First Encounter with De Bruyne

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, a month had gone by.

By the end of June, the day for the team to gather for training was drawing closer.

Werder Bremen's new season training camp would start on July 3rd, and before that, the players would gradually arrive from all over to join the squad.

The first to show up was naturally Lin Quan himself, since he'd already been training alone at the base for over a month.

Through this period of training, he had fully adapted to Boss Messi's peak abilities.

From now on, using the Boss's various signature moves wouldn't feel so awkward anymore.

Not only that, but his height had increased by one centimeter, reaching 173 centimeters.

His weight had also gone up from the previous 65 kilograms to 67 kilograms.

This growth in height and weight made his originally somewhat slender frame look a bit sturdier.

His physical strength in duels had improved too, and his ability to hold onto the ball had grown stronger.

Swish!

A crisp sound rang out as the ball traced a beautiful arc, soaring high over the wall of defenders, then dropping sharply to drill into the top-left corner of the goal.

That day, he arrived at the training ground early, only to find someone had gotten there even earlier.

It was a young player, about 180 centimeters tall, with a head of blond hair.

The other guy hadn't noticed Lin Quan's arrival and was still hammering away at shots.

Lin Quan watched from the sidelines for a bit and realized the guy was practicing free kicks.

But honestly, it looked more like he was venting his anger than actually training.

Every kick was so forceful, as if the ball had personally offended him.

Still, with that much power behind his shots, the ball still managed to fly accurately into the corner of the goal.

He had to admit, the guy's technique was impressive.

At this point, Lin Quan had already guessed who he was.

This must be the player on loan from Chelsea—Kevin De Bruyne.

Clap, clap, clap!

Lin Quan applauded the guy's excellent footwork.

Hearing the applause, De Bruyne stopped and turned to glance at him.

Seeing that the other person was wearing the same team jersey, he nodded at Lin Quan as a greeting.

After that nod, he went back to his training without any intention of making small talk.

Lin Quan knew De Bruyne was a quiet, introverted player, so he didn't think much of it.

If the guy had come running over enthusiastically to chat him up, that would've made him wonder if something was wrong with De Bruyne.

He didn't want to interrupt De Bruyne's practice, so he went to the equipment room, grabbed his training gear, picked out a different spot, set up his equipment, and started training on his own.

After about half an hour of practice, Lin Quan felt like someone was watching him.

He glanced toward the sideline and saw that De Bruyne had stopped training at some point and was standing there, watching him practice.

When De Bruyne noticed Lin Quan looking his way, his face flushed, and he quickly turned his head away.

He had that feeling of being caught doing something wrong, and he looked a bit embarrassed.

"Something on your mind?"

Seeing the guy actually blush, Lin Quan couldn't help but find it amusing.

He'd always heard that Dindin was shy, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad.

"Cough, no, nothing!"

De Bruyne said awkwardly, as if he'd mustered up a huge amount of courage just to get those words out.

Getting him to say a full eight words was no small feat!

Since the guy had nothing to say, Lin Quan decided to ignore him and continue his training.

But when he started up again, De Bruyne still stood there on the sideline, not leaving.

So Lin Quan had to stop once more and repeated his earlier question:

"Are you sure there's nothing?"

De Bruyne couldn't very well say "nothing" again, because if there really was nothing, he wouldn't still be standing there.

"Hi, I'm Kevin De Bruyne, nice to meet you. Are you practicing dribbling?"

Lin Quan walked over, extended his hand, and shook De Bruyne's in a friendly manner.

"Hi, I'm Lin Quan. As you can see, I am practicing my dribbling. How about it, interested in training together?"

De Bruyne played in an attacking position, which required some ball control and dribbling skills to help shake off defenders and find better passing lanes.

At 21, De Bruyne's technique wasn't as refined or polished as it would be later on. His style was free and unrestrained, a bit rough around the edges—none of which really fit Chelsea's requirements.

So, having failed to find a place at Chelsea, he was forced out on loan to gain experience in the Bundesliga.

Bundesliga clubs, especially the mid-tier ones, aren't great at marketing, so their revenue is low.

Despite having one of Europe's best fan bases, their commercial development lags far behind the Premier League and La Liga.

To keep costs down, salary spending for lower- and mid-tier Bundesliga clubs is generally low, and their signings are conservative.

This gives young players a chance to find their own stage.

For De Bruyne, playing in the Bundesliga was definitely better than rotting on Chelsea's bench.

After the pain of joining a Giant Club and then being cast out by one, De Bruyne grew increasingly dissatisfied with his own ability.

He desperately wanted to improve his strength as quickly as possible and prove himself on the pitch.

Just to show those bastards at Chelsea that it wasn't his lack of skill—it was that they never gave him a chance.

So, when Lin Quan invited him, he gladly accepted.

Lin Quan had no idea what De Bruyne was thinking; he'd invited him to train together simply because he wanted a sparring partner to get more familiar with Messi's various dribbling moves in actual combat.

So the two hit it off and started training with gusto.

"You go first, or I go first?"

Lin Quan held the ball, smiling at De Bruyne as he spoke.

Seeing the ball at Lin Quan's feet, De Bruyne lowered his center of gravity slightly, planted himself in the key area in front of the arc of the penalty box, and assumed a defensive stance.

De Bruyne's defensive skills weren't particularly outstanding, but he knew the basics.

Still, when a defender faces an attacker one-on-one, they're at a disadvantage—the attacker has at least two paths to break through.

So they can only block the most threatening route and force the opponent to the other side.

De Bruyne chose to block the inside, leaving the outside—the flank—open to Lin Quan. That's what most defenders do when facing a wide attacker.

De Bruyne's plan was to let Lin Quan try to speed past on the wing, but when he went for the vertical break, he'd let the ball go but not the man—using body contact to disrupt his rhythm and steps, making him lose the ball.

The strategy was sound, but the problem was that Lin Quan wasn't going to play along.

He dribbled forward, watching De Bruyne's footwork.

De Bruyne kept his weight on his back foot, turned sideways, ready to chase back.

Suddenly, Lin Quan leaned forward, making a move to push the ball ahead. Seeing the shift in his opponent's weight, De Bruyne didn't hesitate and stepped back.

But then Lin Quan suddenly pulled the ball to the right, and with a simple body feint, he breezed past De Bruyne.

De Bruyne stood frozen in place. That dribbling move was way too simple—as simple as eating or drinking.

But the thing was, with such a simple trick, how did he end up getting beaten like a wooden post?