4 Assessment

Xavi glanced at the boy before putting a few cones on the grass and then tossed a ball toward the young man.

He nodded, understanding his intent, and began to roll the ball.

Xavi on the side started his timer and observed the young footballer with eyes that seemed similar to a hawk.

"Stop,"

He called out as he switched his stopwatch. The kid had completed the drill rather fast. It had not broken the top record for the drill... which was currently held by Cryuff in Barcelona... however he still had a lot of potential.

The boy was keeping it real as he passed by the cones thinking of them as live, conscious defenders. This was a tick, in his notepad.

His speed was rightly controlled and he was consciously able to think in which direction he wants to approach from and which space he wants to head toward. This was a double tick in his notepad. Fast thinking and adapting skills were the most crucial in the game.

Many say, do not think... but that is absolutely wrong. One needs to be in a flow state and think while playing... not think and then play. Hence fast thinking and good impulse are extremely necessary.

He was able to think about the distance between him and the cone when initiating the skill. A tick. He was able to think of the speed requires to pass through, another tick.

Before Xavi knew it, all the boxes were filled. The boy was a gem. A smile crept onto his face as he nodded.

A few workers went towards the field and set nine goalposts at different directions and long distances. Three normal-sized, three mini-ones inside the former, and three mini-goals behind the normal-sized ones.

"Now we shall test your shooting skills. There are nine goals and you have 12 chances. Each goal post is worth 5 points, the mini-posts inside are worth a whopping 50 points, and last but not least, the mini-posts behind are worth 100 points. Shall we begin?"

Storm looked at the surroundings as if calculating something in his mind before nodding.

Xavi's eyes twinkled as he observed Storm. He was rather excited to see how the passes would go and if the latter would surprise him again.

A worker set up a ball before his foot. Storm took a few steps back before rushing toward the ball with precise movement and perfect form.

The ball instantly connected with the bottom of his studs before flying past the air, beautifully curving into a goal.

"Five points."

Xavi looked at the kid. A little bit of a metallic taste crept into his mouth. Disappointment? He was not sure. Although he would not lie, the form, the speed, and the accuracy of the ball was flawless.

However... why did he aim at the five-pointers?

A smile crept onto Storm's visage. The next thing he did, shocked Xavi to the core as the familiar amused smile deepened.

This time the kid had his eyes closed, he took a few steps back, and BOOM! A trivela that swooped right into a goal.

Now the total tally was ten points and only ten passes remained.

The boy took a few steps back.... and BOOM! A knuckleball that fell into the mini-goal on the right-hand side.

"Total, 60 points."

The smirk on his face deepened as he took a few steps back as a worker placed a ball on the ground.

Everyone was quiet, looking at the new player expectantly. All of them were curious as to what he would show them next.

-and he certainly did not disappoint.

A goal right into the mini post behind the normal-sized goal post on the left-hand side.

Xavi looked at the boy that had his eyes shut. He did this with them closed while having no familiarity with the stadium. Just one look at the posts at the start of the assessment.

He realized immediately, the first shoot was just to test the waters, and with just one pass... he had calculated everything he needed for every possibility of a goal.

What a.... monster.

"Total... 160 points, 8 chances remaining."

Fifth...

Sixth...

Seventh...

....

.....

Twelfth...

By now the kid had 960 points. Just 40 short of 1000 and what maybe could have been 1200 points.

After all the attempts. Storm walked towards Xavi as he smiled.

"What's the next assessment?"

Xavi put a hand on his chin. They walked towards the touchline. The legendary player placed a water bottle at one end as jogged towards the start.

"Next, your passes need to be in either a straight line or effectively curve and touch the water bottle without it toppling down."

Xavi had raised the bars to something superhuman. He wondered if Storm could do this. He wouldn't even blame him if it was not possible. After all, it truly is a feat that cannot be accomplished

Xavi had already decided to bring him to the team as a substitute. He had seen all the technical, fitness, and live game skills of the player and he was extremely satisfied with them.

The boy was already at a high level. If he had to give him a fifa rating, it would probably be 89 at the moment with his potential being 97 probably.

That was already at the top of most players. Experience against world-class players would grow his rating even further.

Even he had never seen a defender in a game scoring so many goals and assists.

The kid controlled the game rather than actually defending because the strikers had not even gotten a chance with the ball due to Storm's excellent trapping skills that somehow made the players on his team head to the position he desired them to go before passing to them calculated passes for maximum efficiency.

The boy was a natural egoist and a playmaker.

"You have three chances."

Storm nodded, he took the ball tossed to him by a worker before setting it at the line.

*Swoosh!*

A beautiful instep pass that traveled precisely across the line before knocking out the bottle. Xavi wondered if the kid was testing the water again but then shook his head. It was virtually impossible.

If you pass the ball too slowly, it has a high chance of drifting away from the line and if it is too fast then the bottle is to get knocked out for sure... and if real life is taken into account and if the ball is in between too slow and too fast, it is ideal... but also easier for a defender to steal the ball.

Hence why, impossible? A bottle was not like the leg of a good footballer who could control the pass he received at a fast pace.

It would break the laws of physics which require both sides to have equal force for the resultant to be zero so that the ball becomes static... hence the bottle would fall no matter what.

Xavi's thought process was not disappointed. Storm passed rather well however all of those passes made the bottle fall, he attempted a slow pass which did go in line, and just touched a bottle.... that was amazing in itself however, that was not what Xavi was looking for.

Slow passes are detrimental and a player can easily swoop in to steal it. Despite everything, Xavi was overall extremely pleased.

He had gotten a powerhouse player and he was going to use him well.

Xavi walked towards Storm and held his hand forward. Storm smiled as he understood his intent, he shook Xavi's hands. A tight-grip handshake.

"Congratulations Storm... and welcome to Barcelona."

The kid smiled as he shook the hand of one of the greatest players to ever exist.

"Oh, fo sho."