Ajax's Discarded Goods

No one could quite remember when Ajax's Talent Day had shifted from its original purpose of scouting talent to a club-and-fan bonding event.

Within a sixty-kilometer radius of Amsterdam, any player of eligible age who was willing to participate could sign up. All of the club's youth coaches and scouts would be on-site to observe, picking out outstanding players for the final selection.

The entire Talent Day selection process lasted four days. The first three were preliminary rounds; only those who passed could enter the fourth day's final selection, where the First Team stars and coaching staff would also attend.

According to this year's official Ajax data, over fifteen hundred players had participated in the first three days of preliminaries—a record high in recent years—and only a tiny fraction would make it to the fourth day's finals.

Around Amsterdam, Ajax had deployed more than fifty scouts and established partnerships with twenty-four lower-tier clubs, sharing player recommendations and information. Each of those twenty-four clubs had a fixed number of annual slots to send their youth elites directly into the finals.

Almere was one of those twenty-four clubs.

As usual, Yang Yang and the other two recommended players didn't need to attend the first three days of preliminaries. They only had to show up on the fourth day at Ajax's De Toekomst training ground for the final selection.

That morning, Dick Van Pool and John Rep drove, picking up Henk Dimer and Nick in turn, then collecting Yang Yang from the residential area north of Car City before merging onto the highway at Exit 5, heading west.

Along the way, John Rep, in the passenger seat, kept turning around to brief the three players in the back on the Talent Day selection details, emphasizing how to handle the assessments and not to let pressure get to them, among other things.

Since Ajax's Tony Bruns Slots and Patrick Radru had already given them a heads-up, both John Rep and Dick Van Pool knew that regardless of Yang Yang's performance at Talent Day, he would be joining Ajax afterward.

For this, Almere would receive a compensation fee, but more importantly, Slots had promised to loan two youth training elites to Almere to help the satellite club get promoted to the Dutch Second Division as soon as possible.

Failing to keep Yang Yang left John Rep and Dick Van Pool deeply regretful, but swapping him for two Ajax youth elites was still a very worthwhile deal. Moreover, Yang Yang's move to Ajax would significantly boost Almere's youth training reputation.

If Yang Yang could even play for Ajax's First Team, he would become a living advertisement for Almere's youth program.

John Rep couldn't help feeling a pang of reluctance for the departing player, but more than that, he held high hopes, encouraging Yang Yang to perform as well as possible at Talent Day and aim for a direct spot on the Second Team under Van Basten.

That was Yang Yang's only goal for this trip.

The last time they went to the Amsterdam Arena, they had taken a bus along the A1 highway into Amsterdam, heading north, exiting at the Diemen junction, playing a match in Diemen, then looping around Southeast New Town west to Ajax's home ground.

But this time, after entering Amsterdam, they switched to the A9 highway west, then onto the A2 north, exiting at the Amstel junction.

"Look, that's De Toekomst."

As soon as they exited the highway, John Rep pointed to the north side of the junction. A small river ran alongside the road, with trees lining both banks, but through the gaps, you could make out patches of green fields on the far side.

Henk Dimer and Nick had clearly been there many times and showed no surprise. Only Yang Yang pressed close to the window, staring intently toward De Toekomst, filled with anticipation.

According to John Rep, Ajax's Amsterdam Arena was just east of De Toekomst, a five-hundred-meter walk away. Though the area around the stadium was still relatively quiet now, it was believed that with the flow of spectators and the development of Southeast New Town, this place would become a commercial hub in southeastern Amsterdam.

That was exactly why Ajax had chosen to move their home ground here.

After three turns, they finally arrived at De Toekomst.

The first thing to catch their eyes was a large rectangular parking lot. On match days, it could hold up to two thousand cars, but by the time Yang Yang and the others arrived, it was already more than half full.

When Yang Yang and the other two got out of the car and saw the scene in the parking lot, they couldn't help but be amazed.

That was Ajax's pull.

"Ha, John, it really is you."

Just as Yang Yang and the others were pulling their luggage from the trunk and preparing to enter De Toekomst, a loud voice called out from behind.

They turned around and saw a tall, overweight Dutch Middle-aged Man hurrying up to them. Behind him were several young players, all glaring at Yang Yang's group with hostility—clearly also there for the selection.

"Hello, Hank. Glad to see you here."

