Chapter 45 Dortmund's Invitation

"Have you heard, Dongzi?" Assistant coach Xu Yang found Hao Dong, eager to share a piece of gossip. "Borussia Dortmund has sent someone to find Zhou Yi!"

"Ah? Through us?" Hao Dong was surprised; he hadn't received any news.

"No… they went straight to the hotel to find Zhou Yi!"

"Then how did they communicate? They don't speak the same language, do they?"

"It seems the scout… can speak Chinese."

"Oh, that's interesting…" Hao Dong mused. Borussia Dortmund, a German football club, had a scout who could speak Chinese… Was this pure coincidence, or was it intentional? If it was the latter, it showed just how much Dortmund valued Zhou Yi.

"What was the result?" he asked.

"What else could it be? I heard Zhou Yi turned him down with the same trick." Xu Yang said with some regret. "What's Zhou Yi thinking? Never mind the first team, he has to be able to play in Europe first before he's qualified to consider anything else. Now he's demanding a higher goal in advance. Who can accept that? He's not a genius like Messi…"

Hao Dong had already discussed this issue with Xu Tao yesterday, when Xu Yang wasn't present. Hao Dong smiled and comforted Xu Yang: "Oh, it's good that he has his own ideas. Don't worry about it so much, you're not his father."

"I'm old enough to be his grandfather… I just can't bear to see such a good seedling miss the chance to study abroad because he's too ambitious. You know how difficult it is for Chinese players to go abroad and play football. Zhou Yi has a good opportunity; he doesn't have a club right now, so he doesn't need to get the approval of a domestic club to go abroad, which is one less hurdle… I didn't expect him to set an even higher hurdle for himself! Sigh!"

Hao Dong shook his head: "I don't think it's necessarily higher. Compared to those domestic clubs that ask for exorbitant prices, he's still quite reasonable. It's right for young players to want to protect their own interests. In the past, these things were handled by agents. Zhou Yi doesn't have an agent, so he has to do it himself. I think it's good that he can be neither humble nor arrogant when facing European clubs."

"Yes, I also hate those spineless people who can't wait to kneel down and suck up to European clubs, but… sigh! I'm just worried about wasting his talent!"

Hao Dong was touched to see his mentor so anxious about a young boy. He always had enthusiasm and a pure heart for youth football, which was why he had invited his mentor to join him.

"Don't worry, Director Xu. I still have some personal connections. If it really doesn't work out, I'm willing to help the kid." Hao Dong said.

"You're really seeing it through to the end."

"Aren't we the same, loving talent?"

The two men smiled at each other.

※※※

After returning to his hotel room, Tim Kistner's first action was to call Klopp.

"Tim, did you meet the kid?" As soon as the phone was connected, Klopp's direct question rang out.

"I met him, but I have some feedback for you, Jurgen."

"Do I need to take notes?"

"No, it's simple. This is what happened…"

Kistner recounted his conversation with Zhou Yi this evening to Klopp on the phone, word for word.

"You mean… he's asking us to guarantee him first-team appearances?" Klopp asked after listening.

"Yes. And before us, other clubs had contacted him. But he made the same request, and it sounds like they didn't agree."

"Which one?"

"Arsenal."

Klopp chuckled softly on the other end of the phone.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said I couldn't make the decision, and I promised to give him an answer by noon tomorrow. He also promised me that he wouldn't accept any other club's offer before then."

"Okay, Tim, I want you to tell him when you go to see him tomorrow that I will personally meet with him tomorrow night."

Hearing Klopp say this, Tim Kistner was stunned. He had originally thought it was just a phone call; whether it would work or not, Klopp could say so over the phone, and he could relay the message to Zhou Yi.

He never expected Klopp to come in person!

"Aren't you leading training?"

"That's why I'll only be free to come after training in the afternoon," Klopp said.

"This… Jurgen, is it worth it?"

"Whether it's worth it or not, we'll see when we meet."

※※※

After hesitating for a day, Alan Powell finally decided to relay Zhou Yi's request to Arsenal's academy director, Liam Brady.

Why hesitate for a day?

Because he felt that Zhou Yi was simply being unreasonable, and submitting such a condition would only get him scolded by his superior.

Brady fell into a brief silence after hearing Alan Powell recount Zhou Yi's request over the phone.

Powell also didn't say anything, but held his phone and waited for his superior's response.

"Special talent clause… he even knows about this…" Brady's tone was as if Zhou Yi shouldn't know about this. "Our club finds those talents from all over the world every year, and then brings them to the Emirates Stadium. The special talent clause is for players who can play for the first team right away. It will definitely not be used on him. You can tell him that Arsenal is willing to loan him to the best satellite club, and clearly state his number of appearances and time requirements in the loan contract to ensure he gets the best training, but don't talk about the special talent clause."

Having received his superior's instructions, Alan Powell nodded: "Okay, I know what to say. But… what if he insists on his opinion?"

