He Reminded Me of Someone

The busy summer had finally arrived.

After a season that yielded nothing, the pressure on Ajax's management had multiplied.

Defensive cornerstone and captain Chivu, along with the team's sharpest right winger, Van der Meide, were both set to leave. This posed an enormous problem for everyone at Ajax. They could no longer be retained, and management demanded that the sporting department come up with a solution as soon as possible.

Signings?

That was unlikely. Several First Team players were facing contract renewals, and renewing their deals would inevitably mean pay raises.

If a club's finances were a set of scales, then the transfer-fee budget and wage budget would sit at opposite ends. To raise one side, the other had to be pushed down.

Management's decision to sell players had also been driven by the pressure of rising wages.

If they did not sell players, where would they get the money to raise the wages of Van der Vaart, Ibrahimovic, Sneijder, and the others?

They had sold players, yet could not spend heavily in the transfer market. They also had to keep the team competitive, perhaps even perform better than they had last season. This undoubtedly presented the sporting department with an immense challenge.

Ronald Koeman had made his position clear: in the new season, he would continue promoting talented youngsters from the youth teams to the First Team. At the same time, he demanded that the scouting department quickly identify a group of outstanding young players to join the club and provide the First Team with a sufficient supply of talent.

Even sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds such as Babel and Ramlabe had begun appearing on the First Team's watchlist.

Tony Bruns Slots was the head of the scouting department, so player selection naturally fell under his responsibility.

Recently, he had been so busy that he could barely keep up. Every day, he met and saw off people, while countless player reports passed through his hands. It left him dizzy and overwhelmed, and every time he entered De Toekomst, his head began to ache.

Especially when he saw Patrick Radru and Fred Arroyo arriving together, his brow furrowed tightly.

"I hope you're bringing me good news," Slots said bitterly, curling his lip.

Radru and Arroyo exchanged a smile.

Patrick Radru was a longtime Ajax youth coach who had always worked with the youth teams. After Leo Benhak left early, he had been brought up to serve as Youth Training Assistant.

Fred Arroyo, meanwhile, was a scout under Slots, responsible for monitoring Ajax players out on loan and regularly submitting scouting reports.

The two had recently been busy with the same thing: summer amateur matches.

"Actually, we do have good news," Fred Arroyo said with a chuckle.

"Let's hear it."

"Haven't you been worrying over center-backs and right wingers lately?"

"Mm." Slots nodded.

Those were indeed the two positions where the team most urgently needed reinforcements.

"At center-back, I strongly recommend Vlaar, that young center-back from Alkmaar."

Slots nodded. He knew of the player. Vlaar had performed well in amateur matches and had the build of a classic center-back. He was a little young and raw, but his future was still worth looking forward to.

"He is indeed a good player, but he's too young. You know the problem our team currently faces—we need more mature and dependable players. That's why both the scouting department and the Coaching Staff favor Julian Escude of Rennes in Ligue 1. He'll be twenty-four soon and has much more experience."

Patrick Radru shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We have a good relationship with Alkmaar, so we can negotiate for him first."

Clearly, both he and Arroyo rated Vlaar highly.

Slots thought it over. "I'll consider it further. You know we can't bring every one of the best young players in the Netherlands into the team. We have to consider whether there will be enough match opportunities for them. We already have Thomas Vermaelen at center-back. We signed this Belgian in 2001, but he still hasn't made an appearance for the First Team."

The two stopped insisting after hearing that. For a club like Ajax, young players were the least scarce resource.

"The other one is a right winger. You've definitely heard of him," Arroyo said with a smile.

"Oh?"

"That Chinese player from Almere, Yang Yang."

"Him." Slots nodded. "Last night, Aron Mooy's Football Online was practically all discussing him. In the Away Match against Volendam, he scored a Brace. His Two Goals helped Almere turn the match around against the home side. That was indeed a very good performance."

"We watched him play in person," Arroyo said with a smile. "His dribbling breakthroughs on the right reminded me of someone."

"Who?"

"Ronaldo."

"Come on, the Alien was a striker."

"I know. What I mean is, the way he beats players is very much like Ronaldo's."

At Arroyo's words, Slots suddenly remembered something. He immediately gestured for his two colleagues to wait, then walked to a cabinet filled with documents and rummaged through it for a while before quickly pulling out a file.

"I don't remember how long ago it was, but one of our scouts recommended him too."

As he spoke, Slots handed the file to his two colleagues.

While they read the scouting report, Slots played the match footage Arroyo had copied onto the computer.

