able to snatch a goal single-handedly while being defended by two players, Vermaelen and Emmanuelson, is no small feat," said Chief Scout Slotts.

"Last night, Aaron Moye’s ’Football Online’ was also fervently discussing the match and gave his performance high praise. This is the third consecutive installment to do so. I imagine quite a few teams have their eyes on him now," Patrick Radru reminded them.

Van Gaal continued noncommittally, "And what about his own attitude?"

"I don’t know, but I believe he’d be very willing to join Ajax."

"Why?"

"He came to the Netherlands a year ago and lives with his uncle, who runs a Chinese restaurant in Almere. He himself studies at Baken Academy. If he joins Ajax, both his personal life and his studies can remain unchanged. But if he goes to Eindhoven, everything will be thrown into chaos."

At this point, Patrick Radru suddenly smiled. "I made a point to ask John Reep about him. It turns out the kid is even better at his studies than he is at football. He actually placed first in his entire grade on the final exams at Baken Academy and even earned a scholarship."

"Is that so?" Everyone present looked surprised.

Even Van Gaal and Koman were slightly moved.

In the Ajax Youth Academy, there were many players who were good at football, and quite a few who were good students. But players who excelled at both football and their studies were a true rarity.

Who would have thought this Yang Yang was a star student too?

Van Gaal pondered for a moment, then turned to Van Basten. "Marco, what do you think?"

Van Basten grinned and chuckled. "I like the kid."

That one sentence made Van Basten’s stance perfectly clear.

Van Gaal then looked at the first-team head coach, Koman, who shrugged, indicating he had no objections.

Although his role as head coach also covered the youth program, his involvement was primarily focused on promoting young talent. Luther Carroll was responsible for most of the day-to-day affairs. Meanwhile, Van Gaal, as the technical director, oversaw all of Ajax’s competitive matters.

In other words, the famous Dutch manager was the direct supervisor of everyone present, including Van Basten.

Right now, a single word from him could decide Ajax’s course of action.

Van Gaal didn’t rush to a decision. He flipped through the scout reports and materials in his hands, his brow furrowed slightly as he deliberated. But soon, he put the documents down.

"According to these materials, he’s already secured a spot from Almere to participate in Talent Day. So, my opinion is this: we can talk to him first, to secure his interest. But it would be best to have him participate in the Talent Day tryouts so we can properly, systematically, and closely evaluate him. This is a rare opportunity for both experience and training."

Ajax’s Talent Day tryouts were held twice a year. First-team players were always scheduled to participate, training and playing alongside all the trialists. Nearly a thousand young players would attend, hailing from the Amsterdam area, all over the Netherlands, and even from around the World.

It was undoubtedly an excellent chance for players to gauge their own abilities, and a platform to broaden their horizons.

More importantly, if a sixteen-year-old player like Yang Yang were signed directly, he would typically be placed in the U17 or U18 age group and would have to work his way up through the youth teams. However, if he went through the Talent Day tryouts and performed exceptionally well, he had a real chance to be placed directly onto the second team—the one coached by Van Basten.

This could be considered a small, personal favor from Van Gaal, exercised within the bounds of the rules and his authority.

Van Gaal believed that participating in the Talent Day tryouts was a good choice, whether from the club’s perspective of evaluating a player or for Yang Yang’s own development. It was an excellent formative experience.

After all, the chance to compete on the same field as the first-team stars wasn’t something that came around every day.

After hearing Van Gaal’s words, most of them simply thought he was being cautious and strict, which was very much in line with his usual style. Therefore, they weren’t surprised.

Whether or not he participated in the Talent Day tryouts wasn’t the main issue. The main issue was that they now had a competitor.

"What if Eindhoven contacts him in the meantime?" Chief Scout Slotts asked worriedly.

This was precisely the reason everyone was in a hurry to sign Yang Yang.

"He’s a smart kid. If he goes to Eindhoven now, he won’t get many opportunities. And as you said, his uncle is in Almere. As long as we promise that we’re willing to sign him after the Talent Day tryouts, regardless of the result, I’m confident he won’t refuse."

Everyone thought this was reasonable. They were quite confident in Ajax’s appeal.

"Of course, just to be safe, Patrick, you should make a trip to Almere yourself after the meeting."

Patrick Radru nodded in agreement. "I’ll go to Shen’s Chinese Restaurant first and speak with his uncle."

"If he’s not at the restaurant, he should be at the skatepark. Go find him there directly. And tell him this was my decision," Van Gaal said calmly.

Everyone looked surprised when they heard this.

How did Van Gaal know where to find him?

Did they know each other from before?

What exactly was their relationship?

Everyone was filled with doubt, but since Van Gaal wasn’t elaborating, there was no point in guessing.

* * *

Around noon, youth program assistant Patrick Radru, accompanied by scout Fred Arroyo, arrived at Shen’s Chinese Restaurant in Almere, but Yang Yang wasn’t there.

After an in-depth conversation with Yang Yang’s uncle, Shen Ming, they were led by Shen Yuzhu to the skatepark. There, in the main skating area, they saw Yang Yang, who had been training his heart out all morning.

At that moment, Yang Yang had already finished his wall-passing drills. He was now in front of a yellow marker cone, using both feet to tap, push, pull, flick, and trap the ball, making it dance around the small disc.

As an Ajax youth program assistant and a scout, Radru and Arroyo naturally knew that these were the most basic ball control exercises. Yet Yang Yang was repeating them over and over, his expression completely focused, entirely unaware of their arrival at the edge of the area.

From his soaking wet jersey, his sweat-drenched hair, and the dilapidated wall in front of him, they could easily imagine the training regimen Yang Yang had been putting himself through here, and just how hardworking this young Chinese boy was.

Both men were shocked.

This was a training regimen that bordered on self-torture. Especially for such extremely dull and tedious basic drills, yet he was able to remain so focused.

"How long has he been training like this?" Patrick Radru asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"For three months," Shen Yuzhu said, a hint of heartache in her voice as she spoke.

Her parents treated Yang Yang like a son, and she saw him as her own little brother.

Radru and Arroyo exchanged a look, each seeing the shock in the other’s eyes. They had clearly both thought of the same thing: Yang Yang’s rapid rise at Almere had begun three months ago. Since then, he had shot up like a rocket, stunning everyone and improving with nearly every game.

Everyone had concluded that he had suddenly had a breakthrough, that he’d just figured out how to play the game. Considering Yang Yang’s poor fundamentals, this seemed like a reasonable explanation. But now, it seemed the secret to his meteoric rise was hidden right here in this skatepark.

Van Gaal must have known this. That’s why he told them to come to the skatepark if they couldn’t find him at the restaurant.

But what was his relationship with Yang Yang? How did they know each other?

"It seems we’ve underestimated him," Patrick Radru said, shaking his head.

Fred Arroyo deeply agreed. They had indeed underestimated Yang Yang.

It wasn’t that they had underestimated his current ability, but rather that they had underestimated Yang Yang himself—as a person and his future potential.

’With this kind of near self-torturous, dedicated training, and with the momentum of progress he’s currently showing, who knows what heights he could reach in the future?’