He Is Bayer Leverkusen's Core

The next morning.

First-team training ground.

Leo Kang and Son Heung-min were doing strength training.

Brandt sidled over and asked, "Leo, you're not going back to Barcelona, are you? It'll be so boring if I'm alone in the dorm!"

Leo Kang nodded.

"Then I heard you haven't renewed your contract with the club either?"

"Did the club sack Schmidt because of you?"

"You came to train at five in the morning again?"

Brandt chattered on, asking question after question out of curiosity.

Leo Kang smiled, unable to explain.

Schmidt's dismissal had absolutely nothing to do with him.

How could a player make a club get rid of its head coach?

This was the Bundesliga.

Not the Premier League.

Son Heung-min patted Brandt on the head. "Hurry up and warm up. The new head coach will be here soon."

Leo Kang had just finished an exercise.

The system notification sounded quietly.

[Physical Duels: 79.9→80!]

[Stamina: 79.9→80!]

[If a single attribute exceeds 80, it will require a longer training period to improve.]

In an instant.

It felt as though his body had undergone a qualitative leap.

The faint exhaustion from his morning training was swept away!

As they spoke.

They heard the click-clack of polished leather shoes against the concrete floor.

An elderly man with an afro, dressed in a suit, walked over.

A young assistant coach followed behind him.

Leo Kang smiled. Wasn't that Coach Top from the youth team?

"Whistle!"

At the sound of the whistle.

The players gathered one after another.

Everyone knew that the new manager was a legendary figure at Bayer Leverkusen!

The Triple Runner-up King!

Bundesliga runner-up!

German Cup runner-up!

Champions League runner-up!

It was only because a series of off-field scandals had erupted late in his managerial career, tarnishing his reputation after he took over the national team and sending him drifting from place to place, that he had eventually returned to coach Bayer Leverkusen's youth team.

Those credentials were simply beyond Schmidt's comparison.

Topp adjusted his tie and said loudly, "I'm very pleased to be your interim head coach from now on!"

The players immediately applauded.

The young assistant coach pushed up his glasses. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Dino. Put on your bibs. We'll start an internal scrimmage right away!"

One name after another was called.

Leo Kang appeared on Team A's starting list.

Çalhanoğlu and BellArabi, meanwhile, led Team B, which was mostly made up of substitutes.

With a whistle from the assistant coach.

The practice match officially began!

Team B had possession.

Çalhanoğlu had just received a pass from his teammate.

When Son Heung-min and Kießling swarmed him with frantic pressure.

It seemed everyone had learned, under the "guidance" of Van Gaal and Magath, how to contain Çalhanoğlu at this stage of his career.

After winning the ball.

Kramer immediately passed it to Leo Kang.

What followed.

Made old Topp and assistant coach Dino's eyes light up.

Leo Kang knew every teammate's characteristics inside out.

Most of the time, his passes were delivered comfortably toward his teammates' preferred feet!

His movement always placed him in the most suitable areas, while guiding his teammates' passing choices.

Under his control of the tempo, Team A produced smooth, flowing attacks.

They forced Team B steadily backward.

"Boss, Leo is way stronger than he was in the youth team!"

"No, no, he seems even a little stronger than he was at Old Trafford!"

Leo Kang received Son Heung-min's pass deep in Team B's half.

BellArabi charged at him like a madman.

His explosive speed ranked among the top five in Europe right now. Chasing down a Chinese player was effortless!

He was just about to make a tackle.

Bang!

Leo Kang knocked him to the ground with a turn of his body!

Everyone was a little dumbfounded.

Knocking over a skinny Herrera was normal.

But knocking over BellArabi, who was tall, powerful, and packed with muscle? That was far too brutal, wasn't it?

The key was that Leo Kang didn't even look like a big, muscular guy!

The match did not stop because of it.

Leo Kang took the opportunity to chip a pass forward.

The ball floated lightly over the heads of the defenders, who were still stunned.

It dropped into the box.

And struck Kießling on the head.

Before bouncing into the net!

The teammates froze for a moment before stepping forward to high-five Leo Kang in celebration.

Captain Bender said in surprise, "Leo! You got familiar with our preferred feet just by watching our internal training matches?"

Kießling slapped his forehead. "You got familiar with my head!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Çalhanoğlu looked displeased.

BellArabi, meanwhile, was still replaying how he had been knocked down by Leo Kang. It seemed it had not simply been a matter of raw strength.

The practice match continued.

Team B restarted from the center circle.

Çalhanoğlu began imitating Leo Kang in a rather convincing manner.

His passing technique was actually quite good.

But his vision and awareness were far too poor!

The passes he played carried little threat and could not drive quick progression either.

Under his direction, Team B's players found it extremely uncomfortable to play.

Very quickly.

Their midfield began to collapse.

In the second half of the practice match.

Leo Kang and Çalhanoğlu switched sides.

Team B's players gradually began playing with flair as well, looking like a completely different team from the first half.

In the end.

When the assistant coach blew the whistle to end the scrimmage.

Old Topp already had his answer.

"Çalhanoğlu's style has already been thoroughly figured out by Van Gaal and Magath. He is better suited to weaker teams without much midfield depth. Leo is the core of our transitions between attack and defense."

"Boss, can't the two of them coexist?"

"No. Çalhanoğlu needs too much of the ball. He'll slow down Leo Kang's attacking rhythm!"

"Although he is better than Leo Kang in many respects, his vision, awareness, match-reading ability, and physical duels are far inferior!"

"Çalhanoğlu is Bayer Leverkusen's record signing. His value—"

"Bayer Leverkusen isn't some player-trading shop like Porto or Monaco. If we lose one more match, both of us will have to get out too!"

Topp and Dino left the training ground, preparing to hold their first coaching staff meeting.

Çalhanoğlu sat on the grass.

His emotions were complicated.

He had also realized his own problems: slow speed, weak turning ability, poor physical duels, and limited ability to carry the ball forward and pass.

Before.

When Schmidt was still around, he could mobilize the entire team to serve Çalhanoğlu alone and protect him.

But that had also indirectly created the hidden danger of the team collapsing.

Watching BellArabi flattering Leo Kang in the distance.

He knew he could never bring himself to fawn over Leo Kang.

Looking across Europe's top five leagues.

Serie A was still more suited to his style!

Three days later.

The Bundesliga summer transfer window officially closed!

The second leg of the Champions League qualifier arrived as scheduled.

Bayer Leverkusen hosted Manchester United.

The importance of this match went without saying.

It would determine which team advanced to the Champions League proper!

Van Gaal was in a terrible mood.

Before setting off for Germany, he had roared furiously at Manchester United's scouts in his office:

"Are you all useless? The summer window is closed, and you still couldn't get in touch with that Chinese player? Damn it, his release clause was only two million euros! You missed the best chance to bring him back to Manchester United!"

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