On a warm summers morning Wollschied parked up outside the Leverkusen training facility and entered through the main doors. He remembered how much effort Ballack and the Board had put in to designing this facility so that it felt like a second home and, even though it was his first time back for years, he felt like he never left. Wollscheid grabbed a bag of balls and a pile of cones before exiting out the back and he walked towards the first team, who where being directed in stretches by Fulvio.
As the players noticed Wollscheid they stopped their stretches and stood, watching him walk over. As soon as he reached the group Wollscheid placed the what he was carrying down and looked at each member of the team.
"Hello guys. I know many of you are still shaken by recent events and I am too. However there is a football season coming up and you guys need someone to take charge of First Team affairs. I am not here to match Ballack, I know how clever a man he was first-hand. However I am here to do my best, and I hope you will too. This season I want everything. This season I want us to win everything. That would be the best way to remember him."
There was silence before Mladen Jovanovic, the captain, stepped up and shook Wollshceid's hand.
"We will give everything we can" he said passionately before turning back towards the team and there was a cheer of
"ye!" from the bundle of players.
"Good! Well then, Fulvio will get you into 2 teams and you show me what you have got!"
Wollscheid had watched every Leverkusen game he could since he left and knew what most of the players where about, however there were a couple of new faces of whom Ballack had managed to sign before his passing.
GOALKEEPER
In goal was Yuri Willemse. He had took over as Leverkusen goalkeeper from Bendt Leno 5 years ago and has never looked like dropping form. In his last season he managed to keep a staggering 18 clean sheets. This guy couldn't be dropped and Wollscheid knew it. For back-up there was the 30 year-old Italian Nicola Leali who was signed last year after the retirement of long-time reserve keeper Michael Agazzi.
DEFENCE
The club had a very solid defence, Brazilian international Luis Felipe being the heart of it. Luis does not look as if he would be a defender if you had never heard of him, standing at 5"10' he isn't the biggest guy in the world, however he in his technical game play he can mix it with the best. Partnering him at the back would be either Bernard Boucher or Manny Phillips. Bernard is the total opposite to Luis, he is a giant. He may not be the best technically, however he is a physical beast and bullies strikers off the ball. Manny is a legend in the US, the yank has impressed enough in Leverkusen so much that he reached 50 caps before he was 23. He may not be as big as Benard, however he is built like a tank and can keep up with most strikers aswell. He also has more to his game than just physically, once he has latched onto his man they will never see the light of day.
On either side of the centre-backs will generally be Luis' Brazilian partner Matues and Spaniard Javi. Matues joined as a youngsters a few seasons back for a hefty £27m and has firmly secured his position at Left-Back. This guy is a grafter and will work his ass off whenever needed. At Right-Back you will find a man who earned an even heftier transfer fee of £30m after breaking into the Barcelona senior-team. Ballack had talked to this kid often to Wollscheid and he remembered the sound of delight in Ballack's voice during Javi's unveiling. At back-up to both full-backs are Sebastien Jacques and Abdurrahman Albayrak, both are young prospects who will hopefully step up to the mark sooner or later.
MIDFIELD
The club may have a solid Defence but it's the Midfield where the shining stars of the team lie, starting with the Captain Mladen Jovanovic. Mladen is a fan favourite at the club and pundits say that he is the star of the team. You can find him helping out anywhere on the pitch and he never tires out. He isn't the tallest or strongest of Midfielders but in the way that he plays that just isn't needed. This guy is a genious. Next to him you can usually find Sakhile Vezi, possibly the best Playmaker to have come out of Africa. Napoli will be constantly kicking themselves for letting him go on a free in 2018 as he has developed into a superstar. As of plenty of players in the club he is a physical beast. The club also have 2 young defensive Midfielders trying their hardest to break into the first team, 20 year-old Wolfgang Lange and 21 year old Gaston Rossi. Wolfgang has had interest from all over the world however he has never managed to fully break through to the first-team. Gaston has recently joined the club on a free after rejecting Barcelona to come to Leverkusen and has bags full of potential. Could this be their year?
The club currently have 4 world-class attacking minded midfielders. Starting with Mario Aolita we have an Argentinian who has spent most of his time hiding in the Argentinian league. When Ballack spent £8m on this lad people where questioning his judgement on Mario, however, Mario has came and has shown the world that Ballack knew talent when he saw it. Technically Mario is a fantastic player, his passing, his touch, his shooting is all close to perfection, however his physical side isn't as bright. He is not as fast or strong and that might be part of the reasoning behind only having 18 caps for Argentina. Marko Pavlovski is also lacking in physicality, however, he is 29. Marko was captain until last season when the duty was passed down to Mladen. Marko is a club legend and was the star of the club for many years, breaking the Bundesliga assist record twice. However, if you want a bit more pace then up-steps Croat Vladko Miserda. Vladko was signed for £26m and has never really shown that value. He always tries his best and usually shines, however he doesn't really live up to that fee. Looking at £26m fee you would think that Angel Correa would have been worth £60m with the form that he has shown at the club, however, Angel cost £0 after leaving Benfica on a free 6 seasons ago. He started slow, however has accelerated his career since.
STRIKERS
Up top the undeniable number 9 is star Niko Wolff. Niko came in as a 16 year-old after being poached from Bayern Munich in 2014 for a compensation fee of 925k. Ballack had talked highly of the youngster, however, he never really impressed in his 3 loan spells at NEC, Atletico and Galatasary. However, Ballack showed faith in the youngster and aged 21 he started his first season as the clubs main striker. That season he scored 29 goals in 32 games, assisting 11. Niko is unbelievably powerful and is a nightmare for defenders to mark. Signed in as a back-up Gustavo Suarez will play his first season for Leverkusen after being brought in as Ballack's last signing. This was who Wollshceid was especially interested in looking at. Gustavo scored 15 in 24 for Cruz Azul before being brought to Germany and still has a lot of potential.
Wollscheid still had players in the 2nd team that he knew he wanted to sell on as he didn't have much money to spend, most was spent by Ballack on Gustavo and Sebastian. He knew that he couldn't let any of the stars go, however, he had a list of players in his mind of whom had a price...