Chapter 808: Information About Sead Kolasinac & Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

"Sead Kolasinac and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar?" Kumiko blinked her eyes repeatedly, wondering if her ears didn’t deceive her. "Of course, I know them. Their names might not be the biggest in their position, but they both are solid players in their prime, especially for Schalke. Why? They are coming back?"

Her tone suggested that the girl was just playing around here, but when the girl saw no hint of jokes in Higo’s eyes, she couldn’t help but feel startled.

"Wait, really? I mean, seriously?"

"At least, that was what Sensei said during the meeting." Higo shrugged. "Those two are clearly important enough for some guys like Fabian and Hofmann to react quite strongly, but I just want to know if there would be a problem with their arrival, especially Kolasinac. I mean, he will be an important part of the defensive line, right?"

"Well... If you say so..." Kumiko pondered for a moment before finally opening her laptop.

It was the night after the very first day of the pre-season, and right now, Higo had already found himself sitting on the couch with his shoulder being compressed with ice. While before, he always felt like he was ready to play again, once the training session began, the boy finally realized why he was still not allowed to go for the goalkeeping practice.

He just practiced with his feet today, and his hands didn’t even touch the ball, for God’s sake, and yet, right now, Higo felt the throbbing pain starting to spread on the lower part of his right shoulder. Not much that would put him straight to the hospital again, but still enough to cause discomfort.

That was why, the moment he was back in his flat again, the boy decided to compress his shoulder with ice, wanting to get that part to recover as quickly as possible.

’Yeah, to think that I want to insist on a goalkeeping training immediately... Sakura-san sure is right here; I am not the one who knows my body the best.’ Higo could feel the corner of his lips twitching sardonically.

Of course, while letting his shoulders relax, that didn’t mean Higo would slack off. He remembered quite well the two names that caused ripples on the team, and, curious, the boy decided to ask Kumiko for help to research them.

For the next thirty minutes, the only thing that could be heard was just the sound of Kumiko’s fingers dancing on the keyboard of her laptop as she was doing her work. Meanwhile, Higo was busy playing with his phone, scrolling through his social media to waste his time.

As for Sakura herself... Well, based on how enthusiastic the girl was in her own room—yeah, Higo and Kumiko could hear her—they knew that she should be on a call with Hiroki Kawabe back at home. Kumiko just shook her head in exasperation, while Higo was trying his best to hold back the urge to gossip.

In the end, after waiting for a while, Kumiko finally broke the silence here.

"First, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. A veteran striker who led the team to the European stage so many times during his tenure here from 2010 to 2017." The girl spoke. "He is a prolific goal scorer, one that even Louis Van Gaal, the infamous Dutch coach, said was the best in the penalty box. When he was here, the man managed to get 82 goals out of 175 games, almost one for every two games."

Higo raised his eyebrows slightly, starting to get interested. That rate, while not sound impressive, was not something easy to achieve. At least, that meant the man contributed around 20 goals every season, and honestly, not a lot of strikers could pull something like that.

"Well, you don’t have to worry about him." The girl added. "He has been plagued with knee injuries since he left Schalke for the first time four years ago, and now, he just wants to spend the remaining tank left inside him to help the team get better. He will be a big personality in the locker room, but the man’s aim here is to learn everything about being a coach from Frohling. It seems that they are quite close to each other, so no wonder Huntelaar is willing to come."

Well, wasn’t that a relief?

No, not really. If anything, Higo felt pity that the man couldn’t play. After all, the team really lacked a good striker right now. While Gregoritsch and Caligliuri were decent enough, more variety was needed, especially one with good speed.

’Oh, well, that will be Sensei’s problem.’ Higo shook his head quickly. "What about Kolasinac?" He asked, concerned.

"Him... Well, he is an aggressive left back with a willingness to go back and forth to help the team’s attack, but you will not find the steadiness of Juan Miranda in him. Still, his experience will play a big role for your team." Kumiko continued.

She paused for a second before adding, "In fact, some of the local forums said that he would become the team’s new captain, what with his leadership having already been proven for so long. He was also the team’s leader in 2017 before going to Arsenal, so it is easy to give him the captain ban."

"Will this affect the team’s chemistry, though?" The boy frowned.

"Well, based on my research, no, it shouldn’t be." Kumiko shook her head quickly, not even glancing at Higo. "So many interviews with his teammates said that he is a humble and low-key person, not liking to cause trouble in the locker room. He is not particularly the glue, but he will do everything to make the team run properly."

This!

This was the good news that Higo had been waiting for. He was so afraid that the veterans that the team recruited would start acting like some sort of thugs, ordering the players from the youth team to wash their socks or something like that.

At least, that was what he always imagined when it came to bullies in a sports team, as all the anime back home always gave that image quite clearly. Fortunately, things wouldn’t be as bad as he initially thought. If anything, this meant the two new veterans would be able to help the team, and honestly, Higo couldn’t wait to meet them directly.

’Yeah, if they are anything like Kumiko-chan said, their presence will be big for the locker room. Hopefully, they can smack some sense into some of the lazy bastards on the team...’