Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 17

17. Ready to Leap

After the international break, Hyungmin greeted his four new signings at the entrance of the Banfield Training Center on the first day back.

“Hello, everyone! Welcome to Burnley Football Club!”

“Coach! No, Manager! You sound like a tour guide!”

Karim Adeyemi, a German striker standing at 180cm with a head of frizzy hair, approached Hyungmin with a grin.

His teammate’s joke made Nicolas Seiwald, an Austrian midfielder of the same age, 179cm tall with short blond hair, chuckle.

“Hehe. You were always like that back in Salzburg. Anyway, congratulations on officially becoming the manager!”

RB Salzburg’s prized attacking prospect, Karim Adeyemi, and midfield maestro, Nicolas Seiwald, approached Hyungmin, greeting him warmly with handshakes and hugs.

Behind them, two slightly more hesitant players approached Hyungmin.

“Good morning! I’m Jacob Ramsey from Aston Villa!”

Jacob Ramsey, an Englishman with a 180cm frame and short, curly hair, greeted him enthusiastically.

“…Uh, I guess I’m a Burnley player now? I’m Hannibal Mejbri. Burnley’s new midfielder.”

Next to his new teammate, Hannibal Mejbri, a French-born Tunisian national sporting a voluminous hairstyle somewhere between a lion’s mane and dreadlocks, greeted Hyungmin with a sly grin.

For some reason, the 183cm Hannibal seemed smaller than the 180cm Jacob Ramsey, which Hyungmin attributed to his sly demeanor, and he smiled.

“Welcome, Jacob and Hannibal. Let’s get along well in the future.”

Hyungmin shook hands with the remaining two and led the four into the training center.

“Karim and Nicolas have been together since their Salzburg days, and Jacob has met them too, right?”

Hyungmin asked, explaining the facilities one by one as they walked.

“Yes, but we didn’t have much time to talk.”

Karim chuckled at Jacob’s stiff reply.

“Manager, he’s so uptight!”

“Hey, don’t talk like that.”

Nicolas Seiwald chided Karim Adeyemi.

Hannibal, who had been watching the exchange, asked.

“Uh, how do these three know each other?”

“Oh, since we came from Salzburg, the club found us a boarding house nearby. And Jacob said it’s hard to commute from Birmingham every day, so he decided to stay in the same boarding house as us. It’s super close to the training ground.”

Karim Adeyemi, who had secured a spot in a boarding house in Padiham, a small town right next to the training ground (so small it’s not even officially a city), boasted, omitting some of the less glamorous context.

Then Hannibal suddenly shouted.

“I’ll go to the boarding house too!”

“Huh? No, there’s no need for that… You’re a Manchester United player anyway, so Burnley isn’t that far from your house, right?”

Hyungmin, flustered, tried to dissuade him, but Hannibal insisted.

“No! I want to bond with my teammates by living together!”

“Uh… if you really want to?”

“I really want to!”

***

[That guy… he seems to be trying to impress the manager?]

Karim Adeyemi muttered in German while changing clothes in the locker room for the morning training.

Nicolas Seiwald, who had spent the last few years with his same-age friend, shrugged as if he was used to it.

[So what? He’s not even a competitor for your position. As long as he’s good enough.]

[Hey, aren’t you worried? You’re a midfielder, and so is he?]

[We have different roles. And you know, the manager isn’t the type to be swayed by that kind of thing.]

[I know. I know very well. That’s why I came to Burnley like this.]

Karim Adeyemi, who had been muttering, clicked his tongue as if he still didn’t like it.

[Well… he’s one of Manchester United’s prized prospects, so he must have basic skills.]

“What are you all doing? Hurry up and change and get out there! No matter how pretty you dress up, there are no girls you like here!”

Arthur, the head coach, shouted, banging on the locker room door.

The new and existing players all rushed to finish up at the gruff old Englishman’s command and headed to the training ground.

It was a September morning in Burnley, with the sun finally starting to peek through the clouds.

After a light warm-up, the Burnley players began practicing short passes in groups of three, as they had become accustomed to.

As it was a training method that Hyungmin had introduced since his Salzburg days, Karim Adeyemi and Nicolas Seiwald didn’t need any time to adjust.

“Hmm, spatial constraints. And performing pass and move within those constraints?”

Hannibal Mejbri, tilting his head as he looked at the training ground marked with various cones and lines, grasped the purpose of the training just by observing the setup, as if eager to demonstrate his sharp footballing mind.

As if wary of such Hannibal Mejbri, Karim Adeyemi subtly pulled Nicolas Seiwald closer when forming the groups.

“What is it?”

Hannibal Mejbri asked, noticing two of his teammates approaching him.

“Hey, let’s team up for the next drill. Get to know each other, you know?”

At Karim Adeyemi’s words, both the challenger and the challenged exchanged sinister smiles.

