Chapter 17: Frontline Team Reporting!

The next morning.

At the training ground of the frontline team dormitory.

After completing two hours of training, Li Kang was handed a dry towel by the security guard uncle, looking anxious.

"Li, I'm sorry, but today is the youth team's day off. You need to rest, or I'll lose my salary!"

Li Kang nodded with a smile.

The physical training coach of Leverkusen was a strict and stubborn old man.

He still adhered to conservative views: too much training for young players would have adverse consequences.

He often mentioned terms like "testosterone," "physical stress," and "growth plate closure" casually.

When some young players used Cristiano Ronaldo as an example to argue, he firmly believed in his training philosophy:

"Do you think everyone is Cristiano Ronaldo?"

"Even he changed his training methods only at the age of 24."

Li Kang returned to the dormitory and took a shower.

He prepared to turn on the TV to watch the video replays of the top five leagues.

Havertz looked tired and weak as he walked in.

He raised a small box and shook it.

"I bought you a new phone!"

Shaking his head, Li Kang asked what it meant. Havertz continued, "My goal bonus, I'll give you half!"

"Oh my God! It's 2015 now, no one uses those black and white screen phones!"

"Hurry up, unpack it. I'll teach you how to register social media accounts."

"Also, your foster mother returned the money with a note saying she didn't use the money and that you should spend what you earn!"

Li Kang smiled helplessly.

In this parallel timeline, Spain had strict verification procedures for minors to open bank accounts, and the bank card would be in the guardian's name.

Since Li Kang transferred to Leverkusen, the club had followed FIFA's "Protection of Minors Regulations," separating Li Kang's assets from his guardian's to protect them independently.

The reason seemed to be that many African football stars became destitute after retirement because their earnings were squandered by their guardians.

A certain Arsenal player had to support more than 400 family members alone, and his house was set on fire if he didn't provide money.

A Tottenham player had a knife held to his throat by relatives threatening him for money.

A series of protective measures made it difficult for Li Kang to send money to his foster mother.

In summary, he could spend money as he pleased, but if he wanted to remit money to his guardian before turning eighteen, he had to go through a complex and slow verification process.

Unless something happened to his foster mother, the verification process would be expedited.

Li Kang could only rely on Havertz's help to remit a small portion of his goal bonus.

As for the various regulations like "minors playing for clubs must not be far away from their parents by more than a certain distance," Woller had handled them with a complex set of operations.

The TV happened to be broadcasting the dynamic news of the summer transfer window in the top five leagues:

De Bruyne, the assist king of the five major leagues, joins Manchester City for a whopping €75 million.

Di Maria, the Pampas Magician, joins Paris Saint-Germain for €44.1 million.

Hoffenheim's leading striker Firmino joins Liverpool for €41 million.

Pedro, once part of Barcelona's "MVP" trio, transfers to Chelsea for €30 million.

Casemiro, the genius midfielder, returns to Real Madrid after the end of his loan spell at Porto.

Li Kang glanced at the news.

The basic transfer situations were not much different from the timeline of his previous life.

Except for Leverkusen.

Son Heung-min did not join Tottenham.

Hernandez did not come to Bayer Leverkusen.

Was it the butterfly effect?

Havertz looked at the big screen with anticipation.

"Li! I want to become the transfer window king in the future!"

Bayer Leverkusen.

Sports director's office.

The expression of the head coach, Schmidt, looked uneasy.

"I can't guarantee his playing time. The club still has a difficult UEFA Champions League playoff, and there's a huge gap between the youth league and the Bundesliga in terms of competition intensity."

As he was halfway through his words, he realized that the old man in front of him was a Bundesliga legendary giant.

Woller shook his head. "He will bring you surprises! Mr. Car Mechanic!"

Schmidt's mouth twitched; he couldn't refute such a title.

He graduated from the University of Paderborn's mechanical engineering department.

Originally, he was a quality manager in an automobile company.

But because he liked playing Football Manager games, he started coaching as a hobby.

He led the team to win the regional league championship in the sixth tier.

The subsequent coaching career was like riding a rocket.

In just a few years, he went from leading a Bundesliga relegation team to a comeback, then winning the Austrian Bundesliga championship trophy.

Finally, coaching a Bundesliga powerhouse.

This resume resembled a male protagonist in Dragon Kingdom novels.

"You bring me more surprises, Mr. Legendary Striker."

Schmidt said helplessly.

Sports directors from other clubs, serving as assistant coaches to the head coach, wouldn't dare to force players into the first team!

The identity of club management personnel was too high-profile and not necessarily a good thing.

Woller patted his shoulder.

"Go ahead, and I'll fight for transfer investment for you in the winter window!"

"You said the same thing last year! But this summer window, you wouldn't bring Hernandez to us!"

"Manchester United's asking price was too high. Unless we sell Son Heung-min, but..."

The following days for Li Kang were calm and monotonous.

Every day was a routine training at two o'clock.

Although attribute points were slowly increasing, after surpassing 70 points, each point's improvement was very noticeable.

The Leverkusen youngsters deeply felt it.

In the usual intra-squad training matches, they couldn't compete with Li Kang at all.

Teammates were amazed.

The physical training coach was also amazed.

Li Kang's medical examination reports showed all normal indicators.

A group of foreigners couldn't help but associate it with "Dragon Kingdom Kung Fu."

Of course, the technical coach of the first team still believed that Li Kang had not reached the competitive level of the Bundesliga.

During 2012-2015, the Bundesliga entered a strong period, and the requirements for players' abilities also increased significantly.

Because he was about to return to the first team, Topf was afraid that he might make a mistake in the youth league, so he didn't dare to let him start in the first team.

When the day of parting arrived, the youngsters were reluctant.

They liked this silent descendant of the dragon too much, even though the time they spent together was short.

"Li! We will miss you!"

"We'll see you in the first team!"

"If the first team doesn't give you a chance to play, come back and play in the Youth Champions League with us!"

The heavy atmosphere was suddenly broken.

Topf solemnly said, "Say fewer nonsense. You're all thinking about winning the prize money!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Henrichs quickly agreed, "You make it sound like Li is going on a long journey! The first team training ground and our youth team are separated only by May 9th Park

!"

Havertz shook his head, "The security at the first team dormitory is starting to refuse me entry!"

The old man with the explosive hair adjusted Li Kang's collar and said, "Good luck!"

The youngsters echoed in unison, "Good luck!"

In the distance.

And so, escorted by the staff, Li Kang left the Taitren training base.

Ahead of him awaited the Bundesliga league, the Champions League, and a bigger stage.