Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 25

< 024. Entering the Off-Season >

-Dad: Johan, come out for dinner.

“Huh?”

Johan, who was lying on the bed, tilted his head.

Dad sent a KakaoTalk message [a popular Korean messaging app].

Why is he sending a message to tell me to come out for dinner when he’s in the living room?

“…Where did he get this picture?”

While checking the message, he naturally saw his dad’s profile picture.

The picture was of himself kissing the West Ham emblem, and it was set as his dad’s profile picture.

“What is this? Hyung [older brother] too? Huh? Mom too?”

Not just Dad.

When he checked the profiles of the other family members, they all had the same picture.

Why are they like this?

It’s *budeomseureopge* [a Korean word meaning ‘ 부담스럽게’ which translates to ‘ 부담스럽게’ which means 부담스럽게].

“Oh, yeah. Sit down.”

“Johan. Eat up.”

When he went out to the kitchen, his brother and dad were already eating.

But Dad was reading a newspaper in front of the table.

“Hmm? Oh? Look at this. Johan, you’re in here.”

“Pardon?”

“Look here. Your picture is plastered all over the front page.”

“…It is.”

Seok-ho feigned ignorance as he handed over the newspaper.

As Seok-ho said, Johan’s picture was plastered all over the newspaper.

Johan scratched his head.

Not only the picture but also a few lines about himself were written.

It’s all exaggerated.

That a monster has appeared, that a genius has appeared. That he is breaking all the youngest records.

It’s all *budeomseureoun* [a Korean word meaning ‘ 부담스러운’ which translates to ‘ 부담스러운’ which means 부담스러운] content.

However,

There was also interesting content.

…Johan Ban is the son of Seok-ho Ban, ‘Banni,’ who played for West Ham for seven seasons, recording 99 goals and 63 assists in 266 games. Banni, who visited the stadium that day, expressed his affection for his son, saying, “I am exactly 12 times happier than when I recorded my first hat trick.”

“…Dad, did you do an interview too?”

“Huh? Ah, that’s… Somehow people recognized me.”

Seok-ho pretended to focus on his meal as he answered. But Johan could see the undisguised pride in his eyes.

He’s 12 times happier than when he scored a hat trick. Was he that happy?

Johan recalled the crowd cheering for him yesterday.

Dad must have been one of those people.

His brother too.

Thinking that these two people were so happy because of him, Johan couldn’t help but smile.

“But, Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Was your final record 99 goals?”

“Ah, it was.”

“You should have scored just one more goal before retiring.”

Seok-ho laughed at Johan’s words.

“Why wouldn’t I have wanted to?”

Although he was smiling, a deep regret flashed across Seok-ho’s face.

99 goals in total for West Ham.

Seok-ho had never played for personal records during his career, but that last goal remained a regret for him.

Whether it’s 99 goals or 100 goals, it’s just one goal difference, but the feeling is completely different, isn’t it?

The symbolism that 100 goals gives.

Seok-ho also wanted to achieve 100 goals at West Ham and end his career if possible.

But the problem was his knee.

The price Seok-ho paid for traveling back and forth between Europe and Korea and playing his best in every game was several surgeries and a knee full of water.

Even now, Seok-ho’s knee has no cartilage.

Both sides.

Is it just the knee? It was harder to find a healthy place on Seok-ho’s body.

If he had received a little more care, he might have recorded 100 goals.

No, more than that.

The reason why Seok-ho was ignoring all the calls from Korea and why the table was full of healthy food was all because of that.

“If our Johan scores 100 goals instead of his dad, that regret will disappear like snow.”

Seok-ho smiled and stroked Johan’s head.

However,

‘How many more goals do I have to score to score 100 goals…’

Johan, who didn’t know anything about Seok-ho’s situation, was just choked by the chicken breast he was chewing.

ㅡㅡㅡ

June 5, 2027.

West Ham finished the 2026/27 season with a game against Aston Villa.

Final league ranking: 9th.

They won 13 games and drew 14 in 38 games, earning 53 points.

As a result, it wasn’t a bad result.

