Super Wingstorm

Though the four-day Genius Days had ended, De Toekomst remained bustling with activity.

The new season was just around the corner. The first team was diligently preparing, and Ronald Koeman lived in constant fear of a call from the Amsterdam Arena, worried that any one of them could be news of him losing yet another player.

After finishing last season empty-handed, the pressure for results this season was immense. This pressure trickled down from the management to the coaching staff and then to the players. No one could relax; everyone was working diligently, not daring to let their guard down for a moment.

Rumors frequently filled the papers: Manchester United trying to poach Talabesi, Barcelona wanting Van der Vaart, a certain Serie A giant coveting Ibrahimovic... It was hard to tell fact from fiction, and it left everyone at the club unsettled. No one felt completely in control of their future.

Things were relatively calm at the youth academy.

The day after the Genius Days ended, Technical Director Van Gaal convened a meeting with the youth academy’s senior staff. The main agenda was to discuss the players who had stood out during the event and to review the rosters for the various youth teams for the upcoming season.

Back in July, during the first team’s training camp, Ajax had already officially called up several players: Ryan Babel, Maduro, Tom Demuure, Daniel Driedger, and Nicolas Mitya.

Among these players, only Maduro was a midfielder; the rest were all wingers. Furthermore, aside from Nicolas Mitya, who was left-footed but could play on the right wing, all the others were right-footed, including Ryan Babel, who usually played on the left wing.

From Ronald Koeman’s call-up list, anyone could easily guess his intentions. He was deeply concerned about the right-wing position for the new season. The loss of Van der Meede worried him greatly, even though he already had several players who could fill the role, including Pinaar and Sneijder.

The first team’s sudden call-up of so many players left the second team severely short-staffed. Van Basten had no choice but to temporarily call up a batch of players from the youth academy, including center-back Thomas Vermaelen, who had been recalled from Belgium this season.

At the very start of the meeting, Technical Director Van Gaal announced the results of his discussion with Ronald Koeman. ”I just discussed this with Ronald. Several of the young players, including Ryan Babel, Maduro, and Tom Demuure, don’t yet meet the standards for the first team. They will be returning to the second team.”

”However, these players, along with Thomas Vermaelen, Emmanuelson, and Rasmus Lindgren, will be placed on the first team’s standby list. They can be called up at any time.”

After the first team let captain Qi Wu go, a gap appeared at center-back. Although they had brought in Escude, giving the first team three center-backs, Heitinga was only nineteen. Koman had high hopes for him, but he was ultimately too young. Meanwhile, Finnish center-back Pasanen’s performance had consistently failed to convince Koman, which meant the position was still a concern.

Vermaelen and Lindegren were both talented young center-backs. Vermaelen, in particular, had been immediately recruited into the second team by Van Basten after his outstanding performance against Almere in an amateur match. It was only natural that Koman would want them on standby.

These days, Ajax had a hard time holding on to its players. When a spot opened up on the first team, the first thought was always to poach from the second team and the youth teams. The youth academy had to be both mentally prepared for this and ready to deal with the consequences.

Van Basten understood perfectly how Ajax operated. After hearing Van Gaal’s arrangement, he didn’t argue, agreeing on the spot. However, he also made a request of his own.

”I want Yang Yang.”

Van Gaal was inwardly delighted to hear this, but his expression remained impassive. Instead, he looked toward the others, including Tony Bruins Slotts, Luther Carroll, and Patrick Radru.

Chief Scout Tony Bruins Slotts pondered for a moment. Seeing that no one else was speaking, he took the initiative. ”Yang Yang’s performance during the Genius Days was exceptional. Whether in the morning’s basic assessments or the afternoon’s scrimmages, he was one of the top performers. I believe he is fully capable of joining the second team.”

”I agree with Tony’s assessment. Yang Yang really needs a bigger stage to challenge himself and improve,” Patrick Radru added in agreement.

Luther Carroll thought for a moment before adding, ”I support it too. In fact, I think we should consider putting him on the special training list.”

Everyone in the room was taken aback. Even Van Gaal and Van Basten, who were optimistic about Yang Yang, were somewhat surprised.

This so-called ”special development” was a long-standing tradition at the Ajax Youth Academy. It meant focusing resources on a specific player, such as assigning a dedicated coach for one-on-one training and creating a targeted regimen based on their strengths and weaknesses. All this was done to help the player improve as quickly as possible.

However, this special treatment was usually reserved for players of prodigious talent, like Van der Vaart, Sneijder, or Ryan Babel. Yang Yang, no matter how one looked at him, didn’t seem to fit that mold.

Van Gaal glanced at the reactions of everyone present, thought for a moment, and said, ”Joining the second team is fine. We’ll reconsider the special training list later. However, the scouting department must closely monitor Yang Yang’s training and match performance.”