John Rep recognized the man, gave a slight, reluctant twist of his lips, but quickly forced a smile and shook hands with the Dutch Middle-aged Man.

After shaking hands with John Rep and Dick Van Pool, the fat man's gaze quickly fell on Almere's three players, especially Yang Yang in the middle. His black hair and yellow skin stood out too much.

"Is he Yang Yang?" The fat man pointed at Yang Yang.

"Yes," John Rep replied.

The fat man's eyes roamed over Yang Yang without restraint, then he clicked his tongue in pity. "Too skinny. A build like that can't play professional football."

Yang Yang felt a surge of defiance and looked up at the four players behind the fat man. They seemed about his age, but every one of them was much bigger—the smallest was still a size larger than him.

"Tch, does being strong mean you can play football well?" Henk Dimer shot back, clearly annoyed.

"Amateur football doesn't need it, sure, but if you want to play in a professional league, you have to have a solid physique. Even if Ajax's youth selection doesn't emphasize physical condition, if you want to make it to the Second Team, or even the First Team, physicality is a factor you can't ignore."

The speaker was a player in sportswear standing next to the fat man. He looked about the same age as Yang Yang and the others, but his tone was arrogant, as if he didn't think much of them at all.

When Yang Yang met his gaze, he could easily read the contempt in those eyes.

Who was this guy?

The criteria for youth scouting had been a hot topic of debate in recent years—whether to prioritize physique or technique—and it was hard to say which was better.

Stung by the direct retort, Henk Dimer sneered. "Oh, like you've ever been in Ajax's youth team."

But no sooner had he said it than the fat man burst out laughing, pointing at the player who had just spoken. "You know, Vicente actually spent four or five years in Ajax's Youth Training Camp. He only left six months ago because of some objective factors—didn't pass the assessment—and came back to our team."

Henk Dimer's face changed color, and he looked embarrassed. He hadn't expected that the guy talking back to him was actually a former Ajax youth player, and for four or five years at that—his skill level was definitely no joke.

The fat man clearly didn't care about Henk Dimer. His gaze stayed on Yang Yang, but he noticed that this Chinese kid didn't flinch when he heard about the Ajax youth player among his group. He remained calm and composed, neither humble nor arrogant, which inexplicably irritated him.

"I've heard of you. You did well in the amateur matches—fast, good at breaking through. But making it into Ajax's Youth Training Camp? Probably not enough. At De Toekomst, they care about more than just what you do on the pitch."

"I know," Yang Yang replied lightly.

He did know—both Radru and Arroyo, as well as John Rep, had mentioned this to Yang Yang.

Outstanding performance on the pitch could stem from many factors. For instance, some players matured early or had exceptional physical attributes, which gave them a big advantage in youth or amateur matches. But when they reached the Second Team, or even the First Team, and lost those advantages, they were completely exposed for what they were.

Ajax, as one of the clubs with the highest youth training standards in the world, naturally had very strict selection criteria. This was evident from the semester assessments at Almere, and that was just Ajax's satellite club.

Yang Yang knew this well, but his calm response left the middle-aged fat man at a loss for how to continue. Many of the prepared words he had in mind had to be swallowed back down. With a cold snort, he turned and led his people away.

As for the player named Vicente, he deliberately stopped in front of Yang Yang, staring at the Chinese man with a provocative glare, his eyes brimming with jealousy and resentment.

"That idiot Emanuelson is just a makeshift left-back; defense isn't his strong suit. You got lucky running into him, but in this afternoon's scrimmage, you'd better hope you don't run into me, or else..."

Before he could finish, Yang Yang cut him off with a smile. "Now that you mention it, I'm even more eager to run into you."

Vicente's eyes flashed with anger. Grinding his teeth, he nodded at Yang Yang and quickly caught up with his teammates.

Henk Dimer and Nick felt a sense of relief seeing Yang Yang talk back to him. Wasn't he just a youth training player who'd been cut by Ajax? What right did he have to look down on them like that?

Even though they both admitted that even a rejected Ajax youth player was more skilled than them and had the credentials to look down on them, being humiliated like that to their faces still stung. They just couldn't talk back in the moment.

John Rep, standing nearby, glanced helplessly at Dick Van Pool, then turned to Yang Yang and the other two. With an apologetic wry smile, he said, "Sorry, this is all my fault."

Yang Yang was taken aback. What did this have to do with John Rep?