Super Wingstorm

”Yang! Yang! Over here! Remember me?”

In the mixed zone, a young reporter with thick, black-framed glasses was repeatedly calling out to Yang Yang.

Yang Yang turned his head and studied the young man before him for a moment. A name he hadn’t thought of in a while immediately surfaced in his mind.

”You’re... Michel van der Steeg?”

”Yes, that’s me, that’s me.” The young reporter jumped up in excitement, as if being remembered by Yang Yang was a great honor. ”I’m so glad you still remember my name. You have a great memory.”

Yang Yang smiled faintly. ”How’s your website doing?”

He remembered this young man approaching him for an exclusive interview after his first match for the second team. He’d even left a business card, but they never got in touch again. He recalled that the reporter had been trying to build his own website back then.

”Don’t ask. I messed it up.” Michel van der Steeg pursed his lips helplessly, looking rather dejected.

”What happened?”

”It started off well, but then...” Van der Sma shook his head helplessly. ”Speaking of which, I actually have you to thank. Back then, I went to Almere and dug up a lot of information on you. After you got famous, I was able to partner with the *Telegraph* and get a lot of resources. I just underestimated how hard it is to start a business.”

”It’s alright. You can always find a chance to start over,” Yang Yang said with an encouraging smile. He noticed the press pass on Michel van der Steeg’s chest. ”You work for the *Telegraph*?”

”Yeah, I’m a reporter for the *Telegraph* now. Do you have time to answer a few questions?” Van der Sma asked expectantly.

The Yang Yang of today was a far cry from the Yang Yang of a year ago. He had just scored the winning goal in the Champions League final, a feat that would surely make him famous. Moreover, rumors were swirling that Ajax was planning a rebuild this summer. Star players like Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic were expected to leave, positioning Yang Yang to become the next player the club would focus on developing.

Yang Yang glanced around. He had been looking for his parents and friends, but he couldn’t find them. After a moment’s thought, he nodded. ”Of course, no problem.”

Van der Sma immediately pulled a colleague over in his excitement and began asking Yang Yang questions. They were mainly about the match and his future development at Ajax, and Yang Yang did his best to give clear answers.

He stated clearly that he would stay at Ajax. ”I’m only seventeen. I’m very aware of my current situation, and I think the most important thing for me right now is to keep working hard and improving my skills. Ajax is the best platform for me at the moment.”

When the conversation turned to his goal, Yang Yang couldn’t stop grinning, repeatedly insisting that it was mainly thanks to Sneijder’s excellent pass.

”I practice similar ball-trapping drills every day at the club because trapping the ball has always been my weak point. Sneijder knows me well. We have a great understanding—as soon as I start running, he knows exactly where I’m going.”

”I hear you two are roommates?” Van der Sma asked with a smile.

”Yes, we’ve been roommates ever since I joined the first team.”

”What about Vermaelen?”

”We’ve lived together since our time on the youth team, because Ajax has a rule that youth players have to room together.”

”I noticed that after you scored, you blew a kiss to the stands. That’s pretty different from your usual style. I was wondering, was there someone special in the stands? A girlfriend, for example...?”

Yang Yang let out a laugh and shook his head repeatedly. ”No, no, no, definitely not.”

”No need to deny it so quickly.”

”Really, there isn’t. My parents and friends were sitting in that section of the stands. I was just really emotional at that moment and wanted to express my love for them in some way. That’s all.”

”A year ago, you were still in Almere, and now you’ve won the Champions League. What are your thoughts on that?”

”I’m most grateful for the trust and support of our head coach, Mr. Koman, and my teammates. Honestly, they are an incredibly talented group of players. They’re the ones who got the team this far.”

”What’s next?”

”Keep training hard, keep improving my skills. I hope to become stronger and even better.”

After Yang Yang answered this question, the calls of his teammates came from the side of the pitch. They had all started to surround the coach’s bench for a traditional celebration ritual of the champion team: tossing the head coach into the air.

Of course, Yang Yang wasn’t going to miss an opportunity like this. He quickly said goodbye to Van der Sma and ran over to the technical area.

Soon, Ronald Koeman was being tossed into the air by the Ajax players.

The terrified cries of the Dutch Young Marshal became a brief interlude in the roaring cheers of the stadium.

...

...

Organized by UEFA staff, all the Ajax personnel split into two lines, standing on either side of the entrance to the awards podium.

Mourinho led the Porto players back onto the pitch. They had already changed clothes. After receiving their runner-up medals, they would immediately leave AufSchalke, this place of heartbreak.

Everyone from Ajax was in high spirits, smiling as they shook hands with each Porto player who walked by.

When Mourinho passed in front of Yang Yang, he suddenly stopped. He looked deeply at Yang Yang, then stepped forward, opened his arms, and gave him a formal hug.

