Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 88

88. Summer Vacation

The car finally arrived at what appeared to be a fairly large property, enclosed by a low wall and tall trees, creating a secluded garden with a two-story house at its center.

As the car approached, the shutter door opened automatically, and Tae-jin drove into the spacious parking lot, where another car was already parked.

“Dad!”

Before Hyung-min could even get out of the car, two children burst out of the front door and latched onto Tae-jin’s legs.

“Oh my! Have you been listening to Mom?”

“Yes! Yes! And we listened to the new grandpa and grandma, too!”

“Really?”

Tae-jin, lifting one child in each arm, smiled at Hyung-min.

“Okay, I told you Dad’s friend was coming, right? You have to say hello. This is my son.”

“…Hello…”

“And on the other side is my daughter.”

“Hello!”

The boy, clearly the older brother, offered a shy greeting, while the girl, the younger sister, spoke loudly.

“Hello?”

Tae-jin addressed the boy, Seo-joon, who was hiding behind his dad again, avoiding Hyung-min.

“Seo-joon, you said you wanted to play in the Premier League someday, right? To become a player there, you have to make a good impression on people like Coach Kim Hyung-min here, okay?”

“Ah… um… Hello…”

Hyung-min couldn’t help but smile at the boy, who peeked out again to bow.

Tae-jin, with his arms full of children, gestured towards the trunk of the car with his chin.

“Hey, sorry, but I think you’ll have to get the bags out yourself.”

“Ah, of course.”

Tae-jin’s wife was a beautiful woman with a vibrant personality.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. He’s always bragging to me about it anyway – that Burnley’s Coach Kim Hyung-min is his high school classmate. It’s an honor to have you here. Make yourself at home.”

Even though it was clearly a family space, she welcomed Hyung-min and his parents without any awkwardness.

To call it a tearful reunion would be an exaggeration; only Hyung-min’s mother teared up, and after a few words with his taciturn [uncommunicative] father, they quickly ran out of things to say.

After the short but somewhat strained greeting and conversation with his parents, Hyung-min, taking advantage of a break when they went to rest, was found by Tae-jin on the second-floor balcony where he had retreated.

“Yo, what are you looking at?”

In the spacious first-floor garden that Hyung-min was looking down at, Tae-jin’s two children were playing, filling a foldable swimming pool with water.

“Just, nothing.”

“Jealous?”

Tae-jin chuckled at Hyung-min’s expression and handed him a can of beer he had brought up.

“Ah, I don’t…”

“I know you can’t drink, but just have one.”

*No, why should I have one if I can’t drink?* Hyung-min thought, tilting his head, but he opened the beer can as the host offered.

“What are you so jealous of?”

Tae-jin asked, leaning against the balcony railing.

“Just… you’ve already settled down like this. I guess I was jealous of that. Finding the place where you belong? Of course, you already had your own place since high school. I was actually anxious back then because I didn’t have my place.”

“I know.”

“…You know?”

Hyung-min turned his head, surprised by the answer. Tae-jin took a long drink of beer before replying.

“Of course, I know. Everyone there was aiming to go pro. You weren’t that good at soccer, honestly. I could tell you had a lot of anxiety.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But instead…”

“Instead?”

Hyung-min asked, noticing Tae-jin’s hesitation.

“You had a good soccer brain. You always read the situation, how the opposing players were moving, and how you should move, one or two steps ahead. I was a little jealous of that. But what could you do when your body couldn’t keep up with your eyes and brain? Everyone has things they’re good at and things they’re not.”

“Was that so?”

Hyung-min muttered, recalling his high school days.

He hadn’t tried to remember his high school days since the injury, but thinking about it now, it seemed that way.

“So, you don’t think the coach put you in as a starting defender just because you could use that left foot a little awkwardly, do you? He put you in as a defender because you could still move one beat faster on the field and stop the opponent’s attack from developing. If your passing skills weren’t so bad, he would have put you in midfield, right? Or maybe a standing winger?”

“Is that so?”

Hyung-min tilted his head, seeing a different perspective from what he remembered from high school, where his technical soccer skills were completely overshadowed, and other aspects were highlighted.

Tae-jin chuckled as he watched Hyung-min.

“I’m starting to get jealous of you now, you bastard.”

“Me?”

“Ah, I’m not jealous of that.”

Tae-jin gestured to the children playing below.

“You know it too. A player’s career is short.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s getting harder and harder on the field. Young guys are coming in, but my body can’t keep up with my brain and eyes anymore. My legs are getting slower. My body isn’t the same as before when I do recovery training. Even though I’m managing myself more thoroughly, I can see that there’s not much time left.”

Even the genius striker who broke all the youngest goalscorer, most goals, and goals per game records of the great seniors on the Korean national team and is challenging the most appearances record is reaching his limit as he gets older.

“I think my playing career will be over after this World Cup. Then I’ll have to retire. Before I show a more pathetic side.”

Hyung-min remained silent at his classmate’s quiet lament.

“It’s good to retire, but what do I do after I retire? This is all I know how to do. Of course, I’ve saved enough money, but that can’t fill the time until I’m 100 years old.”

Hyung-min was taken aback, seeing his peer for the first time from the perspective of a peer, not from the perspective of a coach.

“But you’ve settled down now. Whether you stay at Burnley or go somewhere else. Even if you come back to Korea, you’ll always be offered a coaching position unless you say you don’t want it. You have a bright future ahead of you. That’s what I’m jealous of.”

“Then you can become a coach too.”