The match from the previous night had been played at Karas Stadium in Volendam. Although it had not been broadcast publicly, Ajax had requested that it be recorded on site. Arroyo had specially edited together Yang Yang's highlights and copied them onto a USB drive.

As Slots watched, his brow furrowed even deeper.

If he remembered correctly, the scouting report had been placed on his desk more than a month ago. But he had not paid much attention to it at the time, because the scout who submitted it had called Yang Yang Ronaldo II, which Slots had dismissed as a publicity stunt.

But judging from the match footage Arroyo had submitted, Yang Yang's dribbling and ability to beat defenders down the right flank were indeed sharp. Moreover, his work rate in the final third—especially his defensive commitment—was extremely high, something very rare for an attacking player.

Though Slots was not a Head Coach, he knew very well that any Head Coach would treasure a player willing to pour his energy into defending while also possessing outstanding Attacking Ability.

The reason Ronald Koeman did not particularly trust Ibrahimovic was that the Swedish Striker was not keen on defending.

After carefully reviewing the match footage, Slots discovered that whenever Yang Yang received the ball and drove straight at his opponent, his success rate in one-on-one situations was nearly one hundred percent. It was simply unbelievable.

But the footage also exposed many of Yang Yang's problems.

"His fundamentals are too poor, especially his first touch. His passing has ideas behind it, but it's not good either. And his crosses are awful."

As the head of Ajax's scouting department, Slots had a keen eye and immediately spotted Yang Yang's strengths and weaknesses.

If his fundamentals had not been so poor, if his first touch and crossing had been more reliable, this player would have been outstanding. Almere would definitely have scored more than just two goals in this match.

He was a player whose strengths and weaknesses were both glaringly obvious.

Arroyo and Radru exchanged a look, each seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.

"I heard on Football Online last night that many enthusiastic fans calling in said Yang Yang couldn't even get a game for Almere two months ago. But over the past two or three months, he's suddenly improved at an incredible pace and has become the team's core starter."

Slots looked at Radru. "Patrick, you mean...?"

"I think we should keep a close eye on him. It would be best if you went yourself."

"Mm, I'll consider it," Slots said after thinking for a moment.

Arroyo, standing nearby, could also tell that Slots was brushing it off. After hesitating briefly, he said, "Tony, I know you've been very busy lately, but I truly suggest that you give Patrick's proposal serious consideration."

"Hm?" Slots sensed that something was off.

"I saw Gullit in Volendam last night."

"Mm, he's already decided to take over the Netherlands U18 National Team this summer." Slots was not surprised.

"Henk Vonk, Utrecht's scout, was there too, along with Feyenoord's scout Michel Becks and scouts from several other clubs. They all rated Yang Yang very highly."

Upon hearing that, Slots immediately took the matter seriously. He had not expected others to have their eyes on Yang Yang too. That was something he could not afford to ignore.

"Also, I saw Pete Deviser there."

"Pete Deviser?" Slots was instantly taken aback. Staring at Arroyo, he asked anxiously, "Are you sure? You didn't mistake him for someone else?"

"Absolutely. Karas van Balen came with him," Arroyo said with complete certainty.

Slots's expression changed several times. He remained silent for a long while before finally rising to his feet.

"I'll call Luther Carroll right away."

Then he looked at Fred Arroyo. "Fred, go find out when Almere's next match is and who they're playing. I need the exact information as soon as possible."

Arroyo knew he had caught the attention of the head of the scouting department. How could he dare to be careless? He immediately stood up and agreed.

Patrick Radru added from the side, "Tony, you'd better call John Rep too."

Slots and Arroyo immediately agreed that it was an excellent idea.

After beating Volendam, Almere returned in triumph and received an enthusiastic welcome from the Almere supporters. Yang Yang, who had scored a Brace, once again became the team's savior.

Everyone gathered once more at Shen's Chinese Restaurant to celebrate. Only after eating and drinking their fill did they head home to rest.

That night, at the Super Training Ground, Yang Yang went through a post-match review with Old Bing. They mainly focused on several mistakes Yang Yang had made during the game. Some had been caused by his poor fundamentals and would be difficult to improve in a short time, but others were Yang Yang's own problems and should be avoided as much as possible in the next match.

Identify problems, solve problems—that was how Yang Yang had continued improving over the past three months.

Early the next morning, Yang Yang headed to the Skate Park for special training, full of energy.

Since the team had taken the day off after last night's match, Yang Yang spent nearly all his time training at the Skate Park apart from his midday rest, only returning to the restaurant around dinnertime to help out.

After finally getting through the dinner rush and eating his own meal, Henk Dimer and the others came knocking again.

Not long after, even John Rep arrived.

It was the first time anything like this had ever happened.