Chapter 137 A Swift Resolution

Despite Zhou Yi's public denial on social media, he felt he should discuss the matter with the head coach.

So the next day, when he arrived at the Brackel training base, he went straight to Klopp's office, bypassing the locker room.

Klopp smiled when he saw Zhou Yi. "You're here about the Bayern Munich thing, aren't you?"

"Yes, I wanted to…"

Zhou Yi was interrupted by Klopp waving his hand. "Bayern Munich just released a statement on their official website admitting they contacted your agent and that you turned them down."

Klopp pointed to the computer on his desk and gestured for Zhou Yi to come over.

Zhou Yi leaned in and saw it was indeed Bayern Munich's official website.

"How straightforward," Zhou Yi remarked after a quick scan.

"Your denial was so quick and firm; they had no choice but to admit it…" Klopp chuckled. "I think they thought the media could hype it up for a few more days, and even if you denied it, the impact would still be there, maybe even causing suspicion between you and the club. Who knew you'd deny it that very night, not even giving them twelve hours… Haha! Now they can't play dead anymore; they have to say something…"

"I'm not stupid. Why would I wear a dunce cap for a few extra days?" Zhou Yi shrugged. "But the club didn't suspect anything?"

"Suspect what? Suspect you'd go to Bayern Munich?" Klopp countered.

"What else could it be?"

"How could they? Götze and Lewandowski had their reasons for going to Bayern Munich, but you going to Bayern Munich?" Klopp shook his head, staring at Zhou Yi. "I can't think of any reason. I'd believe you if you said you were going to Real Madrid or Barcelona, but Bayern Munich? What's the point? We've been grinding them into the ground for years."

"Couldn't it be for the money? Do you know how much Bayern Munich was going to offer me?" Zhou Yi asked.

"How much?" Klopp was curious.

"Reportedly, thirteen million."

"Whoa." Klopp raised an eyebrow. "The highest salary in the Bundesliga. Were you tempted?"

"Just kidding. No amount of money from Bayern Munich would make me go. It's a matter of principle!" Zhou Yi scoffed.

"So, you see? What do we have to suspect or worry about?" Klopp spread his hands and smiled at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi laughed as well.

"Actually, Bayern Munich probably knew you wouldn't go. But they still did it, hoping to annoy us and cause us some trouble. Like last season," Klopp said. "Since that's the case, we've decided to give them something to do as well."

Zhou Yi looked at Klopp, waiting for him to continue.

"The club plans to file a complaint with FIFA against Bayern Munich, protesting their bypassing the club and contacting the player directly. They admitted it themselves… As sworn enemies, you have to make as much trouble for each other as possible."

Hearing Klopp say this, Zhou Yi chuckled.

With everything said, Zhou Yi planned to return to the locker room. He certainly had to explain things to his teammates.

But just as he was about to say goodbye, Klopp, who had already bid him farewell, suddenly stopped him.

"I appreciate you coming to explain this, Zhou Yi," Klopp said. "I hope we can always maintain this good communication and trust, whether we're on the same team or not…"

Zhou Yi was stunned, not expecting Klopp to say that. He asked in confusion, "Coach?"

"It's nothing, just a sudden thought. If you ever want to leave Dortmund, I hope you'll tell me directly instead of me finding out from the news…" Klopp shrugged. "Like last season, Zorc had to come to me for me to find out that Götze had already reached an agreement with Bayern Munich. That hurt me, since I was his head coach at the time… I'm not sure if you'll leave Dortmund, just like I'm not sure if I'll leave Dortmund myself. I just hope we can always maintain such a good relationship."

Zhou Yi nodded, giving Klopp an affirmative answer. "I will, Coach. I promise you'll be among the first to know if I ever leave."

Klopp smiled at him without saying a word.

Zhou Yi turned to leave again, and this time Klopp didn't try to stop him.

After Zhou Yi closed the office door, Klopp sat back in his chair and sighed.

※※※

Because he was delayed in Klopp's office, Zhou Yi was the last player to arrive in the locker room. As soon as he opened the door, he was surrounded by his teammates.

