Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

Fifty kilometers southwest of Paris, in Yvelines province, the town of Clairefontaine.

A car traveled through dense oak forests, with Julien and Châtaigner sitting in the back seat.

Memories flooded Julien's mind—this was a place very familiar to him, yet also one he was visiting for the first time.

Clairefontaine.

The name translated to "clear spring water"—the French Football Federation hoped this place would become the wellspring of French football talent.

In 1976, the French Football Federation decided to establish a national football training center around Paris.

In 1982, they chose the town of Clairefontaine.

In 1988, the Clairefontaine youth academy was officially completed.

Ten years after completion, on July 12, 1998, Clairefontaine became the holy land of French football—that day, France won the World Cup!

Many stars familiar to fans worldwide emerged from this quiet town—Henry, Anelka, Trezeguet, Gallas, Benzema, Nasri...

A few years ago, Julien had also joined Lille from here, beginning his professional career.

Time had passed swiftly. Clairefontaine was still Clairefontaine, but he was no longer the same person.

The car passed through the dense Rambouillet Forest and arrived at the entrance of the Clairefontaine youth academy.

Châtaigner brought Julien inside, where staff arranged for them to wait in a rest area until all participants arrived.

Châtaigner checked his phone, "Elion and the others haven't arrived yet. We'll have to wait."

"Fine." Julien didn't mind—participating in events was always like this, with tedious procedures and participants who were never all on time.

The rest area consisted of individual simple cubicles, with Clairefontaine's achievements over more than twenty years posted on the walls.

Those outstanding French players were displayed here as examples.

Their inspirational power would attract generation after generation of young French players to join Clairefontaine and then go out into the world from here.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Julien's mind—'would there be a day when they would post me up there too?'

They didn't wait long. Elion arrived,

The moment he saw Julien, Elion smiled, "We meet again."

"Uncle Albert," Julien greeted according to his memories.

Albert Elion.

"Good lad, I've watched your recent matches—not bad." Elion walked over and patted Julien's shoulder, then said to Châtaigner, "Let's go. We'll follow the youth academy organizers' procedures first, then later we'll go see Zinedine. He's very interested in Julien."

Châtaigner nodded, "What's Zinedine doing lately?"

Elion answered, "He's now the Director of Football at Real Madrid's first team—a rather vague position with no specific job requirements. Florentino specially created the position for him."

Châtaigner sighed, "That Spanish old man really trusts him."

Elion chuckled, "Of course. A few months ago, a French kid was brought to Real Madrid on Zinedine's strong recommendation. You know Florentino has always only cared about famous stars and never considered potential prospects."

"Which French kid?"

"A player from Lens's first team, a 17-year-old defender named Raphael Varane. He's already at Real Madrid now."

Châtaigner and Elion chatted back and forth, while Julien behind them looked around and listened to their conversation.

Zinedine Zidane.

This was an incredibly legendary name in France.

After retiring in 2006, he seemed to disappear from the football world's news, but actually he had been living with his family in Madrid. His three children—Enzo, Luca, and Theo—had successively joined Real Madrid's youth academy.

He reappeared in fans' view in 2009.

At that time, Real Madrid president Calderon resigned in disgrace.

When Florentino was campaigning for president, he understood what Zidane meant to Real Madrid members, so he promised that if elected, he would make Zidane an advisor.

Florentino kept his promise.

He made Zidane a team advisor, giving him sufficient freedom, until 2010 when a big figure arrived in Madrid—Mourinho, who had led Inter Milan to the treble.

In an interview with French television, Mourinho publicly said, "I hope Zidane spends more time with me, not always staying by the president's side."

Subsequently, Real Madrid issued a statement outlining Zidane's responsibilities: creating a good working environment for the first team.

To put it simply, it was to assist Mourinho in stabilizing the locker room.

It was also at this time that Zidane truly began learning to be a head coach.

He had found his post-retirement goal.

Soon, Julien also found his target—Zidane was surrounded by people, walking at the front of the group.

Elion, Châtaigner, and Julien were near the back of the procession.

Châtaigner said to Julien, "Come on, let's follow and watch."

In this kind of event, they were just making up numbers.

Julien couldn't even hear what the people in front were saying—he just followed along, touring this place where he had spent two years.

Looking back, everything had changed while remaining the same.

At the end of the event, all current Clairefontaine youth players assembled to listen to guidance from these seniors.

While Zidane was speaking on stage, Julien's sharp eyes spotted a small boy in the crowd with his chin raised high.

A boy resembling a Ninja Turtle was seriously listening to his father's idol's words.

Kylian Mbappé.

Julien observed the now 13-year-old future teenage world cup winner for a while. The latter seemed to sense someone watching him and looked over.

Julien gave him a slight smile.

Mbappé also smiled back friendly, then returned his attention to Zidane.

He had a wonderful connection with Zidane.

On July 21, 1998, football coach Wilfried and his wife Fayza, who was five months pregnant, witnessed the history of French football amid chants of Zidane's name.

Four months later, Mbappé was born.

"Let's go." Elion's words interrupted Julien's thoughts.

The event had ended.

Now it was time for free interaction.

Elion wanted to take Châtaigner and Julien to find Zidane, but Zidane was surrounded by too many people and couldn't get away.

At this moment, Julien saw Mbappé, also blocked outside by the crowd.

Julien suddenly called out to him, "Hey, Kylian, I know you."

Mbappé hadn't expected someone to call his name.

Looking at Julien with some confusion, "Sir, do we know each other?"

Julien shook his head, "But my brother Loup De Rocca has seen you play. He's in Paris youth training and often plays on fields around Paris. You're very fast."

Before Mbappé could search his memory for whether he knew this kid called Loup De Rocca, he heard him praise his speed and felt proud.

But then Julien changed direction, saying to him, "But if you want to play winger well, you need to practice your technique more. Speed alone isn't enough."

This made Mbappé uncomfortable, with a slightly argumentative tone, "As long as I'm fast enough, there's no one I can't get past. I don't need those flashy breakthrough techniques. One burst of speed, and except for fouls, no one can stop me."

Julien was about to say more.

But Mbappé saw a space open up in front of him and quickly rushed up to secure the position.

Though his position was clearly behind the person next to him, he ultimately claimed the spot.

Then Mbappé turned around and looked at Julien defiantly.

Julien smiled without speaking.

The next moment, Julien's smile faded as a deep gaze looked toward him from not far behind Mbappé.

Julien met that gaze.