”You really surprised me. Any interest in coming to Chelsea?” Mourinho asked softly in Yang Yang’s ear.

Yang Yang froze for a second, then immediately understood what the Portuguese man meant. ’Just as the media had been reporting, he really has finalized his move to manage Chelsea and take over from Ranieri. And is this, right now, an invitation to me?’

”Uh, I’m sorry, Mr. Mourinho. Thank you very much for your acknowledgment, but I don’t think I’m ready yet,” Yang Yang replied softly, his tone filled with sincerity.

Mourinho released Yang Yang and looked at him deeply again, the admiration in his eyes growing even stronger. ”You’re right, you’re not ready yet. Twenty is the best age to make the move to the Four Major Leagues. It’s okay. I have time. I can wait.”

After speaking, Mourinho gave Yang Yang a slight smile before continuing on his way.

”What did he say to you?” Vermaelen asked curiously from the side. He had only heard bits and pieces and wasn’t quite sure.

”Chelsea. He asked if I wanted to go to Chelsea.”

”What?” Vermaelen was stunned. ’Go to Chelsea? Move to one of the Four Major Leagues?’

”So... what did you say?”

Yang Yang shook his head. ”I said I wasn’t ready yet, and he agreed.”

Vermaelen looked at Yang Yang, completely bewildered. ”Bro, that’s Chelsea we’re talking about! A Premier League powerhouse, backed by the billionaire Abramovich. They’re very likely to become a future European giant.”

”I know.”

”And you’re not even going to consider it?”

”What’s the point?” Yang Yang asked calmly. ”I don’t have the skills for that level yet. Even if I went, there’s no guarantee I’d have a spot. He thinks highly of me now, but that doesn’t mean he’ll give me a chance, right?”

Vermaelen was suddenly at a loss for words, starting to understand Yang Yang’s point.

Professional football is incredibly pragmatic. Ajax is a club that focuses on developing young players, which is why so many of them can break through. But things are completely different in the Four Major Leagues. For those teams, results are the most pressing demand.

Mourinho might say he thinks highly of Yang Yang now, but once he’s in the Premier League, under pressure to get results, he might not give him a single chance. Between their job security and developing young players, every head coach would choose the former without hesitation.

The most famous example was Queiroz, who had just been sacked by Real Madrid. He was known for developing young talent, but after taking charge of Real Madrid, his biggest criticism was his reluctance to use young players. Ultimately, this was due to the club’s ”Galácticos” policy on one hand, and the need for results on the other.

Yang Yang never liked leaving his future and career in someone else’s hands. He preferred to rely on himself. He always believed that as long as he worked hard to improve his skills, trained diligently, and played well, his day to move to one of the Four Major Leagues would come.

But the prerequisite was getting playing time, or even becoming a starter.

Therefore, the most important thing for him right now was to improve himself, secure a starting spot at Ajax, and work hard to shore up his weaknesses to become a more well-rounded player. It wasn’t just about ball-trapping; next came scoring, shaking off defenders, passing, and more.

Winning the Champions League didn’t satisfy him in the slightest, because he had been a substitute—a substitute the entire way.

On the contrary, he had never been so eager to become stronger.

Because he hoped that one day, he would return to the stage of a Champions League final and truly dominate the match.

...

...

Following Porto, Ajax, led by head coach Ronald Koeman and captain Van der Vaart, ascended the awards podium one by one.

Chairman Van Pragg, technical director Van Gaal, and numerous club legends, including Van Basten, were already on the podium to welcome the players, hugging each one as they came up.

Yang Yang enthusiastically hugged Van Basten, John Reep, Van Gaal, and the others. They were all incredibly pleased and astonished by Yang Yang’s performance this season. This was especially true for John Reep; he truly never could have imagined that in just over a year, Yang Yang’s progress would be so immense and so rapid.

Van Gaal seemed to lose his composure for a moment, hugging Yang Yang for a long time and quietly saying, ”Thank you.”

Yang Yang was quite puzzled and surprised to hear ”thank you” from Van Gaal, but Van Gaal didn’t explain. He just invited Yang Yang over to his house for a meal sometime in the next couple of days, saying he would have Trus come pick him up.

Of course, Yang Yang wouldn’t refuse. He agreed on the spot, saying he would call as soon as he had time.

Afterward, when he met the various UEFA officials, including President Johansson, they all encouraged Yang Yang to keep up the good work.

A large number of promising young talents emerge in European Football every year, but a player like Yang Yang, who scored the winning goal in a Champions League final at seventeen, is exceedingly rare. The most recent example one could trace back was probably Cruyff, who also came from Ajax.

But unfortunately, after this predecessor shot to fame as a teenager, his career development was never quite smooth. From AC Milan to Barcelona, he was now only twenty-seven or twenty-eight—what should have been the golden peak of his career—but he was already clearly on the decline.

This was also a cautionary tale from which Yang Yang had to learn.