Hyung-min said with a smile, lightening the heavy conversation, and Tae-jin grinned.

“That’s right. I’m taking a coaching license course right now. It’s so tough to play games and study at the same time.”

“What’s so hard about studying that much.”

Tae-jin gave an absurd expression at the words of the experienced person who studied during the day, coached or managed amateur teams at night, and even did odd jobs in between.

“Hey, do you still think we’re in our 20s? My brain is starting to stiffen!”

“You were always a blockhead… Cough!”

Hyung-min, whose neck was grabbed by the long arms of the 190cm tall man [approximately 6’3″], coughed for a long time.

“Phew, I almost got a little angry for a moment.”

“Cough… I can’t breathe… Cough…”

Tae-jin, who had been choking Hyung-min for a while, finally let go and said with a grin.

“Well, if there’s any coaching training later, I can ask you for help, right? Please take care of me!”

*Who would take you?* Hyung-min muttered to himself, leaning against the balcony railing and desperately trying to push air into his lungs.

***

Whether the coach was being choked by his classmate in his home country or not, Burnley Football Club’s summer transfer market was now in full swing.

As soon as the season ended, Jonathan Landris, Burnley’s football director, quickly released the veterans and players slated for transfer and began to recruit in earnest. Other clubs in Europe also actively participated in the transfer market.

In particular, other Premier League clubs were not idle.

First, Manchester City, who narrowly missed the treble [winning three major trophies in a single season], including the Premier League title, began a furious recruitment drive.

The first signing was Erling Haaland, a 22-year-old monster striker from the Norwegian national team, considered one of the best strikers in the world. They paid Borussia Dortmund a buyout amount of 51.2 million pounds in a lump sum and guaranteed the player himself a weekly wage of 460,000 pounds.

The second signing was Calvin Phillips, a 26-year-old defensive midfielder from the English national team, nicknamed the “Pirlo of Yorkshire” [referencing the legendary Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo], paying Leeds United 41.6 million pounds.

They were already considered to have built a squad close to perfection, but they upgraded the replacement options for the central striker, considered a weakness, and the defensive midfielder position, which was vacated when veteran midfielder Fernandinho left.

In addition, with the signing of Erling Haaland, they sold 25-year-old Brazilian national team striker Gabriel Jesus, considered a redundant resource, to Arsenal for 44 million pounds, and began to streamline unnecessary resources in the attack.

Stimulated by this, the reigning champion Liverpool paid a buyout of 64 million pounds and signed Benfica’s destructive 23-year-old striker Darwin Nunez, who dominated the Portuguese first division, to reinforce their aging attack.

And they succeeded in maintaining their attacking power in the long term by signing a new contract with key striker Mohamed Salah, who had been linked to many clubs.

However, striker Sadio Mane, who formed the so-called ‘Manura’ line with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah and led Liverpool’s first golden age, transferred to Bayern Munich for 27 million pounds, causing an unexpected shift in power.

On the other hand, Arsenal, who unfortunately finished third, paid 44 million pounds and signed striker Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City to reinforce the front line, while signing 22-year-old attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira, who brilliantly blossomed in Porto in the Portuguese first division, for 30 million pounds.

At the same time, they began to streamline the squad by releasing or selling players considered outside of their plans, such as Alexandre Lacazette.

Meanwhile, Manchester United, who finished fourth, appointed Erik ten Hag, who won the Dutch first division [Eredivisie] three times at Ajax, as manager and began a full-scale reorganization.

However, while midfielder Paul Pogba, who received a lot of attention from the football world, eventually left on a free transfer, negotiations with initially rumored targets were sluggish, and concerns among fans grew as reinforcement of power lagged behind rival teams.

And Tottenham, who took the last spot in the European competition, in 5th place, were urged to stop their frugal behavior as manager Antonio Conte continued to publicly pressure the club for reinforcement of power, and fans actively supported the manager.

Eventually, Tottenham permanently signed Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, who had been signed on loan, while paying a whopping 50 million pounds to sign 25-year-old Brazilian national team striker Richarlison from Everton, who were relegated in the previous season, to reinforce the last spot in the attack line where Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were holding out.

In addition, they succeeded in building a strong midfield by signing 25-year-old midfielder Yves Bissouma, who was in charge of Brighton’s midfield, for a bargain price of 25 million pounds.

While the top teams were actively reinforcing their squads, the most attention in the mid- to lower ranks was paid to Newcastle, which was acquired by the Saudi Arabian National Fund, PIF [Public Investment Fund].

And Newcastle did not disappoint the expectations of the football world and carried out comprehensive recruitment.

First, they reinforced the defense by signing Sevilla’s central defender Diego Carlos for 37.5 million pounds and PSV Eindhoven’s side defender Philip Max for 34 million pounds, for a total of 71.5 million pounds.

They reinforced the midfield by signing Shanghai SIPG’s Brazilian national team attacking midfielder Oscar for 43.5 million pounds and Ajax’s young genius midfielder Ryan Gravenberch for 40 million pounds.

In particular, they succeeded in signing midfielder Frank Kessie, who was released on a free contract from AC Milan and failed to sign a contract with Barcelona due to financial problems, transforming the midfield with a total of 83.5 million pounds.

The football world was shocked by the wealth of Newcastle and the PIF fund, which poured a whopping 150 million pounds into a single transfer market, and the fire sale of existing players who were judged to be unnecessary resources began in the wave of newly signed players in Newcastle.

And Jonathan Landris sensed a bargain sale there.