Ajax's Rejects

At some point, Ajax's Talent Day gradually lost its original purpose of selecting promising players and instead evolved into a social gathering that maintained the emotional bond between the club and its fans.

Centered around Amsterdam, all eligible players within sixty kilometers who were willing to attend could sign up. Coaches and scouts from every level of the club would come to observe the event and select outstanding players for the final round.

The entire Talent Day selection lasted four days. The first three days were preliminary selections, and only players who passed them could enter the final round on the fourth day. During the final round, the First Team stars and coaching staff would also attend.

According to the official figures released by Ajax this year, more than 1,500 players had participated in the preliminary selections over the first three days, setting a new high in recent years. Only a tiny fraction of them would make it to the final round on the fourth day.

Around Amsterdam, Ajax had arranged more than fifty scouts. At the same time, it had established partnerships with twenty-four lower-level clubs, recommending players to one another and sharing information. Every year, players from those twenty-four clubs received a fixed number of places, allowing them to recommend their top Youth Training Players directly into the final round.

Almere was one of those twenty-four clubs.

As was customary, the three recommended players, including Yang Yang, did not need to participate in the preliminary selections during the first three days. They only had to arrive at Ajax's De Toekomst training base on time on the fourth day to participate in the final selection.

That morning, Dick Van Pool and John Rep drove out, picking up Henk Dimer and Nick in turn before stopping at a residential area north of Car City to pick up Yang Yang. Only then did they enter the highway through Exit Five and head west.

Along the way, John Rep, sitting in the passenger seat, repeatedly turned around to explain the precautions for Talent Day to the three players in the back. He mainly reminded them how to deal with the assessments and not to put too much psychological pressure on themselves.

Since Ajax's Tony Brons Slots and Patrick Radru had already given them the inside story, John Rep and Dick Van Pool both knew that regardless of Yang Yang's results at Talent Day, he would join Ajax afterward.

In return, Almere would receive a sum of compensation. More importantly, Slots had promised to loan two elite Youth Training Players to Almere to help the satellite club gain promotion to the Dutch Second Division as quickly as possible.

John Rep and Dick Van Pool both felt deeply regretful that they could not keep Yang Yang. However, exchanging him for two elite Ajax Youth Training Players was undoubtedly a very worthwhile deal. Besides, Yang Yang's joining Ajax would greatly enhance Almere's influence in youth training.

If Yang Yang could appear for Ajax's First Team, he would surely become a living advertisement for Almere's youth training.

John Rep naturally felt reluctant to see this player leave, but he had even greater hopes for him. He encouraged Yang Yang to perform as well as possible at Talent Day and strive to enter the Second Team directly, where he could play under Van Basten.

That was Yang Yang's only goal in making this trip.

The last time they had gone to Amsterdam Arena, they had taken a bus along the A1 highway into Amsterdam, then headed straight north before getting off at the Diemen exit. After playing their match in Diemen, they had gone around Southeast New Town to the west and reached Ajax's home ground.

This time, however, after entering Amsterdam, they turned directly onto the A9 highway heading west, then switched to the A2 highway heading north and exited at the Amstel interchange.

"Look, that's De Toekomst."

As soon as they left the highway, John Rep pointed toward the north side of the exit. A small river ran alongside the road, with rows of trees lining both banks. Through the gaps, they could vaguely see patches of green fields on the other side.

Henk Dimer and Nick had clearly been here many times and showed no surprise at all. Only Yang Yang pressed close to the window, staring unblinkingly toward De Toekomst, his heart filled with longing.

According to John Rep, Ajax's Amsterdam Arena stood east of De Toekomst, just over five hundred meters away on foot. Although the area around the stadium still seemed rather quiet, everyone believed that with the crowds drawn by the stadium and the development of Southeast New Town, this place would eventually become the commercial center of southeastern Amsterdam.

That was precisely why Ajax had chosen to move its home ground here.

After passing through three intersections, they finally arrived at De Toekomst.

The first thing that came into view was a huge rectangular parking lot. It was said that on match days, it could hold a total of 2,000 cars, but by the time Yang Yang and the others arrived, more than half of the spaces were already occupied.

After getting out of the car, the three of them saw the bustling scene in the parking lot and could not help clicking their tongues in amazement.

This was Ajax's appeal.

"Ha, John, it really is you."

Just as Yang Yang and the others took their luggage from the trunk and were preparing to enter De Toekomst, a booming voice came from behind them.

They all turned around and saw a tall, fat Dutch Middle-aged Man hurrying toward them. Several young players followed behind him, and their eyes were filled with hostility as they looked at Yang Yang and the others. Clearly, they had come for the selection as well.

