Professor Wenger

Maël was a little puzzled. Did that mean improving physical skills was harder than improving technical skills? That did make some sense. After all, training Physical Attributes was a longer-term process and depended more on talent.

Everyone varied greatly because of genetics, diet, environment, and other factors.

What Maël needed to consider now was whether he should set aside time for strength training. He had talked before about the theory of spreading himself too thin, but that was because he had only had one skill then, and he had not been sure how to obtain new skills, so he had not wanted to waste time experimenting.

Now he had one, and it was a crucial skill. He could not possibly just ignore it.

"Right now, there are seven trial players in the team. All of your contracts expire in early July."

Coach Hans's voice rang beside his ear. Maël temporarily put away his thoughts and listened to him.

"But all of you know that there are only two open spots in the team."

Hans walked past where Maël was standing, glanced at him, and said, "Only two people can stay. There will be no favoritism. Everything will be based purely on ability."

Maël knew those words were meant for him. Coach Hans treated him well, but that did not mean he would look at him through rose-tinted glasses, especially when it came to selection.

That was only human nature, and he greatly admired people who kept public and private matters separate like that.

Because they could be fair while still taking personal feelings into account.

"On June 30th, we have a Friendly Match against Liverpool U17. I'll send on all the trial players."

Hans's voice rang out again. "Use your performances to impress me, and impress the coaching staff!"

Maël's eyes shifted. Today was June 13th, which meant he still had seventeen days to intensify his training and improve his skills.

If he could raise Long Shot to lv3 before then, then blast in one or two goals in a youth team match, he would stun everyone with one brilliant performance.

When the time came, forget staying—there was even a chance other professional teams might notice him and seek a loan.

He dreamed sweetly of stepping onto a professional pitch, and as he thought about it, his mind returned to how he should allocate his training time.

He should still start with himself and add as much certainty as possible.

Seventeen days remained.

In other words, as long as he increased his Long Shot proficiency by 20 points every day, he would definitely be able to raise his shooting to lv3 before the match.

Strength's base proficiency was a little higher. If he increased it by a little over 10 points each day, he could raise it to lv2 before then.

Perhaps it was worth developing both at the same time?

"If I go into the youth team match with lv3 Long Shot and lv2 Strength, standing out shouldn't be hard."

Maël made his decision and thought no more about it, focusing on the strength training in front of him.

Because he had overdrawn his body over the past two days, he found training somewhat strenuous.

But that would not make him ease up on the intensity of his extra practice. A person improved fastest only when they were on the edge of their limits.

He believed the Proficiency Panel worked the same way.

When training ended, he called up the Strength proficiency panel again.

Skill: Strength lv1

Proficiency Progress: (133/300)

Effect: You.

When the panel appeared, he had already trained for around an hour. It seemed that with only the effort from the last half hour, he had increased it by another 4 points! The rate of improvement was faster than he had imagined.

No worries now. Every evening, after finishing shooting practice, he would come to the gym and grind it out! About two miles from the gym stood a building filled with red Gunners elements.

This was the First Team Administrative Building, the place where staff and members of the coaching staff worked. It also served as the First Team's cafeteria, meeting rooms, treatment rooms, and more.

Compared with other places in the base, this place was more like another world. People came and went in a lively bustle, and everyone entering or leaving seemed extraordinary.

Suddenly, everyone in the building put down what they were doing and turned their eyes toward the entrance.

A tall old man with graying temples walked in from there. Elegance and sharpness coexisted in him, and his steps were quick, as if he had urgent business.

The instant you saw him in person, you would absolutely believe that no matter where this man went, he would stand out, as if he had been born to draw people's eyes.

"Mr. Wenger."

"Good afternoon, Coach Wenger."

Many people greeted him. He merely nodded in response, then strode quickly toward his office.

An assistant coach soon followed. He sensed that something bad must have happened. The professor was in a temper.

After pushing the door open and walking in, the assistant coach heard the click of a lighter. Wenger had lit a cigarette.

This seemed to have already become an important way for him to relieve pressure. Whenever something weighed on his mind, he would light one cigarette after another until he began to cough.

"Phillis."

When Wenger saw him come in, he stared at him solemnly and asked seriously, "If I were to leave Arsenal, would you leave with me?"

"Me?"

Phillis froze for a moment, then nodded in a daze. "I would, sir, but..."

"But that's impossible, isn't it?"

Wenger picked up where he left off, laughed hoarsely, and took a fierce drag on his cigarette. "Everyone thinks I can't possibly leave the team. Even I myself truly can't think of any way I could leave the team."

"After all, it's been more than ten years."

He seemed a little self-mocking. He raised an eyebrow, hesitated, then began to pour it out. "There's still no investment in the summer window. We have to be self-sufficient."

Clearly, that line about leaving Arsenal had been a joke. He was just angry.

"Is Old Kroenke really that heartless?"

Phillis frowned, unable to believe it. "Then why did he buy Arsenal? Just to add a football team to his sports empire?"

"He wants to buy out all of Arsenal's shares—the thirty percent in Usmanov's hands."

Wenger had clearly had countless in-depth talks with Kroenke and knew the reason well. "But the latter wants to take full ownership too. The two of them have been locked in a stalemate."

He got up and walked to the window, smoking with one hand while picking up a pair of binoculars with the other to observe Colney Training Base.

Whenever the pressure was heavy, he always liked looking into the distance, looking at the spirited faces of the youth team. That gave him more drive.

"They've both made up their minds to take full ownership, and they're afraid that investing now will drive up the other side's share premium?"

Phillis seemed to understand something and sighed. "But while those people are fighting up there, why can't they think about you?"

"Why did they need you when the bank loans were involved, only to abandon you now, abandon the club? Does Arsenal belong to them, or to you?!"

Wenger shook his head. His gaze locked onto one spot, and he kept watching without turning around.

After a long while, he lowered the binoculars. "There's an interesting kid over there."

"What?"

Phillis was caught off guard by how quickly Wenger's train of thought had shifted. Hadn't they just been talking about Kroenke? "Yesterday was the weekend, and I saw him stay on the training pitch almost the entire day."

Wenger walked back to his desk and chuckled. "Morning training just ended today, and he's over there doing extra drills again. Very hardworking. He's pushed himself to exhaustion several times."

"Training like that isn't exactly good, is it?"

Phillis added that, then shook his head. "And football places great importance on talent. Hard training doesn't have much to do with improving ability."

"I just said he was interesting. I'm also curious how long he can keep it up."

Wenger lit another cigarette, his expression slowly turning serious. "Next, let's talk about the team. It's time to promote a few players from the youth team and recall some of the players out on loan.

"This season, as far as squad depth goes, we can only rely on our own people."

Phillis lowered his head, his expression heavy.