That evening, when Lin Quan returned home and lay down on his bed, he immediately heard the voice of the system:
[Body transformation begins!]
[Required time: Eight hours!]
Without giving Lin Quan any time to consider, a wave of tiredness hit him, and he immediately entered deep sleep.
He slept for a full eight hours. Upon waking up, he felt refreshed and energized.
Had the system completed the body transformation? Lin Quan looked himself up and down, but his height hadn't changed.
He measured himself and found that he was still the same height as before, 1.72 meters.
Previously, he had worried that the system's modifications might make him as tall as Messi, but now it seemed he had been overly concerned.
However, Messi's sharp breakthroughs and dribbles were closely related to his height.
Messi's fast pace, coupled with his natural ball sense, allowed him to touch the ball faster and more frequently than others, enabling him to complete three actions while others could only do two in the same amount of time.
Therefore, by using changes in rhythm, Messi could easily pass most defensive players.
This was Messi's excellence, taking rhythm changes to the extreme.
A unique move, omnipotent, but you just couldn't do anything about it.
You knew he was going to pass you, but your body couldn't keep up with your mind, leading to moments like Boateng tripping over himself.
Therefore, Lin Quan was very worried that an increase in height might affect his breakthroughs, dribbling, and other skills.
Was a 1.72-meter Messi still Messi?
No, he had to try it on the field!
So Lin Quan eagerly hugged the football, rode his bike, and rushed to the football field.
"Why is this kid up so early? Isn't the youth team training supposed to start at nine-thirty? It's not even six-thirty yet!" Seeing Lin Quan speeding away, Serra said with some confusion to Guardiola.
Guardiola pondered. He remembered his conversation with Lin Quan yesterday.
The kid was growing up and had his own ideas now. Training seriously at this time might be preparing him to leave Barcelona.
Thinking about this, Guardiola decided to use his connections to help Lin Quan find a good team.
If he really wanted to leave Barcelona, he should at least be sent to a better team to avoid delaying his professional career.
...
Lin Quan arrived very early. Apart from the security guards at the training base, there was no one else.
After greeting the security guard, Lin Quan eagerly rushed into the training ground and started practicing with the ball.
He really wanted to experience what Messi's style of playing football felt like.
Before touching the ball, Lin Quan didn't notice anything unusual.
But when the ball came to his feet, he immediately felt the difference.
He clearly felt that his pace was much faster than usual. If he used to take two steps per second, now he could take at least three or even four steps!
Apart from the faster pace, he also felt that his ball sense had improved a lot.
After receiving the ball, it was as if the football was stuck to his feet. With every touch, he could accurately control the ball within half a meter of his body!
What did this distance mean? As a midfielder, he knew better than anyone else!
When Messi dribbled, it was difficult to steal the ball from him.
One reason was his fast ball touch frequency, almost one step per ball, allowing him to flick the ball away before the opponent touched it.
The second reason was his excellent ball sense. Each time the ball left his body, it was well controlled, making it difficult for defenders to steal the ball within that distance.
So, the best way to deal with Messi was simple: don't let the ball reach his feet!
After some experimentation, Lin Quan was pleasantly surprised.
The system this time was unexpectedly reliable, truly replicating Messi's attributes onto himself!
Next, he tried several of Messi's signature dribbling moves, such as chip dribbling, inside-outside foot dribbling, stop-turn, fried meatballs, continuous feint shots, and other techniques.
These moves were not exclusive to Messi, but because of his excellent ball sense and fast touch frequency, when using these moves, he posed a greater threat than other players.
"Hey, Lin, why are you here so early?"
After practicing on the field for an hour, Lin Quan went to the cafeteria for breakfast and took a shower in the locker room. Only then did Deulofeu and the others finally arrive.
Seeing Lin Quan practicing alone on the field, Deulofeu felt somewhat surprised.
This guy wasn't particularly hardworking in his impression, why did he come so early today?
Seeing him sweating profusely, it was obvious that he had been training for a long time.
"I want to play for the first team!"
Facing Deulofeu's question, Lin Quan replied earnestly.
"Ah, are you kidding me? You're only sixteen this year, not even seventeen yet. How could you establish yourself in the first team at this age?"
Deulofeu had once come on as a substitute in the 11th round of last year's La Liga match, when Barcelona beat Mallorca 5-0.
But when he came on, the score was already 4-0, and Messi had scored three goals in the first thirty minutes, effectively killing the suspense of the game.
So Guardiola sent him on to feel the atmosphere and to train the young players.
But during the few dozen minutes he was on the field, he keenly felt the huge gap in strength between the first team and the youth team.
This made Deulofeu deeply realize that his abilities were still lacking.
He still needed to work hard to improve his football skills and strength, otherwise he would not be able to establish himself in the first team.
Deulofeu was a year and a half older than Lin Quan, and he felt that if he couldn't establish himself in the first team, Lin Quan, who was younger and thinner, would be even less likely.
"Of course, I'm not joking, and I didn't say I had to stay at Barcelona! "
"You want to leave Barcelona?"
Deulofeu was startled. Players who came to La Masia all dreamed of staying here and dreamed of one day stepping onto the Camp Nou to play.
But Lin Quan, a true-born Barcelona person, actually wanted to leave Barcelona, which surprised him greatly.
"Of course, if I don't leave Barcelona, how can I play for the first team? Besides, La Masia youth players are in high demand outside, and there's no shortage of teams wanting them!"
"I think you should consider it too, if you don't insist on staying at Barcelona!"
Deulofeu vaguely remembered his struggling days at Barcelona last year, coming in and out several times, but ultimately failing to make it.
So Lin Quan reminded his good friend. Whether he listened or not was not something he could decide.
It was like someone dreaming of playing for Real Madrid since childhood. With Barcelona's increasingly glorious results, many young players had dreams of playing for Barcelona, dreaming of playing for Barcelona one day.
Deulofeu was one of them.
At this moment, the coaches of the youth team approached, waving for the players to go and move equipment, preparing for today's training.
Five days later, they will travel to challenge Almeria, the seventh-placed team on the Segunda División standings, while Barcelona's youth team ranks eighth.
Although they are only one place apart, the opponent has 14 more points than them, indicating a significantly stronger strength.
However, the team has suffered two consecutive defeats, and even suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Celta Vigo in the last match, which embarrassed the Barcelona club.
Therefore, the club has given them a strict order: they must win against Almeria no matter what, ending the two-game losing streak.
This has put immense pressure on the coaching staff of the youth team, and they highly value the upcoming match.
As a result, they plan to hold an intra-squad scrimmage, taking the best-performing players to participate in the away game.
Such scrimmages have been conducted before. Lin Quan, as the team's main defensive midfielder, usually wears the symbolic blue jersey reserved for the starters.
But today, the assistant coach of the team gave him a substitute's yellow jersey.
What does this mean? Lin Quan looked towards the head coach of the youth team, Enrique, only to see him chatting with the club president Rosell, with a flattering expression on his face.
Is Rosell up to something?