章 233: A Journey Begins
Aldrich and De Rossi sat by the roadside, chatting while holding bottles of mineral water.
De Rossi shared with Aldrich that originally this summer, he planned to try out for a local amateur club in Rome, hoping to kickstart his professional career there.
Aldrich fervently shook his head, stating with conviction, "Although you'll just be turning 14 this summer, getting proper training early on will greatly impact your future. The training systems of amateur clubs and professional clubs are completely different."
Ultimately, he was worried that De Rossi might backtrack, as his words subtly hinted: going to Millwall is truly the best choice!
They waited on the street for nearly three hours. Just as dusk was settling in, a young man approached from a distance, carrying Aldrich's travel bag. He walked up to De Rossi, tossed the bag to him, greeted him, and turned to leave.
"Is this yours?"
De Rossi handed the travel bag back to Aldrich, who nodded in response.
As Aldrich opened the bag, he noticed that his neatly packed clothes had been rummaged through. His important documents were untouched in their compartment, but he couldn't find his wallet.
"Is your wallet valuable?" De Rossi asked.
Hearing De Rossi's question, Aldrich suddenly realized that his wallet was indeed branded and quite pricey.
He sighed, not so much for the wallet, but because it contained an old family photo taken when he was eleven, back when he lived in an old house in East London.
The camera that was supposed to be inside the travel bag was also missing, leaving only the film behind.
How considerate of those robbers to return all the things that had no value.
Aldrich hoisted the travel bag, turned to De Rossi, and said, "I need to head to the bank for a bit. You go on home; I know where you live. I'll catch a ride over later."
De Rossi nodded, wanting to get home to inform his father about his decision.
They parted ways temporarily.
While Aldrich lost his wallet, he still had his documents, and since they were in Rome, he knew that his bank had a local branch, making it easy for him to replace the card and withdraw some cash.
By the time he completed these errands, it was already 7 PM. He took a ride to De Rossi's house.
As he stepped out of the car, he overheard an argument between De Rossi and his father, which made Aldrich uneasy.
De Rossi was standing at the threshold, half of his body out the door, with his father firmly gripping his travel bag and an angry expression on his face.
"Rome, Rome, you always say my future belongs to Rome! But I'm about to turn 14, and has any coach from the Roma ever invited me? No! Don't impose your loyalty onto me!"
"No, no, no, you will get noticed by Rome, you absolutely will! Even if you don't want to play for an amateur team, you don't have to go to England!"
"Why not? Mr. Hall has pursued me for two years, and his sincerity touches me far more than your claims about Rome! Today he even got robbed while coming to find me!"
Old De Rossi was momentarily stunned, suddenly noticing Aldrich standing off to the side.
Aldrich felt awkward, like an intruder intruding on a family dispute.
He stepped forward and said to young De Rossi, "Daniele, let's cool down. Your father has your best interests at heart; let's all talk it out calmly."
Father and son both eased up a bit and invited Aldrich inside.
Old De Rossi wore a troubled expression as his gaze shifted uncomfortably between Aldrich and his son.
From time to time, he glanced at his son, whose countenance was cold and defiant.
"Mr. Hall, why do you value my son so much?"
Setting aside his fatherly background, Old De Rossi didn't think his son had any extraordinary talent.
This was common; many superstar players don't show their immense talents from the moment they start playing.
Some players might only reach a significant level at 15 or 17, quickly gaining fame, especially those who don't shine with foot skills. In contrast, Latin players, or those with a focus on footwork, often gain recognition sooner, like many South American players or Joe Cole from Millwall's youth team.
Most young players who become famous do so because of their natural talent and technical abilities.
Players like Nedved and Ballack only begin to show how remarkable they are after a comprehensive assessment of their abilities, but before turning 18, they often seem rather unremarkable.
De Rossi was among those players; his foot skills were not flashy, his physique still developing, and he lacked the ability to read the game—his prominent traits were not so obvious.
Aldrich had half lied about what he told De Rossi earlier.
He indeed had footage of De Rossi playing for a local community team in Rome, but only watching 12- or 13-year-old De Rossi play wouldn't lead many coaches to see him as anything special.
For this reason, even though Old De Rossi was a player for Roma, the lower-tier youth teams hadn't opened their doors for young De Rossi yet.
Italy's youth training system is relatively well-structured, partly due to their restrictions on foreign players. For example, Juventus has 11 teams across various age groups beneath their senior team, Inter Milan has 10, and Roma has 8!
Young players in the U14 and U16 teams, if they display exceptional skill and ball control early on, will get snatched up by lower-tier youth teams.
Of course, Roma has teams for De Rossi's age group, but the youth team currently isn't interested in him.
He'll only be noticed by Roma's youth teams when he grows a bit older and showcases better comprehensive skills than his peers.
Now, those "gifted players" his age don't really stand out, and as talented as they may seem, they tend to focus too much on their foot skills, neglecting other aspects of their development. As they grow up, they may continue to play well but end up playing static football. In the competitive environment of senior team games, these players often have minimal ball touches because what is needed is not exceptional foot skills but a better understanding of positioning and body dueling to stand out in overall competency.
