Chapter 52: The Parrot Legion, Setting Sail Soon

After receiving the money, Lin Quan planned to buy some training equipment to have at home for daily training.

This match made him realize that his current physical condition wasn't enough to support him playing a full game. If he didn't work hard to improve his physical fitness, he might have to wait until next year or even longer to start as a regular player.

Just as he finished purchasing the equipment and was returning home with the delivery person, he found that there were visitors at his house.

"Pep, what brings you here?"

Seeing that it was Guardiola, Lin Quan was very surprised. He thought Guardiola should be busy preparing for his wedding, so he didn't expect him to come.

"I saw you got injured in the match, so I came to check on you. Is your injury okay?"

Guardiola asked with concern.

After leaving Munich, he went to Dortmund first. After learning that Lin Quan had returned to Bremen with the team, he hurried over.

"It's nothing serious. The team doctor checked me with the team's equipment, and everything is fine!"

After hearing this answer, Guardiola breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted to hear was that Lin Quan was seriously injured. But seeing him lively and kicking, he knew that was unlikely.

"That's good!"

At this point, Guardiola noticed the training equipment being moved into the house by the workers.

"Is this what you bought yourself?"

"Yeah, I plan to train my physical fitness more and strive to start playing sooner!"

"Starting might be a bit early for a player your age. It's better to come off the bench first, get used to the pace of the Bundesliga matches, and then aim for the starting position!"

Hearing that sixteen-year-old Lin Quan wanted to compete for a starting position, Guardiola felt quite emotional.

When he was sixteen, he was still struggling in the youth team!

It wasn't until he was nineteen that he played for the senior team at Camp Nou, and it wasn't until he was twenty-one that he truly established himself in the first team.

Compared to himself, Lin Quan started much earlier.

But after watching Lin Quan play a game, Guardiola realized that his talent was much stronger than his own at a young age.

If he was just an ordinary star, then Lin Quan had the potential to become a superstar.

"Yeah, the coach said the same thing!"

After the team was disbanded, Coach Schaaf had a chat with Lin Quan.

They talked about his tactical positioning in the team for the new season. Schaaf told him that he would be the team's attacking core. However, his physical fitness wasn't enough to support him playing a full game, so Schaaf hoped he would accept the tactical arrangement and come off the bench in the second half.

Being a substitute but still the team's attacking core? If anyone else heard this, they would think Schaaf was deceiving a child.

But Lin Quan believed that Schaaf was telling the truth. He wasn't deceiving himself.

He accepted Coach Schaaf's arrangement, but that didn't mean he willingly accepted the substitute position. So he had to train his physical fitness to meet the coach's requirements as soon as possible and snatch the starting position.

"It's good to have such determination, but be mindful of your training volume. Don't get injured. At your age, the most important thing to avoid is injuries!"

Guardiola knew Lin Quan's strong personality, so he didn't say much, just reminded him not to injure himself.

Guardiola stayed in Bremen for two days. During this time, he had a meeting with the club's coach, Schaaf, and they hit it off.

Guardiola introduced Schaaf to his previous training methods for Lin Quan and his tactical positioning in the Barcelona youth team.

And Schaaf consulted Guardiola about how Messi was used in the Barcelona first team, including as a winger, a false nine, etc.

Messi was the player Guardiola was most proud of coaching among all the players he had coached.

Regarding how to use Messi, Guardiola has his own insights.

If someone else asked him this question, he definitely wouldn't tell them.

But when Schaaf asked, it was different. Because Guardiola could see that Schaaf seemed to intend to use Lin Quan as Werder Bremen's Messi.

Upon careful consideration, the playing styles of these two were indeed very similar, even their ways of dribbling were almost identical.

Perhaps the way Messi was used at Barcelona could also work here at Werder Bremen?

On the last day, after treating Lin Quan's host family to a meal, Guardiola left Bremen and returned to Catalonia.

Before leaving, he reminded them: "Don't forget to come back for my wedding with Sera, it's set for October 1st!"

"Don't worry, I'll remember!"

His foster parents were getting married. Even if he had to take leave, he had to go back.

Moreover, there were no matches scheduled for that day, so he had to return.

Guardiola left, and Lin Quan's vacation ended.

On August 9th, the players gradually returned to the club for reporting.

And on this day, Werder Bremen officially announced the completion of all transfer work for the season on their official website.

All summer signings would make their debut at the Weserstadion before the friendly match against Aston Villa on August 11th, including the unveiling of the new season's team jerseys.

This summer, Werder Bremen brought in a total of 11 players, including three on loan, four purchased, two on free transfers, and two promoted from the club's youth ranks.

Although the number of incoming players was not small, the transfer expenses were not high.

The three loans cost a total of 1.25 million euros, the four purchases cost 8.5 million euros, totaling less than 10 million euros.

This level of spending was definitely an example of careful financial management for a mid-sized club.

On August 11th, Werder Bremen hosted Aston Villa at home.

During the pre-match player meeting, the eleven new summer signings were introduced one by one.

There were 45,000 spectators at the scene, almost a full house.

The reason why so many people came was mainly because the team's excellent performance in the Telekom Cup had revived the fans' hope for the team's revival and rekindled their passion for watching football.

Winning the Telekom Cup was an unexpected surprise for Werder Bremen fans.

They thought they were just accompanying the prince to study, but unexpectedly, the team won the championship.

Although the championship didn't hold much weight, compared to league trophies and German Cup trophies, it was still a trophy, right?

And through these two matches, they got to know these new faces in the team.

Players like Lukimya, Celasi, and Elia gained the approval of the team's fans with their strength.

As for Lin Quan and De Blauney, the two young talents, they were the most surprising points for the team in the new season.

Lin Quan's strong finishing ability in the frontcourt and De Blauney's talent in linking up the midfield and the frontcourt in attack were unanimously recognized by the fans.

Therefore, they all began to look forward to the team's performance in the new season!

Because they had gotten to know these new players in the team through these two matches in advance, when these players appeared on the field, they received enthusiastic cheers from the fans at the scene.

Among them, De Blauney and Lin Quan received the most cheers.

When Lin Quan, wearing the number 10 jersey, appeared on the field, all 45,000 fans at the scene stood up and shouted his name in unison. Some fans even wore the new season's team jerseys that had just been released for sale.

And these jerseys worn by the fans were Lin Quan's number 10 jersey!

He hadn't even played a Bundesliga match yet, but he had already become the most popular player among the fans in the team!

This scene happened to be captured by a Bild reporter and became a classic photo that many fans would discuss in the future.

The 2012-2013 season, Werder Bremen, is about to set sail.

(End of this chapter)