The implication was clear: not now, but he would be considered for it.

It was, one could say, a compromise.

”If no one has any objections, I’ll officially sign the papers to get him registered as soon as possible so he can join team training. The logistics department should also make the necessary arrangements promptly.”

...

...

Two days later, Yang Yang received the news from Ajax while having lunch at the Chinese restaurant after a training session at the skate park. The news was delivered not only by his scout, Fred Arroyo, but also by a female employee named Priscilla Jansen.

According to Arroyo’s introduction, she was a staffer from Ajax’s logistics department, specializing in support services, which included handling resettlement for out-of-town players.

They had already been waiting in the restaurant for over an hour and had spoken at length with his uncle, Shen Ming. The main topic of concern for Shen Ming, as well as for Yang Yang’s parents, was his education; they didn’t want him to abandon his studies prematurely.

On this point, Ajax presented two options. The first was for Yang Yang to continue his studies at Baken Academy in Almere. However, since Yang Yang was the only Ajax youth player in all of Almere, it would be difficult for the club to arrange a dedicated car service. Someone would have to drive him to and from training at De Toekomst every day.

The other option was to enroll in a school arranged by Ajax. This was a reputable school in the Southeast New City of Amsterdam, where nearly all of Ajax’s out-of-town players studied. A club bus would shuttle the players to De Toekomst every day.

”The second team’s training schedule conflicts with school hours,” Priscilla Jansen explained. ”So, regardless of which plan is chosen, Yang Yang will only attend classes for half a day. After lunch break, he’ll need to be at the club around 2:30 or 3:00 PM. He’ll train and have dinner there from 3:00 to 7:00.”

”But won’t his studies suffer then?” Shen Ming asked anxiously.

Yang Yang’s parents had one strict requirement: his education must not be compromised.

Jansen smiled and shook her head. ”You can rest assured on that front. The school we’ve chosen has a long-term partnership with us, and its educational standards are certainly no lower than Baken Academy’s. Although he’ll miss afternoon classes, our youth academy employs over a dozen professional academic tutors specifically to teach the players and ensure they don’t fall behind.”

”Not only that, but we also maintain close contact with the school. If a player’s grades start to slip, we will immediately suspend all of his training and matches until his academic performance improves. We will keep you updated on this as well. His education will absolutely not be affected.”

Hearing this, Shen Ming was somewhat relieved. He trusted that Ajax was a responsible organization. However, he felt deeply conflicted about which of the two plans to choose and couldn’t help but look at his nephew.

Yang Yang was also frowning, considering the problem himself.

’The first option was undoubtedly the most comfortable. He was already familiar with everything in Almere, including school and daily life. The problem, however, was the daily commute. It was a major hassle. After all, Almere was over twenty kilometers from De Toekomst, and the travel times for the round trip would be right during the lunch and dinner rushes, when the restaurant was busiest and couldn’t spare anyone.’

’As for the second option, that would mean leaving Almere and moving to the Southeast New City of Amsterdam.’

Perhaps sensing Yang Yang and Shen Ming’s dilemma, Jansen smiled again and elaborated, ”For the first option, the club provides a monthly transportation allowance. For the second option, the club will also help rent an apartment and will cover the rent. However, as a second-team player, he would likely have to share with teammates. The location would generally be near De Toekomst.”

Yang Yang looked at his uncle, Shen Ming, and weighed the options himself.

’Ajax would help find a place and pay the rent. Even if he had to share with teammates, it wouldn’t matter—it’d be nice to have company. He’d be training most of the time anyway. Besides, once he signed the contract, he would receive a weekly stipend of four hundred euros from the club, which was more than enough to cover his living expenses.’

’This stipend was quite low by the club’s standards. Even young rookies in the first team, like Heitinga and De Jong, saw their salaries rise to over two thousand euros a week after renewing their contracts. Van der Vaart earned the club’s top salary of 25 thousand euros a week.’

’But regardless, at least Yang Yang could now support himself.’

”I’ll transfer,” Yang Yang said after some thought, having made his decision.

It was a decision he had carefully considered.

His uncle, Shen Ming, also understood the situation and agreed that transferring was the best choice. After all, he really couldn’t manage driving Yang Yang to and from De Toekomst every day.

”Alright then. I’ll get in touch with the school and the Almere Club right away to handle all the paperwork. We’ll get it done quickly so it won’t delay the start of the new school term,” Jansen said confidently, clearly having handled such matters many times before.

The thought of leaving Almere and his uncle’s family made Yang Yang a little sad, but he was even more excited for the challenges ahead. He was eager to prove himself again at Ajax.