First Session

"The coach is here."

Some whispers spread between the young players as most finished their pre-training routine to acknowledge coach Seb's presence.

"Who's that behind him?"

"I don't think he's a newly promoted player from the U15 team, I played there until last season, and I don't know him."

"He looks like a model."

"I also look like a model."

"In your dreams."

They were quietly talking about Lukas who was walking behind coach Seb. 

Lukas scanned the players and the field.

"Hmmm.. I see a couple future Die Mannschaft players. It's really fun to see them at the starting point of their careers."

"Alright, guys, listen up." Coach Seb called the players' attention to himself.

He then stopped walking, turned around, and pointed to Lukas.

"This is Lukas Brandt. He will be training with us for the next 2 weeks. Let's all be cordial. But remain competitive though. Got it?"

"Yes coach." A few players responded while some moved their gaze to Lukas who was still looking across the players on the field. He was making a mental note of who was who.

"Hey Lukas, my name's Christian. It's nice to meet you." A tall, slim boy, with brown hair and eyes stretched his hands and gave Lukas a handshake.

"Hi Christian, it's nice to meet you." Lukas responded with a smile.

"Where are you from?" Christian asked.

"Darmstadt."

"Oh that's not too far from here."

The two boys chatted for a while. Christian, a Germany and Kosovo citizen, was the captain of the Eintracht Frankfurt U17 team. He was also a member of the German U17 squad having played a couple of international games for Germany.

"Alright Christian, do the talking later, let's see what the new guy's about." An assistant coach said as he walked up to where Lukas and Christian were chatting.

The training started with regular warmups—a light jogging and stretching session—then moved on to technical drills.

Two-touch passing.

Cone weave dribbling.

1v1 duel drills.

Ball control under pressure.

As the technical drills went on, a prevailing face of shock was appearing on the faces of everyone on the field.

"What is he doing in the U17? Why is he training with us? Is the club trying to show off their new wonderkid?"

These thoughts were in the mind of some players on the pitch who found it ridiculous how easy Lukas made these drills look.

In the 1v1 dribbling drill with Niklas—a centre back—Lukas slowly carried the ball towards the defender as Niklas crouched down, his eyes fixed on the ball.

A quick short stepover, and Niklas threw his left foot in, thinking he had read the pass.

Lukas moved the ball quickly from his right foot to his left—La Croqueta—as he rode past the challenge like it wasn't even there.

One look up, and a laser shot right through the legs of the goalkeeper.

"His movement is so effective. It's impressive to watch. I don't know how much they'll let me keep him here though." Coach Sebastian thought as he watched the sequence.

Javi who was watching with Marco from outside the pitch couldn't believe his eyes. It felt like he was watching a completely different player. But he had a big smile on his face.

"Wow, he looks like he has gotten even better from the last time I saw him." Marco said as he watched Lukas weave through the cones—the ball almost glued to his foot.

"He really is my son." Javi responded.

FWEEEE*

Coach Seb's whistle blew to stop the drills.

"Alright boys, we'll be playing 11v11, full court. You know how you normally form your teams. Side A will put on the bib."

The players formed their team almost immediately, with Lukas standing on the sidelines.

"Come join my team." Christian said to Lukas.

"Who will you tell to leave for me to join? That would be rude. I will wait for the coach to sub me in. Don't worry if I play against you, I promise to go easy." Lukas said with a grin.

"Hahaha! Look at this guy. Alright then, I'll be waiting." Christian laughed as he walked back to his teammates.

Coach Seb gave both teams some tactical instructions before blowing the whistle to start the match—he was also the referee.

Lukas watched from the sidelines as the ball zipped through the field. Side A—Christian's side— had the ball, and it was immediately visible why he was the captain of the team.

Christian was playing as a centre midfielder and was single-handedly dictating the tempo of the game,

"So he has always had this style of play. Seeing him this composed with the ball even from a young age is so impressive."

