Chapter 533: Here is not a good way
Under the guidance of their agent, Yellow Tiger and De Bruyne completed a series of final tasks with Genk, accompanied by the admiration and blessings of their teammates, setting off on a new journey.
They needed to take a train to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, and then fly directly to London, England. Stepping foot on this land for the first time, it left Yellow Tiger with a vibrant impression.
Unlike the atmosphere of a small town, the streets of London were bustling, with a constant flow of traffic. Various classical and fashionable buildings mixed together, dazzling the eyes.
The Chelsea staff who came to meet them smiled and introduced themselves, "Hello, I'm Abimon Smith. I'll take you to the Cobham training base next. You'll have a medical examination first, then sign the contract. You probably haven't found accommodation yet. You can choose to stay at the training base."
Both of them were not very proficient in English and could only roughly understand. In a daze, they got into the car with the staff and set off. Yellow Tiger whispered, "I'm a little nervous. I don't know if we'll meet Chelsea's new coach, Mourinho, today."
De Bruyne felt the same way, but he pretended to be calm and replied, "I hope he can witness our signing. At least it shows that the coach values us enough to give us a tactical position."
"But I saw some rumors online saying that Mourinho originally intended to apply for the position of head coach at Real Madrid, but was intercepted by Ancelotti, so he had to return to Chelsea. So, his mood might not be good. We'd better not upset him."
As they chatted, the group passed by Stamford Bridge Stadium by the Thames, and Smith said with pride, "This will be your home stadium from now on. It's the third-largest stadium in all of London."
Curious, the two leaned closer to the car window and looked out. A huge rectangular building came into view, with the stadium reinforced by buttresses. The Chelsea lion crest was engraved on the pillar base, presenting a Gothic architectural style overall.
This stadium can accommodate over 41,000 people at most, which is advantageous compared to the home stadium of Belgian Pro League clubs, and due to the booming English football market, almost every game is close to full attendance.
After passing Stamford Bridge, it took another 50 minutes to reach the Cobham training base. This was a completely closed base, almost never open to the public, so it was shrouded in mystery.
Since Abramovich took over Chelsea, he has invested a large amount of money to build a luxurious team base, which amazed Yellow Tiger and De Bruyne. Not only were there plenty of indoor and outdoor football fields, but there was also a rehabilitation center for injured players, an entertainment center, luxury single-person dormitories, and a series of other facilities.
"This is one of the reasons why I aspire to join a top club. Besides playing football, I don't have to worry about anything else." De Bruyne murmured.
The signings of the two were rather hasty. There was no ceremony, no coach present, completely different from the lively scene when Mata joined a few days ago. This made them feel a bit disappointed.
But they eventually met Mourinho because today was the day for the first-team training, and the two were taken to the training ground to greet their new teammates.
There, Yellow Tiger and De Bruyne saw Terry, Lampard, Drogba, and other top stars in world football. Their attitude towards the two was relatively friendly. Drogba even patted Yellow Tiger on the shoulder, "You're from China? I hope you can be as brave as Wang Feng. To be honest, he's the player I admire the most."
Of course, there were also new players in the team, such as Lukaku from Anderlecht and Courtois from Genk, who were quite familiar.
Just when they were feeling slightly relieved, Mourinho stood up again to discourage them, "You guys settle in today. Next, follow the youth team for training."
"What does the coach mean? Does he just want to send us directly to the youth team without giving us any chance?" Yellow Tiger complained indignantly in the dormitory.
De Bruyne bit his nails, "I'm also surprised. At least he should let us train with the team for a few days to assess our level before deciding on arrangements."
"Should we go find the director or manager to ask for an explanation?" Yellow Tiger, full of youthful vigor, was eager to try, but De Bruyne waved his hand repeatedly, "You'd better not act recklessly. The authority of the coach in the team is much higher than that of the players. No one will support us. It's better to ask Balmond to find out subtly."
The reason why Mourinho didn't give them a chance was mainly because he didn't see much potential in the two. The transfers of Yellow Tiger and De Bruyne were completely orchestrated by club chairman Abramovich, which reminded him of the days when he was meddling in affairs, intensifying his disgust.
As for the reasons for not seeing potential, De Bruyne played too freely and often made unexpected passes and assists, while Mourinho believed that only strict adherence to his tactical instructions could guarantee victory.
As for Yellow Tiger, his rough technical skills would only result in turnovers. Abramovich even attempted to groom him into another Wang Feng. Besides being from China and having the same background as Genk, what else could he compare to the current world number one? It should be noted that at his age, the Chinese superstar had already lifted the Champions League trophy as the top scorer.
In the days that followed, Yellow Tiger and De Bruyne could only follow the youth team for some basic training, including dribbling around poles, passing and receiving, and some group confrontations. After all, coming from the Belgian Pro League champions, the two were still quite comfortable compared to others.
On the other hand, Chelsea's first team had already gone to the United States for preseason training under Mourinho's leadership, indicating that the Portuguese coach was determined not to include the two in his plans for the new season.
Bored, they could only train while keeping an eye on European football news events, besides the usual transfer news, various super cups in different countries quietly kicked off.
The most eye-catching was naturally the Spanish Super Cup clash between league champions Real Madrid and Copa del Rey champions Barcelona, which staged two century-old derbies before the start of the season, enough to excite all fans.
The process of the match did not disappoint. In the first leg at the Bernabeu, the two sides fought fiercely, with Wang Feng providing two exquisite assists. Messi also scored twice, and the final score was 2-2.
In Camp Nou, the Chinese superstar continued his dominance by scoring two goals as usual, but Messi continued his brilliant performance by also scoring twice to level the score.
In the final penalty shootout, a miss from Iguaín led to the defeat of the Galacticos, failing to secure the Spanish Super Cup.
"Messi's performance is too crazy." After watching the live broadcast of the series, Yellow Tiger couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems that the defeats in recent seasons have completely stimulated the Argentine. He looks unstoppable with the ball at his feet."
"Yeah, but I don't see any signs of decline in Wang Feng's form either. This season's La Liga is estimated to be another fierce competition. I really want to participate." De Bruyne said with a hint of longing, at this moment, he desperately wanted to be on the field rather than wasting time with the youth team.
Chelsea is not on a smooth path!
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are published on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