But there were also many regrets.

Being eliminated early in the FA Cup and League Cup,

Not securing 3 points against weak teams and recording a total of 14 draws due to frustrating attacking power, etc.

Considering the players’ squad and Schmidt’s capabilities, there was clearly room to climb to a higher ranking than 9th, so it was definitely not bad, but not satisfactory either.

However, there were many reasons to look forward to the next season.

First of all, the club announced that it would strongly support the summer transfer market, and there was also the expectation that Schmidt would become a more complete team in his second year next season.

Above all,

The monster youth striker who appeared at the end of the season was making it hard to wait until next season.

7 goals and 3 assists in 4 games since appearing in the 35th round of the season.

The monster youth, Johan, who ranked second in the team in scoring in just 4 games.

Even if he had joined in the middle of the season, it seemed worth looking forward to the next season just because of Johan, who would have easily earned more than 10 points.

That was not only the fans,

Schmidt’s thoughts were the same.

“I think the best scenario is like this.”

“Hmm. If that’s the manager’s judgment, we are ready to follow it.”

After the season ended.

Schmidt, who had a meeting with the club’s executives, handed over a list.

The list contained a list of players they wanted to sign.

In the first place, the amount promised by the club this summer was 70 million pounds, about 110 billion won [approximately $83 million USD].

That money was prepared solely for strengthening the striker position.

Schmidt and the club both cited the striker as the most urgent position, and in order to truly ‘upgrade’ rather than ‘sidegrade,’ they had to invest more than 100 billion won [approximately $75 million USD] in one striker.

However, Schmidt changed his route because of Johan’s appearance.

He declared that there was no need to sign a striker.

Next season, the starting striker will be Johan.

Instead, he suggested investing the funds that had been promised to support the striker’s recruitment in other positions.

It was a much more relaxing situation for the team as well.

100 billion won [approximately $75 million USD] was enough money to strengthen three or four positions.

That’s how expensive strikers are.

Especially useful strikers.

However, thanks to Johan, there was no need for a striker, so the funds could be used more widely.

“Looking at the players on the list, I think I see something in common. The manager’s color is definitely *mud-eot na-neyo* [a Korean phrase meaning ‘묻어나네요’ which translates to ‘showing through’].”

The players that Schmidt put on the top of the list were a total of four.

Two midfielders, one defender, and one goalkeeper.

Although the positions were different, one thing could be found in common among them.

First of all, they were young players with a market value of between 20 billion and 30 billion won [approximately $15-23 million USD].

And they were all players with good physical condition and a lot of activity.

Ah, instead of activity, the goalkeeper was naturally a keeper with ‘good long kick ability’.

“Can we look forward to next season, manager?”

“I’m the most excited.”

If the transfer negotiations are concluded as Schmidt wants, he was confident enough.

The upcoming new season.

He was confident in transforming West Ham into a completely different team.

“I’ll hurry.”

“I think I’ll have to move quickly too.”

It seemed like it would be a busy summer.

ㅡㅡㅡ

From right after the end of the season to the week when pre-season team training begins.

The off-season period in between is about a month to a month and a half.

Most players focus on individual training during this period.

Intensively supplementing the parts that they felt were lacking during the season, or maintaining their condition by doing physical training.

Since there are more hours that a player can utilize because there are no games, how a player utilizes this time is very important for each player.

Depending on how you spend the off-season, it can determine whether you will be successful next season.

That’s how the off-season is not just a rest period.

That’s why Schmidt had a lot of *gomin* [a Korean word meaning ‘고민’ which translates to ‘worry’].

It was because of Johan.

Very naturally, Johan was not the type to do individual training on his own during the off-season.

He wouldn’t do it even if someone told him to, so what would happen if he had an off-season on top of that?

He might forget about soccer for a whole month and join pre-season training.

So Schmidt was *gomin* [a Korean word meaning ‘고민’ which translates to ‘worry’] about what kind of *banghak sukje* [a Korean phrase meaning ‘방학 숙제’ which translates to ‘vacation homework’] he should give Johan to be effective.

