Chapter 34
After hanging up the phone, the young Bowen felt very disappointed.
"I don't want to be a transfer bonus. I had a chance to play in the game." Bowen didn't know about Wolves, and he didn't know that he was specifically asked by Wei Le. He only knew that the club just called and asked for his opinion.
But he knew that this was not a request for opinion, but a disguised notification. Noha Diko, who was exchanged with him, was worth more than him, and he didn't even have a formal valuation. Even if he firmly refused, the club might not force him to leave, but his future club career would definitely be full of ups and downs.
Bowen was born in a small city with a population of no more than 10,000. After being rejected by Aston Villa in his childhood, Bowen sought opportunities to continue his football career everywhere, and finally his hometown team Hereford United gave him the opportunity to play in the semi-professional league.
Bowen can't forget the time when he played football almost for free. Hereford United eventually went bankrupt in 2014, but the 16-year-old boy who had shown talent in the first team was accepted by Hull City. At that time, Hull City, which was still in the Premier League, was not ranked high. Although there were not many geniuses in the youth training camp, there were at least many who were stronger than Bowen.
But Bowen's efforts were visible to everyone. But just when this down-to-earth young player was looking forward to getting some first-team opportunities in the next season, Wolves' offer came.
The teammate patted the little brother on the shoulder with some regret. Although Bowen had never played in the league, he had been training with the team for a long time, and his teammates had a lot of feelings for this little brother. But obviously, just patting the shoulder could not make Bowen happy.
After leaving the training ground, Bowen turned a few corners and walked to a bench in the street park. He sat down and thought about it.
At this time, the phone rang, interrupting his random thoughts. It was an unfamiliar phone number. Bowen thought about it and clicked to answer.
"Hello, Bowen, I'm your new head coach, my last name is Wei."
Ah? Wait a minute? Is he a liar?
This was Bowen's first thought. It's no wonder he thought so. The news of Wei Le's appointment has not been announced yet. Apart from the Wolves players, only very few people know about it.
However, the news of Bowen's transfer has not been made public by the media. Now only the staff of the two clubs and some players know about it.
"You probably haven't heard of me. I was also a member of the Wolves coaching staff last season. This season I will become the head coach of Wolves. The media has not known this news yet, and you are one of the first few to know it."
Bowen felt that the other party did not need to pretend to be the new head coach to deceive him. He was just an unknown young player who had not played a game. Even if the other party was deceiving him, what purpose could it have? Bowen chose to believe the person on the other end of the phone.
"I guess you are very disappointed now, and feel that you are being treated as a transfer bonus? Do you think that Hull City pushed you out simply to push out an unknown little player for us to scratch a lottery ticket and reduce the transfer fee?"
Wei Le asked with a smile, and he could hear Bowen's disappointment from his tone. Bowen felt like he was being seen through. How did he know what he was thinking? Moreover, as a head coach, he actually said the word "lottery" directly! Shouldn't the head coach, at least on the surface, avoid using such pointed words?
Bowen didn't answer, but Wei Le could hear his answer.
"If that's the case, then you've wrongly blamed your club. I asked for you by name."
"Why?" Bowen couldn't sit still after hearing this.
Wei Le smiled and shook his head, "Guess how I know you?"
Bowen thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "From the report given by the scout?"
"No, I saw your game by chance. That game was a U23 game, but you were only 20 years old. You were dodge among those central defenders who were older than you, and I saw your talent."
"So I started to pay attention to you and looked for your game videos everywhere. Last season, I really regretted not seeing you in the first team's starting lineup, although I think you have the ability to gradually play in the starting lineup."
Bowen was more and more surprised, but Wei Le did not say more. He quickly led the topic to Bowen's personal ability. Wei Le gave Bowen a detailed analysis of the characteristics he showed in the youth team game, and believed that Bowen might be more suitable for activities on the right side than the traditional left winger.
"Modern football winger does not only rely on the traditional bottom pass to find the center forward, but also has to take on more responsibilities, such as cutting inside."
2016Robben, who was already known as the Little Flying Man in 2010, was recommended by Wei Le to watch Robben's game videos. This does not mean that Wei Le hopes that Bowen will become a player like Robben No. 2, but Wei Le believes that the inverted winger is the direction in which Bowen can shine.
These analyses made Bowen feel the attention from the head coach.
Not every player will get a call from the head coach before joining the team, and there are even fewer head coaches who can analyze the player's abilities and characteristics so clearly on the phone.
Bowen did not receive such treatment in Hull City. He had no idea about what direction he would develop in the future. Perhaps he could only insist on "playing well and training well", but how could it be enough to just "play well"? He didn't even know what type of player he was aiming for, so how could he become an excellent player?
However, Wei Le's proposal on "cutting in" was something Bowen had never heard of, but Bowen felt that maybe this was really possible.
"I will give you more opportunities to play, and maybe you can directly fight for the opportunity to become a main player through your own efforts. This is a young team. We have just sent away nearly half of the players from last season, and most of the new players are about your age."
"I decide who should play and who should not play based on your performance in training." Wei Le said, "In my plan, you will be an important member of the Wolves next season."
This evaluation may be too high for Bowen, and he couldn't help but exclaimed. But which young player doesn't expect to be reused? Last season, Bowen, who was killing all over the youth team, was not selected for a match list until the end of the season. Perhaps the head coach who really knows how to use himself will be Wei Le on the other end of the phone.
Reality is very different from those novels with football coaches as the protagonists that Wei Le has read. In many novels, it is written that the head coach calls the players and says a few words, and the players are moved to tears. But in fact, not many people can make the opponent who has never met bow down with just a few words.
Trust needs to be accumulated.
At this time, Bowen has already felt the sincerity from the future head coach from the phone call just now. Maybe there is still confusion and dissatisfaction, after all, Bowen transferred from a quasi-Premier League club to a team ranked in the lower middle of the league last season, but in any case, it is enough to make Bowen active.
How to make players truly trust the head coach is not a matter of one day or one night.