The next day, Lin Quan got up early in the morning.
After breakfast, he took his football and rode his bicycle to the Training Base.
Werder Bremen's Training Base was very close to Weser Stadium, which was itself a landmark in the city of Bremen.
So even for a newcomer like Lin Quan, as long as he headed toward the stadium, he would not get lost.
Since the team was already on holiday, the club was also in a semi-holiday state.
Uncle Greif, the security guard watching over the base, was quite surprised to see a player coming in to train at a time like this.
"Hey, kid, are you really a player for our team?"
He looked Lin Quan up and down. He had never seen him around the team before, and Lin Quan was not wearing a Werder Bremen shirt either, so he was highly suspicious of his identity.
"The real deal. If you don't believe me, you can call the club management. Mr. Essien or Mr. Allofs will do. If you have the number for club chairman Mr. Klaus Fischer, you can call him too."
Lin Quan stood calmly at the entrance to the base, showing no nervousness whatsoever in the face of the guard's doubts.
Seeing him rattle off the names of several club executives in one breath while remaining so composed, Uncle Greif was already seventy or eighty percent convinced.
Still, Germans tended to be rigid—put more kindly, meticulous.
He actually called club manager Allofs to confirm Lin Quan's identity.
Allofs had only met Lin Quan the day before. When Uncle Greif reported that Lin Quan had come to the club for extra training, he was extremely surprised.
So he drove over personally and brought Lin Quan into the team's Training Base.
"That way is the youth team's training ground. This is the first team's training field. The changing rooms are over here, and this is..."
After introducing the various facilities at the Training Base, Allofs paused and said earnestly:
"Extra training is a good thing, but pay attention to controlling the workload. Don't overdo it and train yourself into an injury.
"You're still young. You have plenty of time, so there's no need to rush!"
Although he was not particularly optimistic that Lin Quan could fit perfectly into Werder Bremen's tactical system, he appreciated—or rather, liked—hardworking players like him.
Especially when a player was still so young, being able to resist the temptations of the glamorous world beyond the pitch, settle down, build a solid foundation, and work hard to improve his footballing ability was an exceptionally rare quality.
Lin Quan nodded. After spending some time with him, he felt that Allofs was quite easy to get along with.
It was clear that Allofs cared deeply about the club. However, judging by his troubled expression, the rumors that he wanted to leave were probably true.
In the world before Lin Quan's transmigration, Allofs had left Werder Bremen in 2013.
That season, Werder Bremen only narrowly avoided relegation before the final match. Perhaps those dreadful results had been the biggest reason he finally decided to leave.
In other words, if the team's results improved this season, Allofs might not necessarily choose to leave.
But that had little to do with Lin Quan. He had only come on loan for one year, and when his loan deal expired next year, he would most likely leave.
By then, whether Allofs and Head Coach Thomas Løf stayed or left would have little to do with him.
For some time afterward, Lin Quan went to the club to train every day as scheduled.
The training mainly consisted of on-ball and off-ball drills, all routine training content for a professional team.
At first, the workload was not too heavy, mainly to avoid injury.
Once his physical condition had adjusted, they gradually increased the workload.
After the workload reached a certain level, it stabilized and was not increased further.
At his age, he was in a critical stage of physical development. Excessive training could cause irreversible damage to his body.
Whenever Lin Quan trained, Allofs would quietly observe from the sidelines for a while.
A week later, there was another person standing at the side of the field.
Lin Quan did not know this person, but seeing how familiar he was with Allofs, he had some guesses about the man's identity.
The two did not disturb Lin Quan's training. They only occasionally came over for a look, then exchanged a few words.
"Thomas, what do you think of him?"
Allofs had observed Lin Quan for two weeks and had gained a thorough understanding of his technical ability.
He was a young player with an exceptionally solid technical foundation, delicate footwork, and abundant flair.
In him, Allofs saw traces of Xavi, Iniesta, and even Messi.
It was as if he had combined the strengths of all three, possessing both playmaking ability and finishing ability.
As expected of a La Masia product. Truly top quality!
Unfortunately, there had not been any actual match practice yet, so he could not verify his judgment and did not dare say for certain that it was accurate.
That was why he had brought along his friend and partner, the club's Head Coach Thomas Schaaf, to watch Lin Quan train with him.
Schaaf stared without blinking for a long while before finally answering slowly:
"His technique is indeed excellent, but he's too young."
There were many promising young talents in football, but not many of them truly made it in the end.
Take the Golden Boy Award, for example. The players who won it had certainly earned unanimous recognition for their performances during the period when they received the award.
Yet their later careers were not always smooth. Many failed to live up to expectations and were branded colossal flops.
For instance, Manchester United's expensive European Golden Boy, Anderson, had completely failed to make it at Manchester United, causing the twenty-million-euro signing to be heavily criticized.
And Anderson had at least been nineteen when he joined Manchester United, while Lin Quan was only sixteen this year.
The risk of betting on him was likely even greater than Ferguson's gamble on Anderson.
Allofs clearly disagreed:
"I don't think we should dismiss his ability simply because he's young. Don't forget, Werder Bremen's record for the youngest appearance is held by you. If the coach back then had dismissed young players the way you do now, would you ever have made it?"
"Schaaf, you've changed. You've become conservative. Has the team's poor performance made you cautious and cost you the composure and confidence you once had?"
Thomas Schaaf fell silent after hearing his friend's words. He could not help but wonder: Had he really changed?
Three seasons ago, the club had still been among the league's title contenders. Then, the season before last, it suddenly collapsed and fell straight into the relegation battle.
The situation worsened further last season, and the team had at one point nearly fallen into the abyss of relegation.
This summer, fourteen players had transferred away, including first-choice goalkeeper Wiese. Half of them had been regular starters.
Under such circumstances, the pressure to avoid relegation in the new season was unprecedented. He could not afford to make even a single mistake.
And perhaps it was precisely under such immense pressure that he had become conservative.
"You're right. I shouldn't be this conservative!"
"With our current squad, no amount of caution can guarantee survival. Since that's the case, we might as well go all out!"
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