“Anyway, I have hired a dedicated trainer to help me.”

“A dedicated trainer?”

“Yes. I think you can trust him.”

While interviewing Seok-ho about the problem,

He heard good news.

Seok-ho said that he had called a reliable dedicated trainer and promised to train Johan during the off-season.

“Excuse me, may I ask who that trainer is?”

“He’s the one who trained me. He’s also the one Johan is most afraid of. Johan will listen to him.”

“The one Johan is most afraid of? Is there someone Johan is afraid of?”

“Yes. There is.”

Seok-ho smiled.

The only man Johan is afraid of.

He was flying from far away Korea on a flight to England.

ㅡㅡㅡ

June 11th.

London Hounslow, Heathrow International Airport.

“Oh, my back.”

An old man with white hair patted his back and got off the plane.

His body was aching from the long flight.

It took more than 10 hours just to come from Incheon [South Korea’s primary airport].

It was bound to be a difficult flight for the old man.

However,

That said, the old man’s physique in a suit looked as solid as any 20-year-old.

“Father!”

“Oh, there you are.”

Johan’s grandfather, Ban Gil-ryung, arrived in England.

“You must be tired from coming all this way.”

“I thought I was going to die from being so cramped.”

“Did you get some sleep on the plane?”

“Sleep? I was working until right before I got off.”

This year, he is seventy-four years old.

However, Ban Gil-ryung, who is still not bent over, was still a energetic man who lived busier than anyone else.

He was still a businessman running a business in the front line, having founded a food-related social enterprise after retiring as a player.

That’s why he stayed in Korea even when his son and his wife said they were going to England.

This time, he only took the time to come at his son’s request.

“Did you watch the game?”

“I saw it. It was on the news too.”

“It was on the Korean news too?”

“Yes. They were making a fuss.”

On the way to the house, carrying a carrier in the car.

Naturally, the story starts with Johan.

According to Ban Gil-ryung,

Johan’s performance was a hot topic in Korea.

Making his Premier League debut at the age of 16 and scoring 7 goals in 4 games.

Of course, it was something that Korea couldn’t help but be interested in.

“How did you see it? Isn’t Johan amazing?”

“Hmm…”

“At least he seems to have inherited more of the Ban family’s blood than I did, right?”

“How do you know anything after playing in four games?”

“Hey. You can tell just by looking at him. Where is there a kid who does that at sixteen? When I was sixteen, wasn’t I being scolded by my father?”

“That’s because you were stubborn because you were going through puberty.”

“What were you doing when you were sixteen, Father?”

“When I was sixteen? Let’s see. That was during the Third Republic, so…”

“…The Third Republic? Father, you’re really young.”

“The other day, I went to the senior citizen center and they said young people weren’t allowed in. Ha ha!”

Seok-ho smiled as he recalled the teenage years he trained with his father.

Seok-ho, who had shown early promise since his early teens, winning middle school tournaments and being selected for the age-group national team, was just a failing student who was scolded every day by his father.

I learned a lot while being scolded.

Because my father’s standards were very high and strict.

However, Seok-ho thought that he would not have been able to have the same career as he does now if it had not been for his father’s teachings.

That’s why,

I’m looking forward to this month too.

I hope Johan can learn a lot while spending time with his grandfather.

Of course,

“You can’t scold him like you used to scold me. Johan.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“What if he gets angry and quits?”

“With that rotten spirit, it’s right to quit.”

There are also things I’m worried about.

I’m worried that my father will scold Johan too much because he has such high standards.

I’m the type to think that the more I get scolded, the better I have to do, but Johan won’t be like that.

But,

There was one thing I could guarantee.

“Father, you’ll have no choice but to acknowledge Johan when you see him.”

“I don’t know. Even if he’s a grandson, no, because he’s a grandson, I have to teach him more strictly. Anyway, I’ll make a person out of him, so don’t interfere. You’re too soft.”

“Yes. That’s right. I can’t be so cruel to my son like someone else.”

“…What?”

“Ha ha!”

That high standard of my father,

It was that it would be nothing to Johan.