Demien dismissed it with a thought and returned his attention to the drill as Gasperini organized the next sequence.

Possession game. Three teams of eight players in a forty-by-thirty grid with two-touch maximum and the middle team pressing to win the ball back.

Demien’s team started in possession and he received from Lookman near the left edge of the grid with a pressing midfielder closing from three yards away, and his first touch directed the ball inside cleanly before the pressure arrived because his Press Resistant trait meant this exact situation was something his body knew how to handle without needing to think through the mechanics.

「TRAIT ACTIVE」

Press Resistant

His second touch found de Roon in space centrally and the Dutch midfielder controlled it smoothly before playing wide to Zappacosta, and the pattern continued for two minutes until the pressing team won possession and roles rotated.

The session ended at eleven thirty and players walked back to the training complex together in small groups while discussing the afternoon schedule, and Demien walked with Luca and Koopmeiners and the conversation stayed on football rather than transfers because that was the implicit agreement everyone maintained during training hours.

Lunch in the cafeteria was club-monitored nutrition and Demien sat with the same group while teammates filled the other tables around them, and a few players asked about the Liverpool and United rumors in the casual way that acknowledged the situation without making it uncomfortable, and he deflected politely with variations of "still deciding" and "hearing options" that were true without revealing anything specific.

No drama. No special treatment. Just teammates being teammates in the way that professional squads managed these situations when everyone understood the business.

Afternoon was individual gym work and recovery protocols, and Demien did light weights targeting maintenance rather than strength building because pre-season’s first week was about rebuilding aerobic base and movement patterns rather than pushing physical limits.

He left the complex at four o’clock with the first day complete and his body settling back into the training rhythm that would define the next six weeks, and the system notification appeared as he walked to his car.

「PRE-SEASON TRAINING SESSION COMPLETE」

「Session Type: Physical Conditioning (Light)」

「Duration: 90 minutes」

「Performance: Professional Standard」

「REWARDS」

「Base Training Reward: 10 TP」

「UPDATED BALANCE」

「300 TP | 11 SP | 13 MP」

「NEXT SESSION: Thursday, June 29 — 9:00 AM」

「UPCOMING: Chelsea FC Meeting — Friday, June 30 — 2:00 PM, Milan」

The currency increase was modest but expected because pre-season training sessions rewarded consistency rather than spectacular performance, and ten TP per session meant he’d accumulate seventy to eighty TP weekly through daily work which would fund Bronze Pack openings when he had time to focus on the system properly.

Tomorrow meant another session at nine AM and the same professional routine, and Friday meant hearing Chelsea’s pitch and completing the information gathering that would inform his final decision.

For now his car started smoothly and the drive home took fifteen minutes through Bergamo’s early evening traffic, and when he arrived at his apartment the space felt more familiar than the London hotel had because this was where he’d lived for the past year and the city outside his windows was the one he’d learned to navigate as a professional.

Wednesday Evening

Demien’s Apartment

7:00 PM

The apartment was quiet when the text from Marco arrived, and Demien had been sitting on his couch with his laptop open to Atalanta’s pre-season schedule while the television played something he wasn’t really watching because his mind was already thinking ahead to Friday’s meeting.

Chelsea confirmed for Friday 2 PM. Their Milano office near Duomo. I’ll meet you there 1:45 PM. Wear the suit like you did for Liverpool and United. This is a formal pitch with the same structure and they’ll present their vision for how you fit Pochettino’s system.

He typed back: Confirmed.

Marco’s reply came within seconds: After Friday you’ll have heard all three clubs. Then we compare everything properly—contracts, pitches, philosophies, timelines. Then you decide. No rush. Take the time you need to get it right.

Demien set the phone on the couch beside him and his mind organized what Friday would bring—another conference room, another presentation from technical directors and sporting staff, another vision for how he’d develop into the player they believed he could become.

Then he’d have three complete offers with all the information he needed to make an informed choice.

Liverpool: one hundred ninety thousand per week, automatic buyout at seventy-five million pounds after eighteen months, year two for regular starts, Klopp’s patient development model.

Manchester United: two hundred twenty thousand per week, conditional exit language at eighteen months, year one target of twenty-plus starts, Ten Hag’s immediate opportunity approach.

Chelsea: two hundred fifteen thousand per week, conditional exit language at eighteen months, young squad project under Pochettino, London location that put him closer to Milan and Florence than the northern English cities.

Three different paths. All elite platforms. All offering versions of success that required different trade-offs.

The decision would come after Friday when he’d heard everyone and understood what each club truly valued beyond the financial terms they’d put in writing.

For now pre-season training continued tomorrow at nine AM and his body needed rest to prepare for another ninety-minute session, and Friday’s meeting would arrive whether he spent Wednesday evening overthinking it or trusting the process Marco had outlined.

He opened his laptop properly and checked Atalanta’s pre-season fixture list because the training sessions were building toward actual matches where system missions would activate and rewards would accumulate.

Three friendly matches scheduled: July eighth versus a local Serie C team, July fifteenth versus a Serie B side, July twenty-second versus a mid-table Serie A team. Real competition. Proper preparation for the August thirteenth season opener against Lecce.

And somewhere between now and mid-July his transfer decision would be finalized and announced and his future would shift from uncertain to determined.

He closed the laptop and set his alarm for seven thirty AM because tomorrow meant another training session and another ten TP toward whatever came next, and the routine was grounding in a way that the transfer speculation couldn’t disrupt.

Sleep came easier than it had in London because his bed was familiar and his body was tired from the training session and his mind had accepted that Friday was just another step in a process that would resolve itself when he had complete information.

Dreams came eventually—different colored kits in different stadiums with different teammates, but all showing the same core image of him playing at the highest level and doing what he’d been working toward since Fiorentina rejected him and the system activated and this path forward revealed itself.

The where mattered less than the fact that it was happening.

The choice would become clear Friday after Chelsea made their pitch and he understood all three options with the clarity that only complete information could provide.

Until then there was training and recovery and professional focus on the work that mattered regardless of which club eventually signed the contract.