Chapter 1 Zhou Yi Extends His Contract

The news of Zhou Yi's successful contract extension with Borussia Dortmund quickly spread throughout Germany, Europe, and China, much to the relief of Dortmund fans in China.

They were fans of both Zhou Yi and Borussia Dortmund. Many had loved and supported Dortmund before Zhou Yi joined, while others became fans because of him.

No matter which group they belonged to, they didn't want Zhou Yi to leave Dortmund.

Although both Chinese and German Dortmund fans were happy about Zhou Yi's contract extension, not everyone thought it was good news for Dortmund.

After all, Dortmund had already lost Götze and Lewandowski this summer. Even if Zhou Yi stayed, what good would it do?

Dortmund's strength had inevitably declined, and significantly so.

In contrast, Bayern Munich's strength had increased substantially. They had directly poached two key players from Dortmund. With one team gaining and the other losing, the gap between the two teams had widened considerably.

Coupled with the arrival of renowned coach Pep Guardiola next season, many believed that Bayern Munich was more likely to overtake Dortmund next season.

Another reason for the pessimism surrounding Dortmund's prospects for the new season was that, after winning the Champions League, they seemed more interested in leveraging their "Champions League title" to make money, participating in commercial activities everywhere, which was a huge burden on the team.

Zhou Yi had just successfully extended his contract with Dortmund when he boarded a plane from Germany to China with the team.

Dortmund officially began their tour of China.

The new season's training camp also started in China, where they would play three matches against three Chinese teams and participate in various commercial activities.

The travel fatigue and the packed schedule of activities greatly interfered with the team's normal training and preparation. The original training plan was fragmented, and it was hard to say how much improvement the players could achieve.

In European football, there were countless examples of teams whose performance plummeted in the new season due to poorly arranged summer training camps and unscientific commercial matches.

In the eyes of analysts, Dortmund's decision to continue their training in China was a mistake, foreshadowing a bad season.

However, if their results were poor, it would be unclear whether it was due to the training camp in China or the loss of Götze and Lewandowski...

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In fact, Dortmund's trip to China had been agreed upon more than six months earlier, when they didn't know they would lose key players one after another in the summer.

The department that was most pleased with Zhou Yi's successful contract extension wasn't even the sports department headed by Zorc, but rather Thomas Tress's commercial department.

If Zhou Yi had also left the team this summer, the impact of Dortmund's money-making tour of China would have been greatly diminished. One of the reasons Dortmund was able to reach an agreement with Zhou Yi on the contract extension was pressure from Chinese partners, who wanted to see Zhou Yi return home in Dortmund colors, rather than paying a high price to bring a team with no connection to China.

Without Zhou Yi, Dortmund's popularity and recognition in China were far inferior to those of traditional European powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich...

On this trip to China, Zhou Yi was their biggest draw and selling point.

The news of the successful contract extension was spread back to China as quickly as possible, making it easier for partners to take action and publicize it.

In China, fans were also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dortmund, or rather, Zhou Yi.

Just this summer, Zhou Yi had also helped the Chinese team qualify for the World Cup, making him incredibly popular in China. Dortmund could make a fortune thanks to Zhou Yi.

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When the plane carrying the entire Dortmund team arrived at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, the fans who had been waiting outside the airport for a long time erupted.

Although every Dortmund player who appeared before them was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, all of this paled in comparison when Zhou Yi appeared.

Großkreutz was bragging to Kuba about the cheers he had just received when he came out.

"I never expected to have so many supporters in China! They're so crazy and enthusiastic! I think I have more fans in China than you do, Kuba..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was drowned out by a sudden thunderous cheer.

He turned around and saw Zhou Yi walking out of the exit.

"Zhou Yi!!!!!"

"Zhou Yi is the best!!"

"Zhou Yi, I love you!!"

Whether it was male or female voices, they were only calling out one name.

Not only did Großkreutz turn around, but all the other Dortmund players, coaches, and officials also turned to look at Zhou Yi.

They knew that Zhou Yi was a very popular star player in China, but they had no idea that he was so popular.

The German media reporters who had traveled with the team were also shocked by the scene. They thought the Dortmund fans' love for Zhou Yi was already impressive, but the Chinese fans' love for Zhou Yi was even more shocking!

"...In my opinion, Zhou Yi is completely emperor-like in China. Wherever he goes, he can inspire worship..." one reporter wrote in a report sent back to Germany. "He can't go out without disguising himself, otherwise, his presence would inevitably lead to traffic paralysis... We always thought that China was a desert for football, and Zhou Yi is like a god bringing rain to this desert..."

"After witnessing Zhou Yi's popularity in China at the airport, I think I can understand why Borussia Dortmund had to plan this trip to China. If I were in Dortmund's decision-making level, I would probably agree too... Thanks to Zhou Yi, the entire Dortmund team enjoyed extraordinary treatment in China. I dare say that even if German Chancellor Merkel came, it wouldn't be better than this..." another German reporter wrote.

"...The bus carrying the entire Dortmund team left the airport, escorted by police cars all the way, unimpeded. On both sides of the road, you could see gathered fans wearing Dortmund jerseys, waving Chinese flags, expressing the warmest welcome to the arrival of the Dortmund team. They shouted Zhou Yi's name at the bus carrying Dortmund... And Zhou Yi, in front of such crazy fans, still had his signature smile, waving to the fans. Although the smile remained the same, at that moment, I felt a little strange to the Zhou Yi in front of me. He really seemed like a leader of this land..." a German reporter described in detail what he saw and heard in China.

These reporters' words and photos were eye-opening for German fans and gave them a direct understanding of Zhou Yi's popularity in China.

These scenes made Watzke and Tress extremely excited. Before coming to China, they were worried that Dortmund's popularity in China was not high enough.

That's why they only had a little confidence to come to China to make money after winning the Champions League.

But now it seems that they didn't need to wait until they won the Champions League to come. They now regretted not coming to China to make money two years earlier, wasting time for nothing.

China is a huge market that everyone cannot ignore, like a treasure mountain. But not everyone, not every team, can come to this treasure mountain to get a share of the pie. Without the right approach, you may not even be able to enter the treasure mountain.

Dortmund was lucky. They had the best golden key.

With Zhou Yi, the Chinese market was completely open to Dortmund.

On the bus to the hotel, the two put their heads together and started discussing how to dig gold from the Chinese market. Relying solely on playing exhibition matches was clearly not enough. They wanted to open Dortmund-themed stores, sell Dortmund jerseys, and even cooperate with domestic Chinese capital to establish Dortmund youth training academies in China, promoting Dortmund's youth training experience to China. If they could discover more talented players like Zhou Yi in China and send them to Dortmund's first team, then they would have a long-term meal ticket to make money in China... Even if Zhou Yi left Dortmund in the future, they wouldn't have to worry about losing the Chinese market.

Such a bright future made Watzke and Tress more and more excited, smiling so much that they couldn't close their mouths.