“Hehehe…”

He had faced this kind of psychological warfare plenty of times in Paris, Monaco, and Manchester United. *Did this country bumpkin from some Austrian village dare…?*

Hmph. *From Manchester United, you say? Let’s see you get properly humiliated in the Red Bull system.* [Referring to the Red Bull football group’s emphasis on high-pressing, fast-paced football.]

The two promising players glared at each other, each harboring thoughts that would have left Burnley’s veterans dumbfounded if they had heard them.

“Hmm…”

Jack Cork, the veteran midfielder serving as Burnley’s vice-captain, let out a thoughtful hum.

Originally, football wasn’t about age.

He knew that well.

Dwight McNeil, the homegrown forward Burnley had nurtured with care, was only 21 but possessed the skill to succeed in any Premier League team.

Still, although there were slight differences depending on the position, footballers usually reached their peak in their late twenties, when physical ability and experience came together.

After that, their skills gradually declined as they aged, with forwards and midfielders, who relied heavily on activity, declining faster, and goalkeepers, who were relatively less active, having the longest careers.

Of course, there were exceptional players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in this era who were not as affected by age, but most players could not overcome the passage of time.

As he passed 30, he found himself compensating for his gradually declining physical abilities with his accumulated experience.

This year, at 32, the rate of decline in his physical abilities had accelerated, and there were fewer areas he could cover with his experience.

However, that didn’t necessarily mean he would always lose out when competing against players in their late teens or early twenties who lacked experience.

Because they hadn’t accumulated enough experience yet, there was room for them to improve, but they were often outplayed by experienced veterans.

In any case, it wasn’t easy for even the most talented prospects to gain a lot of experience.

As far as he knew, Karim Adeyemi was born in 2002, making him 19 years old.

Nicolas Seiwald was the same age as Karim Adeyemi, also 19.

Hannibal Mejbri was born in 2003, making him just 18 years old.

Originally, they should be in the youth team, hanging around the reserve team.

“But where did they get these monsters from…?”

As the surrounding veterans watched in awe, the three newcomers were exchanging short passes with insane one-touch movements in a space so tight it made onlookers dizzy, constantly moving.

Karim Adeyemi used his quick feet to move to open spaces at incredible speed, sending passes.

Hannibal Mejbri, while running, stretched out his legs and used his right and left feet, inside and outside of his foot, even toe kicks and back heels, relying solely on technique and creativity to return the ball with a single touch.

Finally, Nicolas Seiwald, who had to receive the ball, didn’t have Karim Adeyemi’s quick feet or Hannibal Mejbri’s technique and creativity.

However, the young Austrian midfielder covered his shortcomings with solid fundamentals and an insane amount of pure activity, keeping the ball alive.

As Jack Cork watched the group with a strange mix of despair and anticipation, on the opposite side of the field…

“Beep!”

“Jacob! That pass was over 5 meters. Fine, one count!”

At head coach Arthur’s shout, Jacob Ramsey, born in 2001 and the oldest of the loanees at 20, was flustered, even though he wasn’t in that crazy group.

“Uh… what is this…?”

The poor English midfielder, who had been honing his skills in solid British football, was struggling and accumulating fines in this unfamiliar form of training.

Turning their heads to check Jacob Ramsey’s expression, Burnley’s veterans shook their heads in pity.

“Tsk tsk. He’s going to rack up a lot of fines early on.”

“If he’s not careful, he might end up paying the club instead of receiving his weekly wage by the end of his loan spell.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea! We don’t have much money these days!”

***

[Today is Burnley’s first match since appointing Kim as their official manager. Burnley’s squad was significantly weakened just before the summer transfer window closed when they let Ashley Westwood go to Norwich.]

As always, the TVs in the homes of Burnley residents were all tuned to the local broadcaster’s football coverage, as if by agreement.

Neither of the two teams playing today were of enough interest to be broadcast nationally.

To be precise, it was a football team located in the small rural town of Burnley in northwest England playing against a football team from the rural town of Watford in central England.

Of course, Watford, located only 15 miles from London, could argue that it was more of a London suburb than a rural town, but Burnley didn’t even have that option.

Therefore, due to the nature of local broadcasting, the commentator was inevitably more favorable to the local team, Burnley, and the commentator nodded in agreement.

[Yes, it seems the rumors about Burnley’s poor financial situation are true. Burnley, who lost veteran midfielder Ashley Westwood, have brought in four loanees.]

The commentator, who had been reviewing the data, sighed.

[This is… 20 years old, 19 years old, 19 years old, 18 years old… Frankly, it’s embarrassing to call them immediate reinforcements.]

[It seems Burnley can’t afford to pay significant loan fees to bring in players due to their financial situation. They’ve somehow managed to fill the squad, but I think Kim has been given an incredibly difficult task.]