’Is he trying to force his way through with speed?’
’Or maybe draw a foul?’
’Otherwise, at that speed, it would be impossible to get past the defender.’
But the next mont, the number 9 player shook off the defender with a move that looked like a Swing Pass.
At normal speed, Wenger couldn’t even see it clearly.
’How did he get past him?’
But the video showed a slow-motion replay.
"Holy shit, that move was so fast!" Wenger stared, his eyes glued to the screen.
The next mont, he saw a familiar face.
His forr favorite, the German goalkeeper Jens Leman.
Wenger hit pause on the video, imdiately picked up his phone, found Leman’s number in his contacts, and called him directly.
"Hello, Jens, it’s ."
"Hey, Boss." Leman was clearly happy to get a call from Wenger.
"I want to ask you about sothing."
Leman laughed on the other end of the line. "Let guess. Is it about Wang Shuo?"
"How did you know?"
"I just got off the phone with Zorc from Dortmund."
"Oh, damn it. That guy moves fast."
"And Galliani from AC Milan, and Schwartz from Schalke 04."
As he said this, Leman gave a wry smile on the other end.
"You guys have no consideration for my feelings as the victim. You’re just rubbing salt in my wounds. It’s too cruel!"
Wenger couldn’t help but chuckle on his end of the line.
Leman could be quite humorous at tis.
Of course, it was also the truth.
The man had just had Wang Shuo score a brace against him.
"Are they all calling to ask about Wang Shuo?" Wenger was quite curious.
"Yeah, they all heard the news and wanted to get a feel for the situation."
Wenger understood.
Who would know an opponent’s strength better than the victim?
"What do you think?" Wenger asked with concern.
Leman sighed. "After the match, we were all talking about him in the locker room. Tashche, you know, he’s a victim too."
"Mhm, what did he say?"
"Tashche said Wang Shuo doesn’t seem like a 1.8-ter-tall player at all."
"What do you an?"
"Wang Shuo is extrely agile, with tons of body fakes and feints. His footwork is incredibly fast, making it impossible to keep up with his rhythm in a one-on-one. And his Ball Sense is excellent."
"And the most outrageous thing is, the damn guy also has incredible stamina!"
Wenger just listened, already forming a rough picture in his mind.
But as all this information piled up, Wenger was surprised to find that he couldn’t match it to any familiar player template.
For example, having great stamina.
The first person he thought of was Essien from Chelsea.
Excellent Ball Sense made him think of Bergkamp.
High speed, he thought of Henry.
Quick feet, lots of feints, lots of body movent...
This was usually exclusive to shorter players, like ssi or Ribery.
’Can all these traits really exist in one person?’
"Our final conclusion was that, as a forward right now, his few weaknesses are his poor performance in physical challenges and his lack of strength."
When Leman said this, his mood clearly improved a lot.
At the very least, the opponent had a soft spot, a weakness. He was a living, breathing person!
If he didn’t have this weakness, he’d probably be a real alien.
"That’s normal. He’s only 18, after all. He probably hasn’t started his physical training regin yet."
"No, I heard he’s already started."
’His ti with that weakness will be short.’
"So soon? Isn’t that a bit rushed?"
"I don’t know. Mainz is just a small club, and they’re so poor. They probably want to develop him quickly so they can sell him for more money."
Wenger didn’t think too much about it.
The reasoning was quite normal.
"What’s your feel on him?"
"Right now, I don’t think he’s ready for the Premier League, mainly because of the physicality."
Leman had played in the Premier League for many years, so he knew that the current intensity and competitive level of the Bundesliga were actually relatively weak among Europe’s top leagues.
Moreover, the Bundesliga’s style of play has always leaned towards offense. The defending isn’t as tight as in Serie A, and the physicality isn’t on par with the Premier League or Ligue 1.
Therefore, even though Wang Shuo was performing well in the Bundesliga, his lack of physicality ant he would definitely be at a greater disadvantage in the Premier League.
"But, Boss, I think this kid is sothing special. His rate of improvent is incredibly fast."
"We prepared specifically for Mainz before the match, and I studied his ga footage closely. He improves in almost every single ga. That’s the scariest part!"
Hearing this, Wenger could sense Leman’s affirmation and high praise for Wang Shuo in his words.
"So, Boss, my personal advice is that you should sign him imdiately, then loan him back to a Bundesliga club to continue leveling up and improving."
Wenger just humd an "mhm" into the mouthpiece.
Signing a young player and then loaning them out was a very common practice.
Wenger himself often used this thod.
"By the way, what’s the situation with Dortmund and Schalke 04?"
"At Schalke 04, the decision-maker for sporting matters is now Magat. Dortmund’s situation is a bit complicated at the mont."
"Back in the sumr, when Dom was coaching Dortmund, he had so disagreents with the club over transfers. Dom wanted to sign his favorite players, Novakovic and Hels."
"And you saw the result. Novakovic stayed in the 2nd Bundesliga, and Hels went to Bayer Leverkusen."
"Right now, Dortmund needs a midfield passer. Dom wants to sign the midfielder Antal from Cologne, but Zorc and the others are leaning more towards younger players, like Tony Kroos from Bayern, or Kevin Boateng from Tottenham."
"I don’t think any of them are in a position to make a move for Wang Shuo right now."
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