Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Centro Bortolotti Training Complex
8:45 AM
Tuesday morning the flight from London to Milan landed on schedule and Demien drove to Bergamo and unpacked at his apartnt while the city moved through its afternoon routine around him, and Tuesday evening he ate properly and slept well because his body knew Wednesday ant returning to work after three weeks away from Atalanta’s training environnt.
Wednesday morning his alarm went at seven and he arrived at Centro Bortolotti at eight forty-five, fifteen minutes earlier than the nine o’clock start ti Gasperini had communicated through the club’s pre-season schedule, and several cars were already in the lot when he pulled into his usual spot near the entrance.
Lookman’s black rcedes. De Roon’s BMW. Koopiners’ Audi. The dedicated players who always arrived early regardless of whether it was required.
He walked into the building and the locker room was filling with teammates returning from sumr break, and the energy was high in the way it always was at the start of pre-season when everyone had rested properly and felt ready to work again.
Conversations overlapped in Italian and English and Dutch while players moved between lockers and changed into training gear, and Demien went to his locker where his number 30 training kit was hanging exactly where it should be with his na printed across the back.
He changed thodically—shorts first, then training top, socks pulled high, boots laced in the sa sequence he’d used since his trial period with the left boot completed before the right—and around him teammates did the sa while discussing sumr holidays and family visits and the new season’s fixtures.
Luca walked in at eight fifty-five and his locker now had his na plate permanently attached rather than the temporary label from last season, and when he caught Demien’s eye he grinned and said "back to work" in the sa tone that ant nothing had changed between them despite the transfer speculation dominating every sports outlet in Europe.
"How was Portugal?" Demien asked while Luca opened his locker and started changing.
"Good minutes. Fifteen appearances total, three goals scored, learned a lot about playing against defensive blocks every week. Gasperini wants in rotation this season so I’m competing for the backup striker position behind
"That’s solid progress."
"Yeah. Now we see if I’m actually ready or if Braga was just being kind." Luca pulled his training top over his head and sat to lace his boots. "You ready for Friday?"
"Ready as I’ll be."
"Three clubs fighting over you. Must be nice." The tone was light rather than bitter because Luca understood the business well enough to know that opportunities ca to different players at different tis.
"It’s complicated."
"Everything worth doing is complicated." Luca finished with his left boot and moved to his right. "Just pick the one that feels right and don’t overthink it. You’ll know."
At nine o’clock exactly Gasperini walked into the locker room and the noise dropped imdiately while players who were still changing finished quickly and moved to sit on the benches, and the manager stood near the tactical board with his arms crossed and his expression professional rather than warm because pre-season was work first and celebration later.
"Welco back," Gasperini said without preamble. "Good sumr I hope. Now it’s finished. Pre-season starts today and we have six weeks until Serie A kicks off August thirteenth against Lecce at ho. We work hard, we train properly, we prepare correctly for what’s ahead."
He paused and his eyes moved across the room systematically from left to right.
"So of you have interest from other clubs. That’s normal when you perform well. I won’t stand in anyone’s way if the right offer cos and the player wants to leave. But while you’re here you’re Atalanta players and you train professionally and you represent this club with pride. If you’re leaving, tell before it becos public. That’s all I ask. Respect the club, respect your teammates, respect the process."
His tone was matter-of-fact rather than emotional because this speech happened every sumr when transfer windows opened and players received approaches, and Gasperini’s philosophy had always been to accept movent rather than fight it.
"dical checks first, then pitch. Go."
That was it. No drama. No special attention directed at anyone. Pure professionalism that treated every player the sa regardless of their contract situation.
dical checks took an hour and Demien moved through the routine with the sa focus he’d applied hundreds of tis before—scale showed his weight at seventy-six kilograms which was exactly where it should be, body fat percentage asured at nine point two which indicated he’d maintained conditioning well during the break, flexibility assessnt showed full range of motion in all major joints, strength tests confird his numbers were consistent with end-of-season baselines.
The dical staff recorded everything without comnt because the results were all within expected ranges for a professional athlete who’d trained properly during his ti away from structured team sessions.
At ten thirty the squad moved to the training pitch and Gasperini kept the first session deliberately light because he understood that players needed ti to readjust their bodies to the specific demands of collective training after weeks of individual maintenance work.
Jogging first. Four laps of the pitch at conversational pace while muscles ward and joints loosened and breathing settled into rhythm.
Dynamic stretching second. Leg swings, arm circles, torso rotations, hip openers. The full routine that prepared connective tissue for the sharper movents that would co later in the session.
Light passing drills third. Simple patterns in groups of four with ten-yard spacing and emphasis on weight of pass rather than speed of execution.
Demien moved through it all with the ease that ca from having done these exact drills hundreds of tis, and his first touch was clean when the ball arrived from Koopiners because his 89 Ball Control ant receiving passes required no conscious thought anymore, and his return pass found Éderson’s feet with perfect weight because his 88 Short Passing ant the technique was automatic.
「STATS IN EFFECT」
Ball Control: 89 | Short Passing: 88
The system notification appeared briefly in his peripheral vision during a water break, and the panel showed the training session tracking properly.
「PRE-SEASON TRAINING SESSION ACTIVE」
「Session Type: Physical Conditioning (Light)」
「Duration: 90 minutes」
「Reward Processing: Active」
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