Taking advantage of La Liga's winter break, Gao Shen made a special trip to the Thorpe Arch training base to meet Leeds United.

He highly praised the team's recent performances but also reminded the young players to guard against arrogance and impatience.

"The second half of the season is the real test!"

Drawing on his past experience, Gao Shen gave the players and coaches plenty of advice.

For a team like Leeds United, the biggest challenge in the second half will be how they respond once opponents become familiar with their tactics and style of play.

Gao Shen felt that Sarri needed to develop two more approaches as Plan B and Plan C, especially in attack.

He believed Harry Kane, Mane, Felipe Anderson, and Mahrez should all be given more opportunities.

At present, Leeds United's front three are Coutinho, Icardi, and Salah, with a midfield of Pogba, Allan, and Jorginho. The overall style is still direct and fast.

But in the second half of the season, many opponents will likely set up with deep defensive blocks and look for precise counterattacks against Leeds.

That will place higher demands on Leeds United's attacking variety.

Everyone knows that Icardi's main role as centre forward is to finish chances.

By contrast, Harry Kane, with his height and physical presence, can play a bigger role in attack against set defences, while Mane's explosiveness makes him extremely dangerous.

Felipe Anderson and Mahrez are both technical wingers with refined skills and strong dribbling ability.

Gao Shen also specifically asked about Vardy.

To his surprise, the unlucky English striker had already made six appearances this season.

Sarri had a good opinion of him, believing he had been working hard and improving.

Vardy, like Mane, was a late bloomer. His late entry into professional football meant his fundamentals were not fully polished. But he was talented and willing to work hard, so he kept improving.

Sarri had already begun implementing some of Gao Shen's suggestions, but with no winter break in the Premier League, he lacked time for full tactical training.

However, after entering 2013, the cup fixtures would give him a short 10-day window to refine the team's tactics.

…

After his talk with Sarri and the others, Gao Shen took Pochettino to visit the methodology department, big data centre, and scouting department, the core units of Thorpe Arch.

The training base was small but fully equipped.

In Pochettino's words, it was more advanced and complete than most La Liga clubs, and even some top-five-league teams.

Even a club like Espanyol treated youth development as more of a showcase than a genuine system.

But Leeds United were investing real money and effort into it.

For example, their methodology department's research into youth development outstripped that of most clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Gao Shen did not hide the fact that the plan originally came from Barcelona, but after Rosell laid off some staff, Leeds took over the project.

Another clear sign of Leeds United's commitment to youth training was their match programme.

To give their youth players enough competitive experience, Leeds not only entered FA-organised youth leagues and cups but also organised exchanges and invitational tournaments with major clubs, even travelling abroad for friendlies.

These might seem minor, but they were real investments.

According to Borrell, Leeds United's youth development budget this season exceeded £10 million.

To put that in perspective, Barcelona had claimed to invest €130 million in youth training over a decade from 2000/01, but as Barcelona's former youth coach, Borrell estimated that in earlier years they had spent only half of Leeds United's current level. Only after the success of the second and third Dream Teams did they increase their investment.

When Rosell took over, even that investment was reduced again.

Barcelona's other approach was to scout worldwide for talent, Messi being the most famous example.

Barcelona ended up with Dream Team III, featuring Messi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Piqué and others from their own youth setup, plus an unmatched talent pool.

This is exactly what Leeds United is aiming for now.

Their scouting network covers the globe, with over 700 part-time scouts and more than a dozen full-time scouts searching for talent everywhere.

All youth teams are staffed with top-level coaches and sports science teams.

Since completing their youth development system last year, Leeds have been actively recruiting worldwide.

£10 million a year may not be much for a first team, but for a youth academy it is massive.

As a result, every age group at Leeds United has one or two, sometimes even three foreign players.

According to Borrell, the most exciting squad right now is the U12s—the age group featuring the prodigy Haaland.

How strong is this side?

They have not lost a single match so far.

Alongside Haaland, Gao Shen recognised two names.

One was João Félix, a young Portuguese player Borrell had personally gone to great lengths to sign from Porto, who considered him too thin. Leeds had seen his potential.

The other was Aurélien Tchouaméni.

At first, Gao Shen thought this was the French defensive midfielder who broke out before his time travel. They were the same age, but here he was playing as a centre forward, partnering Haaland in an unstoppable duo.

Borrell regretted missing out on another young French striker he rated highly—Kylian Mbappé, currently training at Clairefontaine.

Gao Shen was momentarily stunned. "Who?"

"Kylian Mbappé," Borrell replied, surprised at his reaction.

Gao Shen quickly masked his excitement. In his mind, the thought was clear: Haaland and Mbappé in the same team?

Borrell explained that Mbappé's father was a football coach with high standards. Leeds were working hard to convince them to join after his time at Clairefontaine.

"If you believe he's worth it, Rudolf, push to sign him," Gao Shen said calmly. "I can accept the price."

Talent is crucial. You might not succeed even with it, but without it, you definitely won't.

Haaland, Mbappé, Félix—these were rare, top-level prospects.

Of course, Leeds couldn't sign everyone. Odegaard, for example, turned them down to join a bigger club, and some top talents had already been secured by other teams.

Borrell also highlighted the U9 and U10 age groups, featuring Ansu Fati.

With the FA lifting its restrictions on youth recruitment, Leeds began scouting across the UK. Among the U9s was a name Gao Shen knew well—Jude Bellingham from Birmingham.

Another was Pedri, from David Silva's hometown in the Canary Islands, who dreamed of becoming an Iniesta or Silva.

The third was Jamal Musiala, brought in from Chelsea, whose family Leeds had supported with jobs.

These were already recognised as top talents—but Gao Shen believed there were likely hidden gems among the less well-known names too.

…

Leeds United's youth setup far exceeded Gao Shen's expectations.

Investing £10 million a year clearly had tangible results.

But gathering talent was only the start. Developing it was the real challenge.

Chelsea, for example, had scouted globally for years, but few of their prospects had truly shone.

You need both the right environment and opportunities for competitive growth.

Leeds had invested heavily in both.

Gao Shen now looked forward to the future, just as Lucas and Borrell had said, when Haaland's group graduated and Ansu Fati emerged, Leeds United would enter a true harvest period.

Later, Gao Shen and Su Qing, with Lucas, Borrell and others, visited Elland Road and the site for the new training base north of the stadium.

With approvals complete, Norman Foster's design progressing, and a Chinese construction company preparing to start in May, things were moving forward.

On an open plot west of Elland Road, Leeds had cleared space for a temporary parking lot for match-day fans.

They could not yet afford a new stadium, but the land would be used wisely.

Everything was back on track, and Gao Shen felt reassured.

Pochettino, however, saw more.

What he saw was a thriving club, and he had a strong feeling that Gao Shen's Leeds would one day change the Premier League landscape.

He hoped to be part of it, contributing his strength.

(To be continued.)