"Zhou Yi! Bayern Munich really came after you?"

Everyone stared at Zhou Yi.

"Of course," Zhou Yi nodded, not hiding anything.

"Wow… they really dared to do that!" Everyone was indignant.

"Zhou Yi rejected them, as expected. They just humiliated themselves…"

The others took the opportunity to mock their arch-rivals, Bayern Munich.

But some looked at Zhou Yi with concern. "You're not really going to Bayern Munich, are you? I'm not talking about now. I know you rejected them, but who knows what the future holds…"

Zhou Yi shook his head with a smile. "No way. If I leave Dortmund, it'll definitely be for a team outside of Germany. I'll never go to Bayern Munich in my life."

"Good! That's the spirit!" Hummels gave Zhou Yi a thumbs-up.

When Zhou Yi said, "If I leave Dortmund," no one in the locker room objected or even noticed the phrase.

Actually, everyone knew that with Zhou Yi's current ability and form, he couldn't stay at Dortmund forever. Dortmund was still a bit too small for Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was someone with the potential to become a world-class superstar, and he should go where superstars go.

Now, within the team, everyone was less sensitive about Zhou Yi's departure than they had been in previous years. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time.

Besides, he had already won every possible championship at Dortmund. What was the point of staying? Dortmund also couldn't offer him the highest salary in the Bundesliga like Bayern Munich could.

Everyone was a professional player and understood the pursuit of a better professional environment and treatment. It was human nature, and there was nothing they couldn't understand.

Zhou Yi's situation was different from Götze's last season. If Götze hadn't gone to Bayern Munich, if the transfer to their arch-rival hadn't been exposed during the heat of the competition for the league championship, the backlash in the locker room probably wouldn't have been so strong.

Moreover, at that time, Dortmund had only won the league championship for two consecutive seasons and hadn't yet touched the Champions League trophy. Now it was different. Zhou Yi had led everyone to win the Champions League and three consecutive league championships. These players were satisfied and wouldn't lose their fighting spirit because of it.

After explaining to his teammates, Zhou Yi changed his clothes and went out to train with everyone.

Klopp and the rest of the coaching staff carefully observed and didn't find any abnormal behavior among the Dortmund players. They confirmed that the team hadn't been affected by the incident.

All the coaches were relieved.

The reason Bayern Munich chose this time to poach players from Dortmund was, of course, to disrupt Dortmund's normal preparations.

And Dortmund's best response was to act as if everything was normal.

Then let their performance on the field speak for itself.

※※※

The Dortmund team was training hard, preparing for the weekend's game against Hoffenheim.

Meanwhile, the war between the club's executives didn't stop.

That evening, local Dortmund media reported that the Dortmund club had decided to file a complaint with FIFA against Bayern Munich, accusing them of violating FIFA regulations by bypassing the club and directly contacting a player whose contract still had more than six months remaining.

This news was quickly reprinted by other media outlets and attracted attention and discussion.

FIFA does have such a regulation, but in reality, many people don't pay much attention to it. Which club hasn't secretly contacted players from other clubs?

There are too many offenders to punish. The authorities turn a blind eye.

This is the so-called unspoken rule.

But after all, it's a written rule in the charter. If someone insists on taking it seriously, it can still be brought up.

Procedurally and in terms of public opinion, it could garner support.

Many clubs choose to use this rule to deter clubs that are interested in their players and engage in behind-the-scenes maneuvers.

The Dortmund club was doing the same thing now.

They weren't really going to sue FIFA. Otherwise, they wouldn't have leaked the news in advance. This was actually a warning to Bayern Munich, telling them to stay away from their players.

First, Zhou Yi denied it. Then, the Dortmund officials announced that they would file a complaint with FIFA.

Bayern Munich, who were completely in the wrong, couldn't say much. That evening, Bayern Munich's sporting director, Sammer, said in an interview with reporters: "...We didn't secretly contact Dortmund's players. It was a misunderstanding. We respect Dortmund, and we would never do such a thing…"

Although he didn't apologize directly, it was at least a sign of admitting defeat.

Thus, this "poaching" farce ended before it even reached forty-eight hours…