Lukas knew Christian as he went on to play for Germany senior team in Lukas' previous life. He was known for his composure on the ball and his ability to pick out passes from deep in the midfield.

And although it was still early in his career, flashes of the player he will grow up to become were already showing.

As Lukas was still reminiscing, a play unfolded.

Christian won the ball in the midfield, and started a run into the right midfield of side B. He had a quick one-two with the right winger before placing a through ball to Keziah—a centre forward.

Goal.

"Nice! That's what I like to see!" Coach Seb said as he blew his whistle.

"Lukas, you'll come in for Phillip."

Lukas took off his bib as he walked onto the pitch to replace Philip Buchta who was subbed off. He was in team B, and slotted right into the midfield.

And immediately, the game changed.

Team A had been in control of the game from the start, but one man was now running the show.

Lukas.

He received a pass from Shayan Ahmadi—the defensive midfielder—and before the ball got to him, he could feel Christian hounding down on him.

He let the ball roll through his legs — and Christian's — before turning.

"Damn it." Christian thought as he turned to give chase. But Lukas was long gone.

He was blazing through the midfield.

He looked up and around him, and saw a centre back from side A readying to tackle him.

Lukas stepped over the ball once, then twice. Then faked a third step over as he played the ball with the outside of his left foot through the legs of the defender.

Perfectly weighted pass to find the side B striker.

The net rippled.

"Wow. Bursting out the skills already huh?" Christian commented as he nudged Lukas.

"I'm keeping my promise to you."

"Yeah right."

FWEEE*

The match resumed.

As the game went on, Lukas was moving higher and higher up the pitch.

He would appear in the left wing to relieve pressure on the winger, and then be involved in a one-two combination with the attacking midfielder outside the D.

The game was tied 1-1, with 35 out of 40 minutes played.

Lukas wasn't actively trying to score , in fact, he hadn't had a shot on goal throughout the game.

And his lack of shots was starting to seem like his weakness to the academy players.

They were starting to get relieved that he wasn't as good in shooting as he was in keeping possession.

Because throughout the game, he hadn't misplaced a single pass yet.

But they all had the wrong idea. He wasn't shooting, not because he couldn't—he was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

And when the perfect moment presented itself.

He struck.

The play started from deep in side B's half.

Lukas had dropped deep to help break up an attacking play from side A. He blocked a shot and the ball ricocheted outward.

The ball fell to the left winger who took a few touches to get it under control. The number of touches, however, gave the defensive players of side A some time to regroup and stop a counterattack from happening.

Lukas though, saw the opening.

He screamed for the ball as he took off down the middle of the pitch.

He got to the halfway line before the ball was launched towards him by the winger.

He looked back, saw the ball flying towards him. Looked forward, saw two defenders blocking his path. And by his side, Christian was ready to intercept the pass. He had stayed back during that particular attacking play.

Lukas jumped and brought the ball down with his chest.

From his chest, to his thighs, then his foot.

The ball didn't touch the ground before Christian lunged at him.

He flicked it up, and jumped with the ball to avoid the tackle. Trapped the ball. And took off.

A quick step over, beat the first defender as he faced the last defender between him and the goalkeeper.

The defender was backpedaling, waiting for support. But Lukas already saw the play he was about to execute.

With the ball glued to his feet, Lukas moved left, then right, then left again, before cutting back to his right foot.

They were already at the edge of the 18-yard box of side A when the defender decided to gamble on where Lukas was gonna move next.

He bet left.

But he bet wrong.

Lukas didn't move back to his left as he slowed in his track.

The defender lunged in, and met the air.

Lukas was now staring at the goalkeeper as he gave him the eye, and rolled the ball to the bottom left corner.

"Wow." Christian had his hands on his hip as he stared at Lukas who had a big smile on his face.

"We have a gem in our hands huh?" Sebastian thought as he watched the whole play develop in real time.

"He should be in the club as soon as possible."