The path to becoming a football legend began with being ousted from Carrington by Manchester United.

Manchester City's unexpected comeback against Barcelona to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals has helped major European bookmakers rake in profits from a number of novice bettors who like to follow the crowd.

For Manchester City, this is definitely something to celebrate.

However, they are hampered by a lack of time, with less than 72 hours until the next round of the Premier League kicks off.

After the match against Barcelona, ​​the players took a short rest before boarding a private plane sent by their owner, Sheikh Mansour, and returned to Manchester.

Considering that most of the players had endured a grueling 120-minute battle at Camp Nou, Pellegrini decided to rotate the squad for the away game against Swansea.

Pellegrini specifically sought Lin Yi's opinion on this matter, asking him if he was determined to continue extending his own record for consecutive Premier League goals.

"Boss, this record doesn't get an award or any money, and it's not even good enough to brag about. Why bother with it?"

Lin Yi's nonchalant attitude put Pellegrini at ease, and he directly excluded him from the 18-man squad.

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't come with us to the away game. Swansea is in Wales, which is quite far."

"Does that mean I'm on vacation again?" Lin Yi was quite surprised, after all, the season was already nearing its end, and it was unlikely that a player would be given a vacation at this point.

"No, you misunderstood. Besides conserving my energy, the more important reason I'm not letting you come is that I have other plans. Just come directly to the training ground when the time comes."

Pellegrini's feigned mystery piqued Lin Yi's curiosity, and he pressed, "What's with this mysterious arrangement? My birthday is in April, isn't it a bit too early to prepare a surprise? It's still a month away."

"You'll see when you get here; it'll definitely be a good thing."

Pellegrini did not reveal the answer, so Lin Yi had to find it himself. While his teammates went to Swansea, Lin Yi came to the Carrington training base alone.

After changing into his gear and heading onto the training field, two people were already waiting there. One of them was an old acquaintance of Lin Yi's, Ruben Cousiras, Pellegrini's trusted assistant.

The other person was a stranger to Lin Yi. Lin Yi sized him up. The most striking feature of him was his thinness, an absurd thinness. Combined with his height, which was even taller than Lin Yi, he looked like a compass or a pair of chopsticks.

Upon seeing Lin Yi arrive, the other person smiled and introduced himself: "Hello, Lin, your name is renowned, it's a pleasure to meet you today. I am Mutaz Issa Bashim, you can call me Mutaz, which means honor and pride in Arabic."

Lin Yi could sense the goodwill emanating from this person whose name represented glory and pride, but he didn't understand why the other party was there or what his relationship with him was. Fortunately, Bashim quickly answered Lin Yi's questions.

"I come from Qatar and I train in high jump. His Highness Sheikh Mansur and Mr. Mubarak invited me to give you a special training session."

Kusilas added, "Manuel thinks it would be a shame if you, with your height and speed, didn't develop your heading and jumping abilities. Heading is a football skill, and we can practice it ourselves. As for jumping, he asked the boss and the chairman to hire an expert to guide you."

"Mutaz just broke the Asian indoor high jump record last month in your hometown with a jump of 2.37m."

"He came to the UK to prepare for the London Olympics after participating in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Hangzhou. Since it was close by, the boss used his connections."

Lin Yi was delighted with the arrangement of receiving individual tutoring, especially after he confirmed that he would not have to pay for the coaching fees himself. He couldn't wait to use public funds to do his own thing, and those who know, know how satisfying that was.

At Bashim's request, Lin Yi first demonstrated his jump, while Kusilas recorded the entire process on video.

After performing more than ten consecutive jumps to contest the header, Lin Yi stopped and looked at Bashim.

Barshim didn't rush to speak. He pondered for a long time, watched the video several times, and thought for a long time before expressing his opinion.

"Lin, I know where the problem lies."

"The starting step you took was absolutely world-class, better than many sprinters I've ever seen. But because of that, you overemphasized the horizontal force and neglected the vertical force. It's like a Ferrari; it can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h very fast, but if you make it bounce in place, it won't do as well as a three-year-old."

"Your jump is just a simple push-off from the ground, without that spring-like feeling. Your Achilles tendon isn't being fully utilized, and the power is released before it even has a chance to be stored."

"In order to maintain stability at high speeds, you are more accustomed to keeping your center of gravity low. When you jump, you lack the instantaneous force to lift your center of gravity up."

"When you jump into the air, if your core muscles don't engage enough and you focus too much on lower body drive while neglecting core transmission, then all the power of your jump will be trapped in your waist."

"In addition, the timing of the jump was not very good, and the movements were not very smooth."

"But don't worry, you have great talent, it's just that your technique is wrong, it's not difficult to correct."

It was clear that Bashim's previous silence was a prelude to his eventual outburst, as he suddenly pointed out all of Lin Yi's problems at once.

For Lin Yi, the most important thing was the last sentence: since it's not difficult to correct, then there's nothing more to say, just practice it.

So at the Carrington training base, Kusilas arranged for all the staff who remained to accompany Lin Yi in what Pellegrini called secret training.

Under the guidance of professional high jumper Barshim, Lin Yi underwent a series of specialized training sessions on power conversion, aerial posture, and take-off timing.

Thanks to his outstanding physical talent and dedicated work ethic, Lin Yi's jumping ability is visibly changing.

If I were to face Puyol again, I might gain the upper hand in aerial duels without waiting for him to run out of energy.

Of course, this was Lin Yi's fantasy after being physically exhausted from hard training. Bashim is not Haruko Akagi, and there is no way he can teach him a layup like an ordinary person in one morning.

"Mutaz, track and field training must be tough, right?" During a break, Lin Yi and Bashim, who were getting to know each other better, started chatting.

"Professional sports are never easy, especially before you achieve results. You have neither fame nor income, and just maintaining training expenses is a headache."

Lin Yi had also come from this path, and he could empathize with what Barshim said. The two young people, who were making their mark in their respective fields, were now completely in sync.

"Even though you might not need it now, I'm still happy to give you a chance to earn some extra money in Manchester." Lin Yi generously spoke up for Mansour, never knowing what it meant to feel sorry for someone. "How about I pretend I didn't learn it, so you can earn a few more lessons?"

"His Excellency Sheikh Mansur invited me here; there is no tuition fee as you mentioned."

In an instant, Barshim's thin figure seemed infinitely tall in Lin's eyes. Working for free—what kind of spirit is this? This is the great spirit of internationalism.

Just as Lin Yi was wondering how to express his gratitude, Bashim added somewhat shyly, "Mr. Mansour covered all my expenses for preparing for the London Olympics. Everything from food and clothing to accommodation and training was top-notch. In addition, he also arranged a villa for my family in Doha."

"You just said you're from Qatar, if I remember correctly?"

"That's right, my father is of Sudanese descent, but I was born in Qatar."

"You guys have plenty of rich guys around here. Anyone want to learn soccer? Bring your own food and I'll come to teach you!"