"Hello, Hank. I'm really glad to see you here."

After recognizing him, John Rep pursed his lips almost imperceptibly, then 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 middle-aged man's gaze quickly fell on Almere's three players, especially Yang Yang in the middle. His black hair and yellow skin were simply too conspicuous.

"He's Yang Yang?" The Middle-aged Man pointed at Yang Yang.

"Yes," John Rep replied.

The fat Middle-aged Man brazenly looked Yang Yang up and down, then clicked his tongue regretfully twice. "Too skinny. With a build like that, he can't play professional football."

Yang Yang felt somewhat indignant. He raised his head and looked at the four players behind the Middle-aged Man. They seemed to be around his age, but every one of them was solidly built. Even the smallest was a full circle broader than him.

"Seriously, does being strong mean you can play football well?" Henk Dimer retorted angrily from the side.

"Amateur football naturally doesn't require it, but if you want to play in a professional league, you must have excellent physical attributes. Even if Ajax's youth-team selections don't place much emphasis on physical condition, if you want to enter the Second Team, or even the First Team, your physique is something that must be considered."

The speaker was a player in sportswear standing beside the fat Middle-aged Man. He looked about the same age as Yang Yang and the others, but his tone was extremely arrogant, as if he did not regard them at all.

When Yang Yang looked at him, he easily saw the contempt in the player's eyes.

Who exactly is this guy?

The criteria for selecting Youth Training Players had been the subject of constant debate in recent years. Whether to prioritize physical condition or technical ability had always been a major point of contention in Dutch football, and it was difficult to determine which was ultimately superior.

After being challenged to his face, Henk Dimer immediately grew annoyed. He sneered and said, "You make it sound as if you've actually been in Ajax's youth team."

Unexpectedly, the fat Middle-aged Man burst out laughing as soon as he heard that. Pointing at the player who had just spoken, he said, "Don't say that. Vicente really did spend four or five years in Ajax's Youth Training Camp. It wasn't until half a year ago, when he failed the assessment because of certain objective factors, that he returned to our club."

Henk Dimer's expression instantly changed, and he became awkward. He had not expected the person arguing with him to be an Ajax Youth Training Player who had spent four or five years there. His ability was certainly no joke.

The fat Middle-aged Man clearly did not take Henk Dimer seriously. His gaze remained fixed on Yang Yang, but he noticed that after hearing one of the man's players was from Ajax's Youth Training Camp, the Chinese player had not been moved at all. He remained calm and composed, neither servile nor overbearing. For no apparent reason, this stirred up anger in him.

"I've heard of you. You performed well in amateur matches—fast, with strong dribbling ability—but I'm afraid that isn't enough to enter Ajax's Youth Training Camp. At De Toekomst, they don't care only about your performance on the field."

"I know," Yang Yang replied lightly.

He really did know. Radru, Arroyo, and John Rep had all mentioned these things to him.

A player's outstanding performance on the field could be caused by many factors. For example, some players matured earlier and had superior physical attributes, which gave them a major advantage in youth teams or amateur matches. But once they reached the Second Team, or even the First Team, and lost those advantages, they would be completely exposed.

As one of the clubs with the highest youth-training standards in the world, Ajax naturally had extremely demanding selection requirements. This could already be seen from the semester assessments at Almere, which was only Ajax's satellite club.

Yang Yang understood all of this. Yet his calm reply left the fat Middle-aged Man unsure how to continue. Many of the words he had prepared in advance had to be swallowed back down. After letting out a cold snort, he turned around and left with his group.

The player named Vicente, however, deliberately stopped when he passed Yang Yang. He looked at the Chinese player provocatively, hatred shining in his eyes.

"Emanuelson is nothing but a left-back who switched over halfway through. Defending isn't his strong suit. You were lucky to run into him, but you'd better not meet me in this afternoon's scrimmage. Otherwise..."

Before he could finish, Yang Yang interrupted him with a smile. "Now that you've put it that way, I'm even more eager to meet you."

Anger flashed in Vicente's eyes. He nodded at Yang Yang through clenched teeth, then hurried after his teammates.

Henk Dimer and Nick both felt relieved when they saw Yang Yang give the other side a sharp response. Wasn't he just a Youth Training Player Ajax had rejected? Did he really have to look down on people like that?

Although the two of them admitted that even Ajax's rejected Youth Training Players were better than them and indeed had the ability to look down on them, being ridiculed to their faces still left them furious. They simply had not been able to retort in person.

John Rep, standing nearby, helplessly glanced at Dick Van Pool before turning to the three players. With an apologetic smile, he said, "Sorry for the trouble. It was all because of me."

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