After the awards ceremony, the Borussia Dortmund players celebrated on the field.

Klopp was chased by the players and drenched with beer.

Zhou Yi wasn't much better off. While he was focused on dealing with Klopp, he was ambushed by his teammates.

In the end, it turned into a free-for-all, and no one escaped the fate of a beer bath.

But everyone was happy.

Although it wasn't their first league title, this season's title was particularly hard-earned.

After forcing a draw against Bayern Munich away from home, the entire Borussia Dortmund team gritted their teeth and chased relentlessly, never daring to fall behind. In the end, they not only persevered through this arduous marathon but also completed a逆转超车 (nìzhuǎn chāochē, reverse overtake) at the last moment.

This made a deeper impression on them than the relatively easy title wins of the previous two seasons.

After the celebrations on the field, the club didn't arrange any other official celebrations, because the season wasn't over yet, and they had an even more important game waiting for them.

So, what followed was just the players agreeing to continue celebrating.

Klopp didn't go, but he warned his players not to get too carried away. They could skip training tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow they would have to resume normal training to prepare for the upcoming Champions League final.

The Champions League final was indeed more intimidating, and that night, the Borussia Dortmund players didn't celebrate wildly. By eleven-thirty in the evening, almost all the players had dispersed and gone home.

Zhou Yi was the same.

The next day, Zhou Yi didn't have to go to the Brackel training ground, but he wasn't idle either.

Early in the morning, he received several phone calls from Chinese reporters, who interviewed him about his feelings on winning the championship, and some people asked him about his outlook for the Champions League final.

Then Zhou Yi had lunch with his agent, Schulze.

Zhou Yi had led his team to win the Bundesliga title for three consecutive years and had won the assist king for three consecutive years. Such performance would naturally enhance his commercial value.

Schulze brought some brands that wanted to sponsor him, and also asked Zhou Yi about his future plans.

After three consecutive Bundesliga titles, Zhou Yi had won almost every possible championship in the Bundesliga, and he had also reached the Champions League final this season.

If they lost the final, it would mean that he had encountered a bottleneck at Borussia Dortmund and needed to go elsewhere to seek a breakthrough.

If they won the final, it would mean that he had no more goals to pursue at Borussia Dortmund. He had won all the titles he could, so what was the point of staying at Borussia Dortmund?

So, in Europe, many teams were watching Zhou Yi's movements closely.

Götze had already been poached by Bayern Munich in advance, and Zhou Yi's future was still unknown.

Schulze alone had received four private approaches.

And they were all top-tier European powerhouses, definitely not second-rate teams.

Schulze didn't dare to make a decision on his own about such a major issue as where to go in the future. Although many agents liked to make such decisions for their players, after all, buying and selling players to earn commissions and transfer fee shares was their favorite way to make a profit...

But Schulze's relationship with Zhou Yi wasn't like that. From the beginning, Zhou Yi made the decisions on important matters, and that's why Zhou Yi chose to sign with Schulze and make him his agent. Over the years, both parties had adhered to this "gentleman's agreement," and their cooperation had been very pleasant.

Schulze would always take the initiative to discuss matters of whether to transfer or not with Zhou Yi, and would never wait for Zhou Yi to call him before he talked about it.

Whether to transfer this summer, and if so, where to transfer to, these questions had to be decided by Zhou Yi. He, the agent, wouldn't dare to make the call.

Now, Zhou Yi's development prospects were bright, and his momentum was strong. Even a fool could see that Zhou Yi was a rising future superstar in the world of football. Since Schulze had worked so hard to become Zhou Yi's agent, how could he lose this opportunity due to some stupid reason and let other agents take advantage of him?

So, of course, he had to serve Zhou Yi well.

Of course, as an agent, there were some things he still had to say. He would tell Zhou Yi the pros and cons of each option, and then let Zhou Yi make the decision. He wouldn't just do nothing and listen to Zhou Yi, otherwise, he would be too insignificant and useless as an agent...

"Real Madrid, Barcelona... and Manchester United and Arsenal?" Zhou Yi looked at the list of teams interested in him that Schulze had brought.

They were all top powerhouses in their respective leagues.

"In terms of sincerity, they all have it, so the key is which team you think is suitable for you," Schulze said.

But Zhou Yi didn't continue looking at the list, but put it aside.

The names on the list were very attractive, shimmering with gold.

"But I don't want to transfer this summer, Tino."

"Is it because of Götze?" Schulze asked.

"Something like that..."

