Chapter 245 - 65: The Wang Shuo Effect! New Skill: Inverted Foot! A Grand Dream to Crush the Two-Footed Monsters of the Bundesliga

"He’s now Dortmund’s sports performance specialist."

Wang Shuo remembered Klopp mentioning it before, but he hadn’t paid any mind to it.

He had to admit, Klopp had some serious resources to work with now.

After jumping from the small pond of Mainz to the great lake of Dortmund, the resources at his disposal had clearly increased.

Before, the fitness coach at Mainz was practically an amateur who was just filling in part-time.

And at Dortmund?

Bartlett was a national-team-level specialist, and Professor Schrenberg was a famous academic expert.

It would have been practically impossible to hire them at Mainz.

’But can they really solve Klopp Syndrome?’

...

When the coaching staff arrived to report for duty, Wang Shuo met Professor Andreas Schrenberg.

He was surprisingly young, only forty-three years old.

But Buvac said he was a very, very experienced specialist.

Since 2007, he had been in charge of nearly every German national youth team, all the way up to the senior squad.

Now, he was taking on a part-time role at Dortmund.

This was possible because he was friends with Klopp, and Dortmund President Laubal was also the Vice President of the German Football Association.

Without those two connections, they couldn’t have dreamed of hiring him.

Wang Shuo also saw another fitness coach, Florian Wanger, who was from Hamburg and born in the 80s.

After taking over at Dortmund, Klopp had adopted a dual assistant coach model.

One was Zeliko Buvac, who was in charge of training, and the other was Peter Krawietz, responsible for data analysis.

They were all old acquaintances, so Wang Shuo naturally exchanged some pleasantries upon seeing them.

Klopp, meanwhile, gave Wang Shuo a serious talk.

"This season, you are incredibly important to us. In fact, I’m pinning all the team’s hopes for scoring goals and winning games right on you."

Klopp looked at Wang Shuo, his expression grave. "So, Wang, you have to listen to me. Do not get injured, understand?"

"Don’t you worry. I’m going to have them tailor a training regimen and a physical conditioning program just for you."

Of course, Wang Shuo agreed.

Dortmund’s new season wouldn’t begin with the Bundesliga or the DFB-Pokal.

Instead, it would start with the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.

Starting with the new season, UEFA had reformed the old UEFA Cup, rebranding it as the UEFA Europa League.

As the sixth-place finisher in the Bundesliga and a replacement entry into the UEFA Europa League, Dortmund had to play in the third qualifying round.

The draw had not yet taken place.

There was also another rather important match on the calendar. In late August, Dortmund had invited Real Madrid to Westfalen Stadium for a friendly to commemorate the club’s centennial celebration.

It was a friendly match meant to please the fans.

Dortmund had paid a fee to invite Real Madrid for the match.

After Real Madrid went on a signing spree, bringing in stars like Kaka, Ronaldo, Benzema, and Harvey Alonso, their overall strength had skyrocketed.

Dortmund basically stood little chance of winning.

’But at the very least, they can’t afford an embarrassing loss at home, can they?’

It was for the club’s hundredth birthday celebration, after all.

So, the pressure on Dortmund was quite high at the start of the new season.

As for what kind of tactics Klopp planned to use, Wang Shuo wasn’t entirely sure.

...

After finishing his extra training for the morning, Wang Shuo showered, changed his clothes, and headed out. He then saw a BMW parked in the shade of a tree by the road to the training ground.

Leaning against the BMW was a tall, blonde beauty. She wore a pair of tight jeans that perfectly accentuated her impossibly long legs.

Although she was wearing sunglasses, her aura was undeniable.

The moment Wang Shuo saw those long legs, he immediately thought of Lina Gerk.

"What about your phone?"

Seeing Wang Shuo walk out, Lina Gerk took off her sunglasses and came forward to meet him.

Wang Shuo pulled his phone from his pocket. It was on silent.

"You know, this iPhone has a one-touch mute switch. When I’m training, I just..."

His voice trailed off as even he felt the excuse was flimsy.

"What brings you here?"

"I had something to do nearby, and I heard you moved into a new house, so I came to see if you needed any help."

"So you already went there?"

"I did. Thomas gave me the address, but the door was locked, so I figured you were here."

Wang Shuo just said, "Oh."

"Come on, get in. Let’s go home."

’Let’s... go home...’

The words sounded a bit strange to Wang Shuo, but he got in the passenger seat anyway.

"So, you’re learning to drive?"

"Yeah. They gave me two cars, but I don’t know how to drive yet."

"What kind of cars?"

"A Cayenne and a Panamera."

"The Panamera is gorgeous. Let me borrow it for a while."

"Sure. I’ll give them a call."

"But I heard that sponsored cars can only be used by family members, right?"

As she said this, Lina Gerk snuck a glance at Wang Shuo. When she saw him looking a bit flustered, she smiled to herself.

"Never mind. I’ll just stick to my BMW."

All Wang Shuo could do was chuckle awkwardly.

Lina Gerk’s career was still mainly focused in Austria; she was just starting to build it up in Germany.

She had debuted after appearing on a model search show hosted by Heidi Krumm, so she was signed to Krumm’s agency, with Heidi Krumm’s own father acting as her agent.

The drive was just over four kilometers, so they arrived quickly.

Wang Shuo was renting a modest, two-story house.

It was quite spacious for a young couple, with enough room for a child at most.

After stepping inside, Lina Gerk seemed quite satisfied with the house.

The only issue was the lack of furniture, which made it feel cold and empty.

Lina Gerk wandered around for a bit before returning to the downstairs living room.