Reporting to the First Team!

The next morning.

At the training ground by the first-team dormitories.

After Leo Kang completed two hours of training.

The elderly security guard anxiously handed him a dry towel, looking troubled.

"Leo, I'm sorry, but today is the youth team's day off. You have to rest, or they'll dock my pay!"

Leo Kang smiled and nodded.

Bayer Leverkusen's fitness coach was a rigorous, stubborn old man.

He still clung to conservative beliefs: excessive training time for young players would lead to adverse consequences.

He was always going on about "testosterone," "physical workload," and "premature bone closure stunting growth."

Whenever a young player brought up Cristiano Ronaldo as a counterexample.

He became even more convinced that his training philosophy was correct.

"Do you think everyone is Cristiano Ronaldo?"

"Even he didn't change his training methods until he was twenty-four."

Leo Kang returned to the dormitory and took a shower.

He was about to turn on the television and watch replays from Europe's top five leagues.

Havertz walked into the room looking haggard and weak.

He raised a small box and waved it around.

"I bought you a new phone!"

"What do you mean, shaking your head? Half my goal bonus is yours!"

"God, it's 2015. Nobody uses those black-and-white-screen phones anymore!"

"Open it up. I'll teach you how to register for social media accounts."

"Oh, and your foster mother returned the money. Her refund note said she had no use for it and told you to spend the money you earned yourself!"

Leo Kang smiled helplessly.

In this parallel world.

Spain had extremely strict verification procedures for minors applying for bank cards, and the card would be registered under the guardian's name.

Ever since he transferred to Bayer Leverkusen.

The club had separated Leo Kang's assets from his guardian and placed them under independent protection in accordance with FIFA's Regulations on the Protection of Minor Players.

The reason seemed to be this:

Many African stars ended up destitute after retirement because their guardians had taken all the money they earned.

One Arsenal star had to support over four hundred relatives by himself, and if he refused to give them money, they would burn down his house.

One Tottenham Hotspur star had relatives hold a knife to his throat and threaten him for money.

This whole string of protective regulations.

Made it difficult for Leo Kang to send money to his foster mother.

In short.

He could spend his money however he wanted, but before turning eighteen, sending money to a guardian required going through a complicated and painfully slow verification process.

Unless something happened to his foster mother.

Only then would the verification process be expedited.

Leo Kang could only rely on Havertz's help to transfer a small portion of his goal bonuses to her.

As for those messy regulations about how far a minor playing for a club could live from their parents.

Völler had handled them through a complicated series of arrangements.

The television happened to be airing transfer-window news from Europe's top five leagues.

The top assist provider in Europe's top five leagues, Kevin De Bruyne, joined Manchester City for a staggering €75 million.

The Pampas winger, Ángel Di María, joined Paris Saint-Germain for €44.1 million.

Hoffenheim's leading scorer, Firmino, joined Liverpool for €41 million.

Pedro, once part of Barcelona's "MVP" trio, transferred to Chelsea for €30 million.

The talented midfielder Casemiro returned to Real Madrid after his loan spell at Porto ended.

Leo Kang gave it a cursory look.

The major transfers were largely unchanged from the timeline of his previous life.

Only Bayer Leverkusen was different.

Son Heung-min had not joined Tottenham Hotspur.

And Hernández had not arrived at Bayer Arena.

Could this be the butterfly effect?

Havertz stared at the big screen, his face full of longing.

"Leo! One day, I'm going to become the most expensive signing of the transfer window too!"

Bayer Leverkusen.

The sporting director's office.

Head coach Schmidt looked troubled. "I can't guarantee him playing time. The club still has a difficult Champions League playoff to play, and there's a huge gap between the youth league and the Bundesliga, especially in match intensity—"

He stopped halfway through.

Only then did he realize that the old man before him was a legendary Bundesliga star.

Völler shook his head. "He'll bring you a surprise, Mr. Auto Mechanic!"

Schmidt's mouth twitched. He had no way to refute that nickname.

He had graduated from Paderborn University's School of Mechanical Engineering.

Originally, he had been a quality supervisor at an automobile company.

But because he loved playing Football Manager.

He somehow drifted into becoming an amateur coach.

He led a team to the championship of a sixth-tier district league.

His coaching career afterward had taken off like a rocket.

In just a few years.

He went from leading a relegation-threatened 2. Bundesliga side to an upset run, to lifting the Austrian Bundesliga trophy.

And finally, to coaching a Bundesliga powerhouse.

That résumé was just like the male protagonist of a Chinese webnovel.

"You've brought me even more surprises, legendary striker."

Schmidt said helplessly.

At other clubs, the sporting director was the head coach's assistant. Who would dare force players into the first team like this?

Having a club executive with too much clout was not necessarily a good thing.

Völler patted him on the shoulder.

"Go for it. I'll fight for transfer funds for you in the winter window!"

"You said the same thing last year! Yet this summer, you still refused to buy Hernández for me!"

"Manchester United's offer was too high. Unless we sold Son Heung-min, but—"

Leo Kang's days that followed were peaceful and monotonous.

Every day consisted of nothing but training between two points.

Although his attribute points were increasing slowly.

Once they exceeded seventy, every single point of improvement became extremely noticeable.

Bayer Leverkusen's young players felt it most deeply.

During their usual internal scrimmages, they simply could not compete with Leo Kang.

His teammates were stunned.

The fitness coach was stunned too.

Leo Kang's medical examination reports showed that every indicator was normal.

The foreigners could not help associating it with "Chinese kung fu."

Of course, the first team's technical coaches still believed that Leo Kang had not reached Bundesliga standard.

From 2012 to 2015, the Bundesliga had entered a period of strength, which had indirectly raised the required level of player ability by a great deal.

Since he was about to return to the first team, old Topp was afraid that something might happen to him in the youth league and did not dare start him.

When the day of parting arrived.

The young players were reluctant to say goodbye.

They had grown so fond of this mute Chinese kid!

Even though they had only spent a short time together.

"Leo! We'll miss you!"

"We'll meet again in the first team!"

"If the first team doesn't give you playing time, come back and play in the Youth Champions League with us!"

The heavy atmosphere was suddenly broken.

Old Topp said sternly, "Quit talking nonsense. Aren't you really just thinking about the win bonuses?"

Everyone burst out laughing.

Henrichs quickly chimed in, "You're making it sound like Leo is going far away! The first-team training base is only separated from us by May 9 Park!"

Havertz shook his head. "The security guard at the first-team dorms has started refusing to let me through the gate!"

The elderly man with the afro straightened Leo Kang's collar and said, "Good luck!"

The young players also shouted in unison, "Good luck!"

In the distance.

And so.

Accompanied by a staff member, Leo Kang left Tetrun Training Base.

Waiting ahead of him.

Were the Bundesliga, the Champions League, and an even bigger stage.