God Of football

Chapter 30: Potential

The players kept looking at Izan after he just scored that wonder goal.

”What the fuck just happened ” one of the reserve player voiced out bringing the other players out of their stupor.

Izan couldnʼt care less as he never even looked once in the direction of the players who were staring at him.

Manager Baraja could be seen standing on the side of the pitch with his eyes wide open.

He couldnʼt stop grinning from the excitement he was feeling. If, and only if Izan could replicate what he just did in the laliga,then next season was going to be a heck of a season.

Coach Moreno looked at Izan as he stood besides the manager also surprised. He had seen Izan scoring wonder goals but this was world class.

Even though,it was just training,Izan had managed to score that goal against the substitutes and some of the main team players.

Jose Gaya, the captain and Left-back of Valencia was also surprised at Izanʼs play. He had come to the training ground to recover from a strain in his leg.

But now that he had seen what the kid who was not even 16 had done infront of him, Gaya was itching to play with him.

A trainer approached Gaya, bringing him out of his trance and told him that the head trainer was waiting for him.

Gaya nodded his head and followed the person whiles keeping his eyes on Izan until he got out of sight.

Some of the main players who were watching the match were all shocked by the ability of the young boy. All were watching on as the match continued to see if it was a fluke or the player was consistent.

One of such players was Hugo duro, a forward who came on loan to the club in 2021 before coming on board permanently in 2022.

Hugo had seen Izan making those tailored passes for his teammates and honestly,those passes were spectacular.

The passes he had received this season had lacked the star effect and so he struggled to make them count but if Izanʼs passes were what he had to work with then he would have a hell of season the following one.

He knew how hard it was for a kid to come into the senior team and play so well on the first day and thatʼs one of the reasons why what Izan had just shown was commendable.

The match ended after a while and Izan had played his heart out. He had never been this tired after a match.

He had forced himself to play at the intensity the others were playing at and although his stamina and strength were good, his body hadnʼt gotten used to those upgraded stats and it would take a bit of time to get used to them.

”Moreno” Manager Baraja called. Coach Moreno approached after hearing his name.

”Until when does his contract last” he asked.”Well from the previous contract he signed, he will be at the club until heʼs 18 with a 5 million euros release clause” Moreno answered.

”Oh okay,but from the way heʼs playing,youʼd want to improve his wages and raise his release before he gets snatched by another club for that measly 5 million euros”.

”Ask herman to send Izanʼs file to the guys in the office and ask them to negotiate a new contract with him. Ask them to be a bit generous. ” Ruben added.

He had liked what he saw from Izan and didnʼt want a situation where the player would be snapped up by another club when he was settling in his squad in the middle of the season.

Coach Moreno nodded before he took out a phone to make a call.

Coach Ruben turned to the players and had a bit of talk with them before closing the training session.

At the end of the session,Izan tried to go and wash before he left but was called by Ruben Baraga.

Izan was a bit surprised as he didnʼt expect the Coach to have noticed him.

Izan walked slowly to where the Coach was and stood infront of him.

Coach Ruben stood there and watch him for a bit before speaking.

”Hello Izan, Iʼm Ruben”. Izan was a bit surprised with his introduction. Izan quickly grabbed the Coachʼs hand before replying ” Hello Coach Ruben ”.

Coach Ruben looked at him some more before speaking. ”Youʼre a very wonderful player Izan. To be in the Senior team at the age of 15 is a great accomplishment”.

” I hope you can play like you play in training against other clubs cause I donʼt like extra baggage. And I will send you to the under-23s if you cannot handle the responsibility of being in the Senior team, If you have a bad attitude towards training and if you cannot match the level I require ”.

Izan looked at him with confidence and said ” I wonʼt let you down Coach”. Coach Ruben looked at him before telling him he could go.

Izan walked off thinking about the Coaches words. He was determined to prove himself and he would do so.

Izan got home and rested a bit. After having dinner Izan went to his room and started doing his project work.

He was in his second year of High school and Izan was still juggling studies with his football career.

He had not let all these promotions deter him from his studies. Instead he had redoubled his efforts in studies.

Komi opened the door and saw Izan studying. She smiled at her son before closing the door. She went a bit farther before stopping at Horiʼs door.

She opened Horiʼa door and was a bit surprised to see her daughter studying. Hori was very smart and didnʼt really study much but today was a change.

”Huh,maybe seeing Izan study has influenced her” Komi taught before closing the door.

Hori took the earbuds out and turned back to face her door as she thought someone had opened the door to her room.

She redirected her focus to her studies after she saw no-one.

The night neared and Izan was halfway done with the project work due Friday. He decided to stop since he had a day more to complete it.

Izan went to sleep and woke up the next day. After breakfast,he headed to school with his bike.

The day was like any other as Izan breezed through the classes.Some of the girls also fawned over Izan a bit during recess.

”A handsome face, muscular and lean body, good at football to the extent the he now plays for the Valencia senior team. He is none other than Mr. Pretty boy Izan”. Sosa said with a mocking tone during recess.

Izan had found out that Sosa herrera had transferred from his school to Izanʼs highschool in his first year. He was a about a year and some months older than Izan.

Although both of them were in the same grade. Izan was glad to have found someone with similar Interests.

Sosa had dazzled at the under-19 level and was the next in line to be promoted alongside Andranik and Wissam who had also performed marvellously.

They would be promoted at the end of the following season if nothing happens or earlier if injuries strike.

Izan looked at Sosa as he spewed his nonsense.

Izan rolled his eyes at Sosàʼs words. ”So are you going to play in the upcoming exams match ” Sosà asked.

Izan shrugged before saying ”Do I look like the coach to you” before turning away.

Sosa didnʼt take Izanʼs remarks to heart and continued ” Wow bro,you could break the record of being the youngest to debut in the laliga ”.

Izan didnʼt really care about these kind of things but hearing it now, it wasnʼt so bad to hold these kinds of records.

Sosà looked at Izan as he was grinning and was really unsettled by it.

He shook his head and started to eat his food.

After school, Izan went home before his mum took him to the training complex.

Izan was now eager to turn 18 as he didnʼt always want to trouble his mom to bring him to training.

He could take the bus but didnʼt because of its unreliability as he could be late due to how the bus had to stop for passengers.

Izan, looked ahead and looked at Valencia CF logo and smiled before entering the complex.

Izan changed before heading out. The training session was light and was only going to last an hour and 30 minutes but Izan as usual had come 30 minutes earlier to get some work in before the others came in.

Izan started performing his skill moves so he could improve the skill Completion. The system would only notify him of a big improvement but gradually Izanʼs skill move Completion was improving by the second.

Coach Ruben who had seen Izanʼs skill moves was now certain that he wanted the player to play in the wing position.

But at last it all came down to the player. He couldnʼt force him to play a position he didnʼt like everyday.

He could at most deploy him to the wings for more attacking power if things werenʼt going well for the team.

Coach Ruben continued with his work and Izan also continued with his as the other players started to arrive.