Demien dismissed it with a thought and returned his attention to the drill as Gasperini organized the next sequence.
Possession ga. Three teams of eight players in a forty-by-thirty grid with two-touch maximum and the middle team pressing to win the ball back.
Demien’s team started in possession and he received from Lookman near the left edge of the grid with a pressing midfielder closing from three yards away, and his first touch directed the ball inside cleanly before the pressure arrived because his Press Resistant trait ant this exact situation was sothing his body knew how to handle without needing to think through the chanics.
「TRAIT ACTIVE」
Press Resistant
His second touch found de Roon in space centrally and the Dutch midfielder controlled it smoothly before playing wide to Zappacosta, and the pattern continued for two minutes until the pressing team won possession and roles rotated.
The session ended at eleven thirty and players walked back to the training complex together in small groups while discussing the afternoon schedule, and Demien walked with Luca and Koopiners and the conversation stayed on football rather than transfers because that was the implicit agreent everyone maintained during training hours.
Lunch in the cafeteria was club-monitored nutrition and Demien sat with the sa group while teammates filled the other tables around them, and a few players asked about the Liverpool and United rumors in the casual way that acknowledged the situation without making it uncomfortable, and he deflected politely with variations of "still deciding" and "hearing options" that were true without revealing anything specific.
No drama. No special treatnt. Just teammates being teammates in the way that professional squads managed these situations when everyone understood the business.
Afternoon was individual gym work and recovery protocols, and Demien did light weights targeting maintenance rather than strength building because pre-season’s first week was about rebuilding aerobic base and movent patterns rather than pushing physical limits.
He left the complex at four o’clock with the first day complete and his body settling back into the training rhythm that would define the next six weeks, and the system notification appeared as he walked to his car.
「PRE-SEASON TRAINING SESSION COMPLETE」
「Session Type: Physical Conditioning (Light)」
「Duration: 90 minutes」
「Performance: Professional Standard」
「REWARDS」
「Base Training Reward: 10 TP」
「UPDATED BALANCE」
「300 TP | 11 SP | 13 MP」
「NEXT SESSION: Thursday, June 29 — 9:00 AM」
「UPCOMING: Chelsea FC eting — Friday, June 30 — 2:00 PM, Milan」
The currency increase was modest but expected because pre-season training sessions rewarded consistency rather than spectacular performance, and ten TP per session ant he’d accumulate seventy to eighty TP weekly through daily work which would fund Bronze Pack openings when he had ti to focus on the system properly.
Tomorrow ant another session at nine AM and the sa professional routine, and Friday ant hearing Chelsea’s pitch and completing the information gathering that would inform his final decision.
For now his car started smoothly and the drive ho took fifteen minutes through Bergamo’s early evening traffic, and when he arrived at his apartnt the space felt more familiar than the London hotel had because this was where he’d lived for the past year and the city outside his windows was the one he’d learned to navigate as a professional.
Wednesday Evening
Demien’s Apartnt
7:00 PM
The apartnt was quiet when the text from Marco arrived, and Demien had been sitting on his couch with his laptop open to Atalanta’s pre-season schedule while the television played sothing he wasn’t really watching because his mind was already thinking ahead to Friday’s eting.
Chelsea confird for Friday 2 PM. Their Milano office near Duomo. I’ll et you there 1:45 PM. Wear the suit like you did for Liverpool and United. This is a formal pitch with the sa structure and they’ll present their vision for how you fit Pochettino’s system.
He typed back: Confird.
Marco’s reply ca within seconds: After Friday you’ll have heard all three clubs. Then we compare everything properly—contracts, pitches, philosophies, tilines. Then you decide. No rush. Take the ti you need to get it right.
Demien set the phone on the couch beside him and his mind organized what Friday would bring—another conference room, another presentation from technical directors and sporting staff, another vision for how he’d develop into the player they believed he could beco.
Then he’d have three complete offers with all the information he needed to make an inford choice.
Liverpool: one hundred ninety thousand per week, automatic buyout at seventy-five million pounds after eighteen months, year two for regular starts, Klopp’s patient developnt model.
Manchester United: two hundred twenty thousand per week, conditional exit language at eighteen months, year one target of twenty-plus starts, Ten Hag’s imdiate opportunity approach.
Chelsea: two hundred fifteen thousand per week, conditional exit language at eighteen months, young squad project under Pochettino, London location that put him closer to Milan and Florence than the northern English cities.
Three different paths. All elite platforms. All offering versions of success that required different trade-offs.
The decision would co after Friday when he’d heard everyone and understood what each club truly valued beyond the financial terms they’d put in writing.
For now pre-season training continued tomorrow at nine AM and his body needed rest to prepare for another ninety-minute session, and Friday’s eting would arrive whether he spent Wednesday evening overthinking it or trusting the process Marco had outlined.
He opened his laptop properly and checked Atalanta’s pre-season fixture list because the training sessions were building toward actual matches where system missions would activate and rewards would accumulate.
Three friendly matches scheduled: July eighth versus a local Serie C team, July fifteenth versus a Serie B side, July twenty-second versus a mid-table Serie A team. Real competition. Proper preparation for the August thirteenth season opener against Lecce.
And sowhere between now and mid-July his transfer decision would be finalized and announced and his future would shift from uncertain to determined.
He closed the laptop and set his alarm for seven thirty AM because tomorrow ant another training session and another ten TP toward whatever ca next, and the routine was grounding in a way that the transfer speculation couldn’t disrupt.
Sleep ca easier than it had in London because his bed was familiar and his body was tired from the training session and his mind had accepted that Friday was just another step in a process that would resolve itself when he had complete information.
Dreams ca eventually—different colored kits in different stadiums with different teammates, but all showing the sa core image of him playing at the highest level and doing what he’d been working toward since Fiorentina rejected him and the system activated and this path forward revealed itself.
The where mattered less than the fact that it was happening.
The choice would beco clear Friday after Chelsea made their pitch and he understood all three options with the clarity that only complete information could provide.
Until then there was training and recovery and professional focus on the work that mattered regardless of which club eventually signed the contract.
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