Chen Yingxiong called Balotelli and told him about it.

Balotelli said it was a piece of cake and he would take care of it.

The two of them chatted about women for a while, and then hung up the phone.

Chen Yingxiong waited for Balotelli's reply.

After waiting for two days, Balotelli called back and told him that he had already spoken to Santon, and Santon expressed great interest in Liverpool's invitation, and Liverpool could go directly to talk to him.

Chen Yingxiong thanked Balotelli and then replied to Niang.

Niang was very happy to receive Chen Yingxiong's reply. He asked Chen Yingxiong for Balotelli's contact information and then called Santon.

Later, Niang realized that he didn't need to go to so much trouble to find Santon in a roundabout way.

He only needed to go directly to Santon as the manager of Liverpool Football Club. Santon was very interested in joining Liverpool. His concern was whether Liverpool would want him if he went to Liverpool, not whether he wanted to go to Liverpool.

Of course, he wanted to go very much. In English football today, how many players don't want to go to Liverpool?

This Liverpool team is full of vitality, with Chen Yingxiong, Bale, Sanchez, and Suarez, all of whom are in their prime. If the team's policies are stable, their glory is entirely predictable.

Going to this team is obviously more promising.

However, at this time, Niang still didn't realize that his team had become a hot commodity in the eyes of these players.

He still imagined them according to traditional thinking.

Anyway, Niang ran to contact Santon. Santon didn't say anything unnecessary and said that he was very willing to transfer to Liverpool, as long as Liverpool could settle with Newcastle United.

In Santon's view, Newcastle United might not be willing to let him go. But in Niang's eyes, this problem was very simple. Settling the club was much easier than settling the player. As long as the player was willing to join, there would be no obstacles.

The two parties agreed on the specific personal terms, initialed the contract, and waited for Santon to transfer before it would take effect.

Next, Liverpool Football Club officially submitted an application to Newcastle United for Santon's transfer.

Newcastle United naturally had to be pretentious, saying that Santon was their assistant full-back and could not be sold to a competitor...

In short, they wanted to raise the price.

Niang also slowly haggled with Newcastle United. He knew that Newcastle United would not refuse to sell Santon. Although Santon was a starter in Newcastle United, he had some injuries. If Santon could be sold for a good price, Newcastle United would not hesitate. Santon was not trained by Newcastle United's youth academy, nor was he a once-in-fifty-years genius. Everyone in professional football clubs understood that no player could be absolutely retained. Therefore, it was better to sell him for money while he could still be bought at a good price.

After some bargaining, the two parties finally reached an agreement at a price of five million pounds.

Niang discovered that Liverpool really had a tradition of poaching full-backs from Newcastle United—the team's current main left-back, Jose Enrique, was also transferred from Newcastle United, costing Liverpool six million euros at the time.

Now they have poached another full-back from Newcastle United. If they continue to poach like this, maybe Newcastle United will become Liverpool's reserve team...

※※※

David Santon became the first shot fired by Liverpool in the transfer market this summer.

When the season ended, many teams couldn't wait to announce their signings, or planned signings. Only Liverpool remained silent, not revealing to the media who they were interested in, or who they had already bought.

Many people thought that Liverpool was satisfied with its lineup and didn't plan to adjust it.

However, Santon's joining couldn't cause any sensation. What attraction could a player worth only five million pounds have? Santon was once a genius a long time ago, but now, after so many years of experience, he has long washed away the "genius" aura on his body and become an ordinary player. His transfer happens countless times every summer in the entire professional football world, and it cannot attract people's attention at all.

Only Liverpool fans welcomed Santon's arrival. They also knew very well that this was a substitute prepared for Enrique. Enrique performed well last season, but the lack of a substitute was always worrying—what if he got injured?

Now it's good, with Santon.

As for whether Santon can adapt to Liverpool after he comes, that's Martin O'Neill's business, and it has nothing to do with them.

※※※

Santon was the last to launch the transfer offensive, but he was the first to arrive.

This shows that Santon's transfer was very easy, while the transfers of Pepe and Götze had been planned and laid out all along.

After dealing with Santon's transfer, Niang turned back to deal with the transfers of Götze and Pepe. Mainly Götze.

Whether he was dealing with Mendes in Brazil or returning to Liverpool to pursue Santon, Niang had been closely following the latest transfer rumors about Götze.

Although Dortmund rejected the transfer applications of a number of teams, including Liverpool, the number of teams interested in Götze had not decreased at all, and there was even a growing trend.

The German media was full of news that Götze might transfer to Barcelona, might transfer to Chelsea, might transfer to Inter Milan, might transfer to Arsenal, might transfer to Juventus... and so on.

And some media also said that Götze seemed to be tempted to leave Germany to play football.

When he was in Brazil, he was asked about playing football abroad during an interview with reporters. He did not object: "Who can say what will happen in the future? I am not responsible for predicting the future now, but I am willing to accept new challenges."

Götze has never left Dortmund since he was in the youth team. He has played for this team for many years and helped Dortmund win almost all the championships they could win. There are three Bundesliga titles and two German Cups.

But his honor is limited to this.

