22 Chapter 22: Soaring Value, €20 Million Might Not Be Enough!
After scoring, before Lin Quan could even get up from the ground, De Bruyne and other SV Werder Bremen players rushed over one by one, going crazy and piling on him in celebration.
In the live chat room, the barrage also erupted at this moment.
"Wow, how did he do that?"
"Is this the free match I'm watching?"
"So cool, he practically took on the entire defense by himself!"
"Whoever said Lin Quan was a mascot earlier? Come out and take a few steps!"
"Haha, they definitely won't dare to come out now. They dared Lin Quan to dribble past one more defender, and he went through the entire defense in one go!"
"I love this direct slap in the face!"
"Haha, I think this is a tribute to Messi. Messi once scored a goal similar to this!"
"It does resemble it a bit, but Messi dribbled through the middle, while Lin Quan did it from the wing. Plus, Messi was facing a top club like Real Madrid, so relatively speaking, Messi's goal was more impressive!"
"Reminds me of Professor Bu's century-class assist!"
"Reminds me of Casillas shrugging his shoulders at his teammates, just like the Kortbus goalkeeper's gesture now!"
"Feeling sorry for my Real Madrid, being dragged out for a whipping again!"
"Feeling sorry +1!"
"Feeling sorry +2!"
...
If the viewers in the live stream room didn't know who Lin Quan was before, they certainly did now.
The audience who watched this match remembered the young wind-chaser who dribbled through the entire defense from the wing with his own strength!
Not only the viewers in the Douyu live stream room, but also the SV Werder Bremen fans at the stadium were impressed by Lin Quan's performance.
Many viewers applauded Lin Quan and exchanged information about him.
Because the summer transfer window had just begun and wouldn't end until the end of August, the team's transfer work was still in its early stages. Lin Quan and other newly transferred or loaned players were not publicly introduced at Weserstadion, and no welcoming ceremonies were held for them.
This meant that many fans didn't know who Lin Quan was until they asked around and found out that he was loaned from FC Barcelona Youth Team.
"Turns out he's from La Masia, no wonder he's so talented!"
As soon as they heard that Lin Quan came from the Barcelona Youth Academy, the SV Werder Bremen fans understood.
"Hey guys, is it possible for our club to buy this sharp breakthrough kid? He's still so young, Barcelona shouldn't ask for a high price, right?"
Such a good player, if he wasn't on loan but a permanent SV Werder Bremen player, how great would that be!
"I'm afraid it won't work. With his outstanding performance, his value shouldn't be less than €20 million, right?
We don't have that much money to buy such an expensive player!"
SV Werder Bremen is not a powerhouse, just an ordinary mid-sized club.
Their highest transfer record in history was in the summer of 2009, when they paid a high price of €8.5 million to bring in Marco Marin, the winger from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
And usually, their transfer budget for each season is only around €15 million.
To buy Lin Quan, they would need at least €20 million. Even if they didn't buy any other players, they couldn't afford Lin Quan.
Moreover, Barcelona is not stupid.
A player who performs so well at such a young age, Barcelona might not even want to sell!
So the SV Werder Bremen fans could only think about it in their hearts, with no way to put it into action.
...
Being celebrated by the opponent in front of their own goal, the players of Kortbus were somewhat frustrated.
Their goalkeeper shrugged and looked at their defenders with a very angry expression.
He was angry because of how the team's defense could make such a mistake.
How could they let the opponents toy with the entire defense, dribbling past them one by one! The defenders looked dejected, standing with their hands on their hips, staring blankly at Lin Quan trapped under the pile of players.
They couldn't understand why so many people couldn't stop this small guy.
Clearly, his dribbling seemed ordinary, with no fancy moves like step-overs, feints, or scissors dribbles.
Just simple touches, shifts, and changes of direction, yet they were all beaten.
But the simpler it is, the more extraordinary it becomes.
The ball seemed to come alive under his feet, as if it were effortless to control, like an extension of his own body.
To achieve this level, one needs extremely strong ball sense.
And such top-notch ball sense is often innate, not trained.
This is talent, something one can't simply envy!
...
The game continued, and Kortbus, a bit dazed by Lin Quan's goal, became a bit hesitant to attack.
On the other hand, after the score changed, the young players in SV Werder Bremen completely let go of their psychological burden and played better and better.
Especially Lin Quan and De Bruyne.
The two trained together regularly and had a good understanding of each other.
His close collaboration with De Bruyne completely stifled Kortbus's attacks on the left side.
Moreover, because the opponents feared Lin Quan's breakthrough, they deployed heavy defense on the left side, leaving Kortbus's right side defense vulnerable.
Seeing this, Lin Quan didn't indulge in his dribbling display.
In the 65th minute of the game, SV Werder Bremen won the ball in their own half.
After the captain Fritz intercepted the ball, he quickly passed it to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne then passed the ball to Lin Quan.
After receiving the ball, Lin Quan dribbled quickly towards the opponent's half.
Kortbus players saw him with the ball and immediately came to double-team him.
At the same time, the opponent's midfielder and full-back also stood their ground, denying him space to dribble through.
Lin Quan observed the opponent's defensive positions when receiving the ball.
So, after shaking off the first defender, he didn't dribble too much.
After drawing the opponent's players towards him, Lin Quan lifted his foot and passed the ball.
De Bruyne, a future star midfielder with excellent football intelligence, saw the defensive problem and boldly made a run after passing the ball to Lin Quan, reaching the top of the opponent's penalty area.
Seeing his run, Lin Quan mentally praised him.
After dodging another defender's tackle, he made a precise low pass.
De Bruyne received the ball outside the penalty area. The pass was comfortable, with just the right amount of power.
This allowed him to almost shoot without needing to adjust.
So, after observing the goalkeeper's position, De Bruyne decisively took a shot.
Lin Quan had seen De Bruyne's shooting skills before, and this position was similar to where he usually practiced free kicks.
So, after seeing the curve of the ball flying out, Lin Quan felt it was in.
Sure enough, the ball curved beautifully, bypassing the goalkeeper's outstretched fingers and entering the net from the corner of the goal.
De Bruyne scored his first goal for SV Werder Bremen, and Lin Quan got his first assist for the team!
(End of this chapter)
