In fact, what Logan Grant said was simply that he wanted others to talk about him the way they talked about Clark, but as the rumor spread from mouth to mouth, it inevitably got distorted.

So by the time it finally reached Clark's ears, it had turned into “There’s a beginner on the youth team who claims he’s going to defeat him.”

So what about Clark?

What did he think?

Clark shrugged, a gentle smile appearing on his face: “Isn’t it nice to become the goal that others strive for? By the way, for the match against Flamengo, everyone must do their best!”

With that last sentence, he shifted the topic to the Rio–São Paulo Championship, and never gave a second thought to someone wanting to challenge him.

After speaking, he said goodbye to everyone, slung his sports bag over his shoulder, and left.

Watching his figure disappear into the locker room, everyone couldn’t help but marvel at Clark’s poise and charisma.

“No wonder Clark is so popular! He’s so charmingly humble!”

“If it were me, I’d probably have flown into a rage, feeling insulted, right?”

“That’s why Clark is so loved by female fans…”

“Speaking of which, it’s really something to be jealous of! Ninety percent of the screams from those women outside the training ground are for Clark!”

“Isn’t it a hundred percent? Haha!”

“The only flaw is that he’s too shy, especially in front of women… Facing so many female fans, he’s as bashful as a little boy. What a waste! If only those female fans were mine!”

“Keep dreaming, you pervert!”

“Don’t pretend to be so proper. Don’t you want that too?”

“Hahaha!”

In their conversation, they completely forgot about Logan Grant. A beginner on the youth team, an unknown nobody whose name they didn’t even know, really had no place in their hearts.

……

Logan Grant set Clark as his goal to strive for, but he was also well aware of the gap between himself and Clark. He needed to train hard to surpass Clark.

That’s what he thought, what he told Lucas, and what he did.

Training.

Day and night training.

Training at the training base.

Training even after returning home.

Training when everyone else was training.

Training when everyone else had finished and gone home.

Every morning, he would go to a man-made lake park near Gordon’s house and run laps around the lake, then find a patch of grass to practice juggling the ball.

Every night, he would practice juggling on the rooftop terrace of Gordon’s building, under the reflection of the moonlight and starlight.

It took him only a week to master juggling with every part of his body.

The training to get familiar with the ball was finished.

……

The youth team’s warm-up was over, and just as Warren was about to assign training tasks, Logan Grant stepped out from the lineup. To everyone’s surprise, he walked straight up to Warren.

He told Warren that he had already mastered juggling and asked if he could start learning something else.

Warren looked at the skinny Chinese boy in front of him, remembering that he had only joined the team a week ago…

As for whether Logan Grant was lying, he knew very well. Since all the training took place on the same field, all he had to do was glance over to see how Logan Grant was doing. Ever since Logan Grant had shocked everyone on the first day, he had been paying close attention to this beginner from China.

He had seen how Logan Grant juggled now. Watching him, if you told someone that a week ago he didn’t even know you couldn’t use your hands in soccer, hardly anyone would believe it.

This learning ability… truly extraordinary!

When Maurice first told him that Logan Grant was a fast learner, he hadn’t thought much of it.

A fast learner?

How fast could he possibly be?

Being a bit better than the average person doesn’t mean much.

If it takes an average person a year to learn something and you learn it in ten months, that’s not a big deal.

He hadn’t expected Logan Grant’s learning ability to not just be strong… but super strong!

With results like this, Warren couldn’t find any reason to refuse Logan Grant’s request to learn something else.

But Logan Grant’s request still caught him off guard.

“Sir, can I start learning how to shoot?”

That was Logan Grant’s request.

Warren almost reflexively rejected it the moment Logan Grant made the request: “Of course not!”

His response was as quick as a reflex.

The youth team players behind Logan Grant burst into laughter.

As if they had just heard a hilarious joke.

“What a rookie, just learned how to juggle and already wants to learn how to shoot…”

“Hahaha! I’ve never seen anyone so stupid!”

“He thinks soccer is whatever he wants it to be? That you can just learn whatever you want without any order?”

Amid everyone’s ridicule, Lucas rolled his eyes.

Because he remembered the first time he practiced with Logan Grant, Logan Grant had also been eager to learn how to shoot… This guy is really impatient, huh?

Warren glared at the group of youth team players. No matter what, Logan Grant was their teammate, and mocking your own teammate like that was just too rude.