"I think Germany is a bit small for you, Zhou Yi."

"Of course." Zhou Yi nodded. "I'm only twenty-two years old this year. It doesn't matter if I stay at Borussia Dortmund for another year or two. If I can continue this kind of performance, I don't believe these teams won't want me in a year or two." Zhou Yi tapped the list with his finger. "I'm worried that after Götze leaves, if I leave too, it will be a huge blow to Borussia Dortmund, and I don't want to see that happen. Moreover, after losing Götze, Borussia Dortmund will definitely not let me go, even if those clubs offer sky-high prices, Borussia Dortmund shouldn't let me go. If I have to make a scene with the club again, I can't do that."

Schulze nodded upon hearing this: "That's not your style, Zhou Yi."

"There's also a very important reason—next summer is the World Cup. Before the World Cup, I need to be in a stable environment so I can guarantee continuous playing opportunities and maintain my form. There's no better place than Borussia Dortmund. If I transfer now, with a new place and a new environment, all kinds of adaptations will disrupt my original life. I don't like that. For safety's sake, in order to have the best performance in the World Cup, I choose to stay at Borussia Dortmund." Zhou Yi gave another reason that Schulze couldn't refute.

This reason was even more compelling than the first. Because the World Cup was very, very important to a Chinese player, its importance even surpassed the Champions League.

Although the Chinese team hasn't yet made it to the World Cup finals, in Zhou Yi's heart, if they can't even get into the World Cup finals, what's the point of him and his friends working so hard in Europe? So, no matter what, they definitely had to participate in the finals.

His gaze was already set on Brazil.

With these two reasons put forward, Schulze knew that there was no need to discuss the transfer today. Zhou Yi would continue to stay at Borussia Dortmund this summer.

But that didn't mean he had come for nothing.

Since they weren't discussing a transfer, then should they discuss a contract extension?

Borussia Dortmund had always had an urgent need to renew Zhou Yi's contract.

Especially after hearing that Götze had been poached by Bayern Munich, the desire to renew Zhou Yi's contract became even stronger. They were afraid that Zhou Yi would also be poached by some powerhouse...

"...Borussia Dortmund hopes to cancel the buyout clause in the new contract. To this end, they are willing to significantly increase the standards in terms of bonuses and annual salary..."

"How much of an increase?" Zhou Yi asked.

Schulze held up one finger.

Zhou Yi asked: "Another million?"

Schulze quickly shook his head: "Ten million annual salary."

Zhou Yi gasped. This number really startled him—when did Borussia Dortmund become so generous?

"To be precise, the club will give you eight million, and the other two million will be given by Puma, your and the club's joint sponsor. That adds up to ten million," Schulze explained.

With this explanation, Zhou Yi could understand it somewhat. To get Borussia Dortmund to directly take out ten million, Zhou Yi wouldn't believe it even if he was beaten to death.

As Puma's global chief spokesperson, Puma certainly hopes to keep Zhou Yi at Borussia Dortmund, because Borussia Dortmund is also a Puma-sponsored team. If Borussia Dortmund does well, Puma will profit. If Zhou Yi leaves Borussia Dortmund, causing Borussia Dortmund's performance to decline all the way, it wouldn't be good for Puma's brand image either.

An annual salary of ten million is a very tempting number. Ten million euros! Converted into RMB, that's one hundred million!

One hundred million RMB a year, such income is something that ordinary people may not be able to earn in dozens of lifetimes.

This number is more than three times Zhou Yi's current annual salary.

Ordinary people with this income can directly consider retirement.

But Zhou Yi didn't plan to accept this condition.

"The buyout clause is definitely impossible to give up." Zhou Yi said directly to Schulze. "The specific buyout amount can be discussed, but this clause must be there. Now I'm having a pretty good time working with Borussia Dortmund, but who knows what will happen in the future? You always have to make some preparations. The ten million annual salary doesn't matter, I don't want a ten million annual salary, I want a buyout clause."

"Okay." Schulze didn't object, even though he had a five percent cut of the player's salary, so the higher the salary, the higher his commission income. The player's salary was directly related to how much he earned.

But in the face of Zhou Yi's future, he didn't care about his own gains and losses. He knew that short-term gains weren't as good as medium- to long-term gains.

As long as he could stay tied to Zhou Yi, what did it matter if he earned a little less commission? The Chinese market was so big, and he was still thinking about going to China to develop the market in the future. And Zhou Yi was the golden key for him to enter and develop the Chinese market.