Seeing Messi's surprised expression, Xavi and the others were also taken aback.
"Does he even resemble Messi?"
Xavi asked. "How does it feel? Is his style of play similar to yours?"
Xavi, Iniesta approached Messi and inquired.
Messi nodded earnestly. "It's very similar. One could even argue that his skills are on par with mine!"
This evaluation surprised Xavi Iniesta and the others. Messi had actually praised the other player so highly. "Which team does he play for? He looks familiar," Andres Iniesta asked.
"He's Guardiola's adopted son and a youth training player at Barcelona. He used to play in the youth team but was loaned to the Bundesliga two months ago. Currently, he's playing for Werder Bremen," explained, being the eldest among the three.
Although Lucas might not be well-known to everyone, but being a potential successor to him, Xavi paid close attention on to the younger generation in the youth team.
"Our players? Why don't I remember such a talented winger in our youth team?" Messi questioned suspiciously.
Due to his background, many players in the Barcelona youth training team received significant attention.
Among them, several players like Bojan performed exceptionally well in the youth team but failed to make it to the first team.
"Well, um, he used to play as a defensive midfielder, but he switched to a winger after joining Werder Bremen," Xavi clarified.
Everyone was rendered speechless. Could such a transition be possible? A defensive midfielder and a winger are entirely different positions.
How could he switch like that?
..
Also speechless were Barcelona's sports director Zubizarreta and youth team coach Enrique.
"Did Thomas Schaff actually move him from the defensive midfielder position to the frontcourt as a winger?"
On the TV in front of them, the replay of the warm-up match between Werder Bremen and Cottbus was playing.
Since Lucas came off the bench in the second half, they skipped the first half and started watching directly from the second half.
Upon seeing Lucas, who came off the bench, taking up the winger position instead of the midfielder position, Enrique was stunned.
"Hmph, this shows that Schaaf has vision and knows how to utilize players. Look, this kid is flourishing as a winger. I have a hunch that his value will skyrocket!" Zubizarreta said with certainty.
Realizing that the game was already over, Zubizarreta fast-forwarded directly to the moment when Lucas made a stop, bypassing the opponent's entire defense line and scoring a goal.
"Look at this!"
Enrique was left speechless after witnessing it.
If he had any doubts about Lucas's ability to play as a winger before, those doubts vanished completely in that moment.
The winger position was a perfect fit for him.
Lucas didn't feel out of place in this position; on the contrary, he adapted effortlessly.
This made Enrique start to doubt:
Could it be that he truly didn't understand people well and misjudged their abilities?
"Coach Enrique, I must remind you that Lucas has less than a year left on his contract with the club, and his release clause is only 5 million euros.
Once he delivers such outstanding performances in the Bundesliga, clubs will be lining up to buy him.
Unless the player himself is willing to stay, it will be impossible for us to retain this promising new star!"
Calzada, the director of market operations and marketing, earnestly conveyed this message to Enrique and Zubizarreta.
Calzada didn't understand why they hadn't renewed the contract with Lucas before loaning him out to another team.
Now, while the other party was soaring high, they found themselves in a disadvantageous position regarding the contract.
"Don't be nervous, Manager Calzada.
This was just a warm-up match. The real Bundesliga is completely different from this level of friendly match.
Lucas won't have such an extraordinary performance,"
Zubizarreta tried to reassure him, although he himself felt flustered.
He continued, trying to appear composed, "Once he faces setbacks in the Bundesliga and fails to deliver such outstanding performances, the media and the public won't pay as much attention to him.
That's when we can approach him again, extend an olive branch, and offer him a place as a first-team substitute.
He will surely choose to return to Barcelona and renew his contract with us!
After all, no one can resist the call of Barcelona!"
Although Zubizarreta's words were confident and assertive, nobody present dared to refute them.
Barcelona's accomplishments in recent years were evident.
Since the 2007-2008 season, Barcelona had won the Champions League twice and had never failed to reach the semi-finals.
In La Liga, they had even clinched three consecutive league titles.
Although they missed out on the championship last year, it was merely a temporary setback.
With the strength of the current Barcelona team, nobody doubted their ability to win the Champions League again.
Given their impressive track record and the allure of playing for the Barcelona giants, there was no doubt that their potential suitors would be enticed.
Calzada is convinced, realizing that it was Enrique and Zubizarreta who had arranged for Lucas to be loaned out.
Since the two of them were not in a hurry, he couldn't afford to get angry and rush things.
...
The day after the match, Lucas lay on his bed and activated the system with his mind.
Opening the system's interface, he noticed that the point column, which had previously displayed a 0, now showed a number 1.
As a result of the point change, some items in the system's mall had become available for exchange.
Lucas quickly glanced through them and realized that, apart from an energy drink that could provide a half-hour stamina boost, which caught his attention, the other items were of no use to him.
However, the energy drink required a point to redeem, making it quite expensive for Lucas.
..
With only one point in his possession, Lucas was reluctant to spend it on stamina potions.
Furthermore, since the coach had no intention of starting him, his current level of physical fitness as a substitute was sufficient to handle the game, eliminating the need for such items.
Compared to consumables like stamina potions, Lucas desired top talents and luxurious equipment more.
One talent he particularly coveted was injury immunity, as injuries were the biggest concern for speed players.
When injured, their agility and acceleration greatly diminishes, significantly reducing their threat on the field.
Even though Messi wasn't a speed player per se, his breakthroughs relied on strong acceleration and agility.
When Messi suffered an injury in 2013, his breakthrough ability was noticeably diminished.
If Lucas could obtain the injury immunity talent, he wouldn't have to worry about injuries and could focus more on breaking through opponents, fearlessly competing for 50-50 balls.
However, this top-level talent came at a steep price of 100 points, a stark contrast to Lucas's meager one-point balance.
This realization left Lucas feeling melancholic—there was a significant disparity.
"System, do I only earn one point for every game won?"
If that were the case, he would need to win 100 games.
Even if he counted warm-up matches, cup matches, league matches, and more, it would take at least two or three years of gameplay to accumulate enough points for the talent redemption.
Unless the team's overall performance improved, the timeline for earning points would be further extended.
"Different levels of games offer different point rewards.
Winning a game in one of the top five leagues rewards 2 points."
"Winning a Champions League match rewards 3 points!"
"Winning a World Cup match rewards 5 points!"
"Additionally, the league, Champions League, and World Cup also offer rewards for the Golden Boot and Assist King titles."
"Specifically, the league's Golden Boot offers 20 points, and the Assist King provides 10 points.
The Champions League's Golden Boot offers 30 points, and the Assist King grants 20 points.
As for the World Cup, the Golden Boot rewards 50 points, while the Assist King gives 30 points."
(End of the chapter)