"Luca, I think we should increase our speed training, and maybe add more free-kick practice too," Bruce suggested on the pitch.
"Is this because you're preparing to play in Scotland?"
"Well, I've thought about it carefully," Luca replied. "I feel like my technical traits might suit developing as a winger more, so when I go to Scotland, I plan to try playing on the flank instead."
Back in the Crystal Palace youth setup, he was always trained as a defensive midfielder.
But ever since he received his talent system, things changed. The two cards he had activated were Speedy Winger (Joaquín) and Curved Blade (Beckham). Both talents fit a winger/attacking midfielder profile, so shifting to the wing made sense.
While he trained on the public pitch, two middle-aged men stood under the shade of the trees outside, quietly observing.
"Why is he training here instead of the club's training ground?"
"No idea. Maybe because it's the holiday period — the academy coaches are probably all on break."
"That kid definitely doesn't lack talent though. His free kicks look very solid now… it's like he's trying to imitate Beckham."
"Well, if he didn't have talent, we wouldn't even be considering offering him a pro contract."
...
When the training session ended, Savic walked over and handed Bruce a bottle of water.
"There were two people watching you train under that tree over there," he said.
Bruce followed the direction Savic pointed toward, but didn't see anyone.
"They've already left," Savic continued. "But I looked closely — one of them looked like your Crystal Palace youth academy director. I swear I've seen him in the papers."
"Stephen Highham?"
Bruce definitely remembered him. He had met Stephen Highham when he signed his professional contract.
According to the sports media, Stephen Highham is considered extremely capable. Crystal Palace's youth academy used to be awful, but after he became the director in 2007, the academy improved a lot, and even produced names like Wilfried Zaha.
But based on Bruce's own experience, he didn't actually feel much improvement in the so-called youth development program. Maybe he was too deep inside it to notice — or maybe he simply wasn't seen as important.
Bruce guessed that Kate had probably informed Crystal Palace that she was seeking a transfer for him, and that was enough to draw Crystal Palace's attention.
However, he didn't expect Higham to personally come here just to watch his training.
The praise Higham got in the media wasn't something he earned for free — at the very least, he genuinely cared about the players in his youth academy.
As for how Higham even knew they were training at this venue, it was most likely Kate Lee who informed him. After all, Kate had never really wanted to go to Scotland to play football.
※※※
July 25, 2010 — Sunday.
A day considered auspicious for weddings, travel, and new beginnings.
On this day, Crystal Palace — a Championship club — officially announced that they would loan 17-year-old Bruce Lee from their youth academy to Dundee United of the Scottish Premiership, on a free loan, primarily for development purposes.
This piece of news attracted almost zero attention.
Every summer, across all levels of English football, thousands of transfer notices are released — far too many for anyone to track. Naturally, barely anyone noticed such a minor loan deal.
At most, a few Crystal Palace fans were surprised to learn that the youth team even had a player named Bruce.
However — many years later — this exact loan will be dug out again and harshly criticized countless times…
because the loan contract contained a buyout clause — but absolutely no buy-back clause.
Sitting in the car on their way to Dundee, a small town in eastern Scotland, Kate drove in the front while Bruce and John Sr. sat in the back.
"I already spoke with the club," John Sr. began. "They were willing to make an offer to sign you if the transfer fee was around £500,000."
"The Crystal Palace management didn't have much of an opinion," he continued, "but then the youth academy director suddenly appeared. That guy is a real bastard. He strongly opposed selling you for £500,000 and insisted they wouldn't accept anything below £1 million. That's how it ended up."
"John, it's okay," Bruce said, trying to calm him. "I just want more playing opportunities. I don't care if it's a loan or a permanent transfer. Besides, there's a buyout clause, right? I could complete the transfer a year later."
"Bruce, you know Dundee United is a small team, and we don't have much transfer money each year," Old John replied, hesitating. "If you don't perform well enough… £1.2 million is basically enough to buy a rotation striker for a Championship team. You have to play like that."
Under Bruce's loan agreement, he joined Dundee United for one season, after which the club has the option to buy him for £1.2 million.
"John, I can take that as you doubting my abilities."
"Of course not. I absolutely believe in you, but you're only 17, after all. You still need time to grow."
The two continued chatting until Kate, who was driving, grew impatient. "You two had better take a break. We'll need someone else to drive in shifts later."
The drive from London to Dundee takes about eight hours. To avoid driver fatigue, they had arranged to take turns behind the wheel.
Finally, Old John stopped nagging, and Bruce seized the opportunity to rest and access the system. He had already activated the second blue card and received a Beckham card.
Crescent Moon Knife (Beckham): Equipping this item grants Beckham's free-kick talent. When the talent card's fusion rate exceeds 50%, free-kick accuracy increases by 20%.
This talent card is actually quite powerful—after all, Beckham's free kicks are world-renowned. However, when bruce activated it, the card's fusion rate was only 16%. Even after a few days of training, it had only risen to 19%. He still needed more practice.
After Kate Lee had driven for three hours, Bruce took over the wheel.
"Kate, I suggest you get a sports agent license," he said, keeping his eyes on the road while Kate sat in the passenger seat. "That way, you'll be better equipped to handle brokerage matters for me in the future."
"I'll seriously consider it," Kate Lee finally replied, her expression still serious.
Actually, this was a suggestion Bruce had made after careful consideration. He believed he would achieve success in the future, and he knew he would definitely need an agent to handle various business matters.
The relationship between agents and players is often mutually beneficial: agents help players succeed, and players, in turn, help their agents succeed.
Since no well-known agent is interested in him at the moment, why not give Kate a chance and let her become his full-time agent in the future? After all, there are quite a few players in the football world who have relatives as their agents. For example, Lionel Messi, one of the most popular football stars in the world today, has his father as his agent.