Outside of Germany, he has not won a single championship, although he has been favored every time. But repeatedly running into walls in the Champions League still made him realize that Dortmund can only play well in the Bundesliga, no matter how strong they are. This is not Dortmund's problem, this is the problem of the entire Bundesliga. The competitiveness of the Bundesliga is slightly weaker compared to the Premier League and La Liga.

If he wants to pursue higher honors, he should transfer and leave, and go to teams that can help him realize his dreams.

※※※

When Niang saw the media reports about Götze, he knew that Götze had a change of heart and wanted to leave the team. The time was ripe.

When Dortmund realizes that they can no longer keep Götze, they will be willing to negotiate with other teams, and that is Liverpool's opportunity.

Liverpool has Şahin, which is a weapon that other teams do not have. With Götze's growing maturity in recent years, he has taken on the responsibility of organizing Dortmund's midfield. Although his breakthroughs are still sharp, his passing skills have also gradually developed. In Dortmund, he has grown into an all-around midfielder who can pass and dribble.

So in the Dortmund lineup in recent years, he has always served as the midfield core, partnering with Kagawa Shinji, making the opponent's defense uneasy.

If Götze leaves, Dortmund will lose a midfield core. How to make up for it?

Liverpool sent Şahin.

Şahin was originally Dortmund's midfield core, responsible for organizing attacks and controlling the rhythm. Perhaps the role and characteristics of Götze are different, but they play the same role.

If you can't keep Götze, then will recalling Şahin be a way to ensure the stability of the lineup and tactics?

Niang felt it was necessary to remind Dortmund of Liverpool's existence. He once again made an offer to Dortmund. The price remains the same, 30 million euros plus a Şahin.

Niang is not worried that Şahin will not leave. In Liverpool, his performance last season was lackluster. He didn't play many games, but he suffered a lot of injuries. Şahin himself also knows that he has no chance in Liverpool. Then returning to Dortmund, which urgently needs him and which he is very familiar with, may be an opportunity to prove himself again.

※※※

Transfer faxes expressing love for Götze flew in like snowflakes. Zorc was annoyed. He had rejected those clubs more than once, but he didn't expect them to keep asking for prices and making offers.

This made Zorc very unhappy.

But what made him even more uneasy was what Götze said in an interview with German reporters a few days ago.

He said he was willing to accept new challenges.

What does this mean?

Isn't this just saying that he has the intention to transfer and leave Dortmund?

If Götze himself has this intention, then it will be tricky. Zorc, who has been in the position of Dortmund's sporting director for sixteen years, knows very well that if a player wants to leave, then almost no club can successfully stop him.

The meaning of this sentence is extraordinary, and it has also caused some commotion among Dortmund fans.

He decided to ask to understand.

Götze is preparing for the World Cup, and he cannot contact him directly, but it doesn't matter, he can contact Götze's agent, Struth.

"Michel, what are you nervous about?"

Because he was very familiar with Zorc, Götze's agent Struth directly called Zorc by his name in a relaxed tone.

Zorc breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his tone - it seems that Götze will not leave Dortmund.

Unexpectedly, the next sentence poured a bucket of cold water on him. "I remember that we reached a consensus a long time ago that Mario would always have to go out... Last time we said that he would transfer abroad when his contract expired, and that contract happened to expire this year... It's just that we renewed the contract later, but this has not changed Götze's own ideas, Michel. Götze really wants to play football abroad, don't you know?"

In fact, Zorc had not heard what Struth said later.

Because he knew that Götze did have this plan at the beginning. At that time, there were many rumors about Götze's possible transfer to Bayern Munich. At this time, Götze came forward through his agent Struth to deny the rumors, saying that he would not play football for Bayern Munich, but he hoped to develop abroad after his contract expired. At that time, his contract with the club expired in 2014.

Unexpectedly, Şahin left the team, and Götze's status suddenly became important. Dortmund did not want to let Götze leave, or rather, did not want him to leave so early. The two sides negotiated for a long time and finally renewed the contract, extending the contract period from 2014 to 2016.

Zorc originally thought that as time passed, Götze and his agent would give up the idea of transferring abroad to play football. Who knew that three years had passed, and Götze's wish had never changed.

Outsiders all thought that Götze was unwilling to transfer and leave Dortmund because he had not grown up, just like he still lived in his mother's house and ate his mother's food. But Zorc knew that Götze had the idea of leaving Dortmund and venturing abroad from a very early age.

He was unwilling to go out at that time not because he had not grown up, or because he was reluctant to part with his mother or something... It was just that he felt that he should gain more experience in the country. And now he feels that his level has reached the highest level of playing football in Germany, which is a bottleneck. If he can't break through it, he will be just like many domestic talents, such as Reus, such as Toni Kroos, and that's it, there will be no more progress. He can play as a starter in any team in Germany, even Bayern Munich. But Götze's ambition is not here. He wants to become one of the few figures in the history of German football. This requires him to go out and accept experience and new challenges in higher-level leagues and teams.

Götze is much more mature than his appearance and age give people the feeling...

There was no need for further discussion. Zorc leaned back in his chair. He knew that Götze's departure was unstoppable...