Win a Starting Spot Through Training Attitude

Tang Ye sat on the sofa, watching Charles and Boer trade barbs beside him.

Before entering the room, Tang Ye had already told Boer what he wanted.

He needed time off—more time off! That was the most important thing! Half an hour later.

"So, how did it go? Do I get both weekend days off from now on?"

"Tang..."

Boer lowered his head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't get you any additional time off. There was nothing I could do. Utrecht sees you as one of their core players now."

It was not that Boer was incompetent. Erik ten Hag had simply issued a hard order on this matter.

From the start of the negotiations, Boer had felt that getting extra vacation time written into the contract was unlikely. The final result proved him right.

"Damn it, it had to be Erik's doing!"

Tang Ye waved his fist.

Erik ten Hag currently gave him only one day off over the weekend. Tang Ye had originally planned to fight for a two-day weekend so he could improve at FIFA and take down Zaka in their future matches.

Now, it seemed taking down Zaka would have to wait!

"Don't be too upset yet."

Boer grinned. "I got your weekly wage raised to 2,600 euros."

"..."

Tang Ye was speechless.

If nothing unexpected had happened, Boer had probably put all his focus on Tang Ye's salary.

Tang Ye's vacation time had nothing to do with Boer.

But a pay raise definitely did!

"Besides the generous weekly wage, I also helped you secure a release clause. If a club wants to terminate your contract with Utrecht, they'll need to pay..."

Boer held up his right index and middle fingers. "200,000 euros!"

He patted Tang Ye on the back. "With a release clause, the club won't be able to keep you completely tied down."

Tang Ye nodded, half understanding.

Not being completely restricted by the club sounded great!

"So if I don't want to work anymore, can I just give the club 200,000 euros and terminate my contract?"

Tang Ye asked. Boer suddenly stopped walking. "Uh, who told you that's how a release clause works?"

"Then how does it work?"

"If a club wants to sign you but Utrecht refuses to let you go, they can pay 200,000 euros directly and take you away. Do you understand now?"

"What player pays his own release clause?!"

Boer had a headache.

Academy players like Tang Ye did not understand a lot of things. Being their agent could be difficult sometimes.

What academy player could come up with 200,000 euros out of thin air? Fuck, it sounded wrong just thinking about it! "Oh, I get it. I've used this in a game before!"

Tang Ye's eyes lit up as he remembered using release clauses to buy players in FIFA.

A release clause was basically this: someone did not want to sell, but you could pay to force the deal through!

He would have freedom, sure.

But...

Tang Ye shook his head and looked at Boer beside him. "This thing is useless for me, right? Would any other team besides Utrecht really want me?"

"You must never underestimate yourself!"

Boer urged him, "Play well, establish yourself in the Eredivisie for four or five years, and I'll find a way to take you to one of the Big Five leagues. Do you know the Big Five leagues? Lots of players at clubs there are worth tens of millions of euros!"

Tens of millions of euros! Tang Ye blinked. So far, the highest-valued players he knew were the team's two attackers.

Haller and Balazhit were both valued at 2.5 million euros! Tens of millions!

Tang Ye took a deep breath.

Why did other people have such absurd talent, while he could only rely on hard work to make up for his lack of it?

Damn it! But Tang Ye knew there was no need to rush anything.

He set himself a small goal.

Before becoming an adult, he would reach a valuation of 2.5 million euros and catch up to the team's two senior players! It would be difficult, but Tang Ye would put in the work!

On the afternoon of October 26, there were still two days until Utrecht's next Dutch Cup match.

Tang Ye was very excited now because his Portuguese Treasure Chest would hatch after the next match.

It was already a high-tier chest. If Tang Ye scored again in the next match,

he would receive a Superstar Chest! A Portuguese Superstar Chest! There was no need to explain how important chests were. That was also why Tang Ye had recently been probing for information about the starting lineup for the next match.

The more playing time he got, the better his chances of scoring. Even an idiot knew that.

Unfortunately, Tang Ye had ended up with Erik ten Hag. That guy was fucking sly.

He never told Tang Ye directly whether he would start the next match. Instead, he kept dangling promises in front of him.

After finishing 10 × 30-meter shuttle runs, Tang Ye walked over to Erik ten Hag, panting heavily. "Erik, I'm done!"

"Okay, good job."

Erik ten Hag clapped in praise. "I feel like you've moved another step closer to starting the next match. Let me calculate... You now have a 90% chance of starting!"

A 90% chance! Tang Ye rinsed his mouth with mineral water.

Erik ten Hag was fucking disgusting. He had set up a tiered training plan.

If Tang Ye wanted to increase his chance of starting the next match, he had to complete the training drills Erik ten Hag assigned.

Yesterday, Tang Ye's probability of starting had been 30%. Each completed training session increased it by 10%.

It was a little disgusting, but it did fit the principle that hard work would be rewarded.

Tang Ye had suffered through a lot, and now he had finally raised his starting probability to 90%! In other words, as long as Tang Ye completed one more training drill,

one more drill, he could lock down a starting spot for the next match.

"I'm so tired, sir. What's the next extra training drill?"

Tang Ye sat on the grass. His teammates were playing a practice match nearby.

By rough estimate, Tang Ye's training load was at least 1.5 times that of the other first-team players, perhaps even twice as much! "You look exhausted."

Erik ten Hag glanced at the iPad in his hand. The app displayed Tang Ye's real-time heart rate.

A heart rate of 127 beats per minute showed that Tang Ye was in considerable discomfort! "Rest for a while first."

Erik ten Hag handed Tang Ye a bottle of Gatorade. Tang Ye accepted it, but objected to Erik ten Hag's suggestion. "Erik, I only look tired. If I really have to run, I can still do it."

Today's training session was almost over, and tomorrow was the pre-match preparation day, so there would be no fitness training.

Tang Ye knew what that sly Erik ten Hag was thinking. He wanted Tang Ye to rest now and end training immediately, then keep him at a 90% probability and refuse to start him the day after tomorrow! Tang Ye would not let Erik ten Hag get his way!

"Wow, Tang, I didn't expect you to have this much determination."

Erik ten Hag raised his eyebrows. "All right, I'll give you ten minutes to rest. Then you'll begin today's final drill: a 3-kilometer variable-pace run!"

A 3-kilometer variable-pace run was extremely grueling, but in order to start, Tang Ye took a swig of Grealish draft beer.

Just do it!

Half an hour later.

"Huff, huff... huff huff... Erik, huff, what are my chances of starting now?"

"You completed it well!"

Erik ten Hag glanced at Mitchell van der Gaag's watch.

The result was average, but considering Tang Ye's original level, he had truly given everything in that final 3-kilometer variable-pace run!

"A perfect performance. Your effort deserves a starting spot in the next match. Your chances of starting are now..."

"99%!"