Powell asked, because he thought of Zhou Yi, who was sitting across from him but unusually calm and difficult to deal with, who didn't seem like a seventeen-year-old at all…

"This is non-negotiable. We have already given our greatest sincerity. If he is unwilling to accept it, then that's all there is to it," Brady said.

In Arsenal's global search for teenage talents, there were always some situations that had to be abandoned. As the team's youth training director, Brady had seen many such situations. There was nothing to regret; it was normal. You choose me, and I choose you. This matter can only succeed if both parties agree.

Although Brady had some regrets in his heart, this regret did not affect his decision. He was just incredulous about Zhou Yi's unrealistic persistence – this stupid persistence would make him lose the opportunity, but it would not cause any loss to Arsenal.

In Brady's mind, he felt that it was already very good that Arsenal could give Zhou Yi a chance, and bargaining was not something that a child at Zhou Yi's stage should do.

※※※

The next day, after Zhou Yi finished training, he followed the bus back to the hotel, but didn't go back to his room with everyone… instead, he was called away by Hao Dong.

Everyone watched Zhou Yi and Hao Dong's backs, some envious and some jealous.

"Which one is it this time?"

"They're all crazy. Why are they only looking for Zhou Yi? I play well too!"

"Let's guess whether Zhou Yi will refuse or agree this time…"

While everyone was talking, no one noticed Tim Kistner sitting in the corner of the lobby, looking uneasy.

In fact, Kistner had arrived long ago, but he had no chance to find Zhou Yi at all. Zhou Yi left with their coach after practice.

Anyone could guess that another colleague was looking for him.

He just didn't know who it was this time…

He guessed nervously.

But before long, probably less than ten minutes, he saw Zhou Yi walk out of the elevator again, looking around.

He knew that he was looking for him, because they had agreed before, so he got up and walked towards Zhou Yi.

"I saw you following your coach just now…"

"It's still Arsenal," Zhou Yi said. "This time they offered better loan terms, but… they still didn't budge on the first-team issue. So we're completely done." He spread his hands.

"That's really…" Kistner couldn't continue, because he didn't know whether to comfort Zhou Yi at this time or be happy that he still had a chance.

Zhou Yi also sensed Kistner's awkwardness, so he smiled and said, "You want to say that's really good news?"

Kistner scratched his head awkwardly: "Let's not talk about this. I'm here to tell you the latest news. After you made that request… the club still took it very seriously, so the first-team coach, Mr. Klopp, will fly over to meet with you personally, tonight."

Zhou Yi was also surprised to hear Kistner's words.

Jurgen Klopp was the newly appointed coach of Borussia Dortmund. As a fan, he naturally knew this.

But he didn't expect Klopp, the first-team coach, to come all the way to Barcelona for him…

This really surprised him.

※※※

After training in the afternoon, Zhou Yi finally wasn't called to Hao Dong's room as soon as he arrived at the hotel. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief – finally, no one was looking for Zhou Yi for the time being, otherwise they would see other clubs looking for Zhou Yi every day, and they wouldn't feel good about it…

But they had only eaten half of their meal when they saw two people appear outside the restaurant, one wearing a baseball cap, and the other waving to the restaurant.

Zhou Yi got up when he saw them: "Ah, someone's looking for me, don't worry about me tonight!"

After speaking, he went out to greet them.

Zhou Yi's sudden departure also made the other teammates very curious, and they all cast curious glances at the two people at the restaurant door.

They saw Zhou Yi walk to the door and say a few words to the two people, then shake hands with the man in the baseball cap, and the three left the restaurant and disappeared from everyone's sight.

At this time, someone suddenly shouted: "Isn't that Klopp?"

Someone didn't understand: "Who is Klopp?"

"Don't you watch football? Borussia Dortmund's new coach this year, Jurgen Klopp!"

"Which one?"

"The one wearing the hat!"

"Damn!!!!"

The restaurant exploded.

Borussia Dortmund's first-team coach had personally come to find Zhou Yi!

What was going on!

This was even more shocking than a scout looking for Zhou Yi!

Sun Pan was also stunned. He didn't expect Borussia Dortmund to bring their first-team coach here directly.

"Damn, coaches are coming to find you even when you're eating. Can't people just eat in peace?" he complained.

In the noisy environment, Liang Qiqi looked at the rice grains that he had sprayed all over the table, on the verge of tears.

Just now, he had just put the seafood rice into his mouth when he heard that Borussia Dortmund coach Klopp had personally run to Barcelona to find Zhou Yi, shocking him so much that he choked on a few grains of rice, and then a violent cough sprayed all the rice out of his mouth, resulting in the mess it was now.

Can't people just eat in peace?!

He was the one who wanted to say that the most…

※※※

ps, asking for recommendation tickets, asking for clicks!

Charging for the rankings!