It's like street soccer performers can showcase dazzling "ball playing" skills, but can they play professional soccer? Probably not, as they may struggle to protect themselves and could get injured after just a few matches.
"Mr. De Rossi, are you familiar with Millwall?"
Aldrich fell silent for a moment; he didn't want to comment too much on the talent of young De Rossi, as it would sound insincere, especially if asked specific details later, wherein he would have no answer.
Should he say that De Rossi's football skills are more impressive?
Or that his physical attributes are superior?
Or something else?
No matter which aspect he emphasized, there were plenty of youths outperforming De Rossi.
Old De Rossi nodded, "Two years ago, I started paying attention to Millwall, and you've achieved quite an impressive record."
Aldrich waved his hand, "No, you misunderstood. I'm not bragging about my achievements; I just want to ask, now that you have some knowledge about Millwall, what do you think of the talents of Nedved, Ballack, and Lampard?"
Old De Rossi frowned. These three players came from different countries but didn't have standout playing styles.
This meant that their skills in defense, organization, and attack, when compared individually, had peers who surpass them if we were to rate out of ten. They might have an average score of 8, but not one of them would achieve a perfect score in any category.
Yet, precisely such players made Millwall's midfield extraordinarily strong, excelling in both attacking and defensive aspects.
Moreover, all three had foot skills that certainly weren't dazzling.
Seeing the silence from Old De Rossi, Aldrich knew he began to grasp the point he wanted to make.
"To other coaches, their talents might be rated just fine before their achievements, but to me, they are geniuses and future templates for football players. At least at Millwall, two players have already proven their worth. You can say Nedved plays without flair, but no one can deny his significance to the team. You can say Ballack sometimes goes unnoticed in midfield, but he has truly strengthened my team's midfield. Here, 14-year-old De Rossi seems no different than other kids, but in my eyes, he has the potential to become a core player for a team—a key figure who is indispensable. Thus, I want to take him to London, train him personally, and help him discover potential that hasn't been uncovered yet."
Old De Rossi closed his eyes in contemplation. After a while, he opened them to look at his son, who stood defiantly with his chin raised.
"Well, let him go to Millwall for training."
Old De Rossi's plan likely involved letting his son receive football training and return to Roma once he completed it.
Aldrich could guess Old De Rossi's thoughts but chose not to confront him about it.
When De Rossi turns 16, Millwall would offer him a professional contract directly. Even if Italian clubs showed interest, they couldn't sign him for a professional contract until he was 16. By the time De Rossi turned 18, he would have already spent four years in London, and loyalty must be mutual. A player's loyalty to a club should be matched by the club's sincerity to the player.
As the saying goes, "A gentleman treats a gentleman with respect."
Old De Rossi showed a keen interest in the three players Aldrich mentioned and invited him to stay overnight at their place, leading to a deep discussion on the topic.
Aldrich elaborated on the notion of "blurring and diversifying player roles," a trend for football's future.
The next morning, Aldrich and young De Rossi left Rome together.
Both carrying travel bags, they set off as companions.
Now that young De Rossi had no trials to attend, and Aldrich was alone, he decided to take the kid along on his journey.
With players like Van der Meyde, Gudjohnsen, Klose, and now De Rossi by his side, Aldrich felt confident and buoyant as he traveled during the summer, enjoying every success along the way.
He eagerly continued to scout for more promising stars from Italy.
However, after a week of setbacks, Aldrich faced constant rejections and discouragement.
Sitting on the train to Florence, he rested his chin on his hand, sighing deeply.
De Rossi sipped his juice and, seeing Aldrich being hit hard, couldn't help but take a jab: "Haha, those clubs aren't even paying attention to you!"
Aldrich rubbed his temples and sighed, "It's entirely expected. I was mentally prepared for this before I came; it's just the contrast is too stark."
In reality, Aldrich had been visiting top-tier clubs in Italy over the past week.
His target players weren't amateurs.
Yet they were all quite young.
During this period, Italy had many outstanding young players. Old Maldini's Italian youth team won three consecutive European Championships, with players from the 92, 94, and 96 generations, many of whom would shine on elite stages in the following fifteen years. These players were spread across top-tier or prestigious clubs in Italy. Aldrich had been too ambitious in trying to recruit from these teams, leading to constant failures.
But not every team was unwilling to let players go; they simply asked for exorbitant fees.
For instance, the deal with Pirlo selling to Millwall for over a million pounds was deemed a pretty good business for Brescia at the time since they were in a position to profit. Even though it was a high-profile transfer, it wasn't considered excessively expensive in 1995 since Pirlo was exceptionally young and had yet to prove himself.
However, two years later, everyone thought Brescia had made a grave mistake; a player sold for just over a million pounds suddenly had his price tag skyrocket by at least five times.
Thus, when Aldrich engaged with top clubs in Italy, their asking prices started at no less than three million pounds for players they were willing to sell.
If it were Nesta or Buffon for three million, Aldrich would absolutely pay up, but it wasn't likely they would sell. Even if they did, Aldrich would have to pay seven to eight times that amount.
What £3 million can buy is usually players with little to no future like Barambila and Satero. Come on, Aldridge would rather take the money and enjoy life. At least he knew it was money well spent.
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