Chapter 1 In Spain for Winter Training

Zhou Yi and Kotana didn't stay in Dortmund for more than a few days before joining up with the team and heading to sunny Spain to begin their winter training camp.

Before the training camp started, the club gave every returning player a physical examination. Zhou Yi's physical condition was pretty good. It was slightly worse than before the winter break, but still within the normal range. After all, it wasn't possible to maintain the normal training intensity and schedule of the season during the vacation.

After Klopp received Zhou Yi's physical report, he jokingly said to Dr. Braun, the head of the team's medical staff: "Kotana and Zhou Yi are together. I never thought it would be so beneficial to us—she can supervise Zhou Yi's lifestyle."

After the physical examination, the whole team set off for Spain to begin their training camp.

This winter training camp was actually very important for Dortmund.

Because the team had suffered a lot of injuries, the winter training camp had several tasks. On the one hand, of course, it was to ensure that the players didn't continue to get injured. On the other hand, it was to ensure that the team had sufficient physical fitness for the second half of the season.

Because there would be a World Cup competition this summer, the leagues of various countries would end earlier than usual. This would lead to a relatively denser schedule this season. Dortmund had advanced to the next stage of the German Cup and the Champions League, so with the league on top of that, the schedule would be very dense, and the demands on the players' physical fitness would be even higher.

Fortunately, the Bundesliga had a winter break, which allowed the players to rest and then readjust their physical fitness through training, replenishing their reserves, so they wouldn't be completely exhausted at the end of the season.

But even so, the situation was not optimistic.

After all, Dortmund had too many players injured this season, which suddenly reduced the depth of Dortmund's bench.

There was a winter transfer window during the winter break, and during this time, the Dortmund club should seize the time to sign players and strengthen the personnel gap the team was now facing.

In fact, in December of last year, Dortmund had already begun transfer operations very actively. There were many rumors in the media about Dortmund's transfers during the winter break.

However, many of these rumors were about the summer of 2014.

Distant water cannot quench present thirst.

For example, plans to re-introduce Shinji Kagawa, who was having an unhappy time at Manchester United, in the summer transfer window, or wanting to buy Khedira from Real Madrid in the summer. There was also the possibility of considering introducing another center forward this summer, Romelu Lukaku, the "Little Beast" from Chelsea.

These were all rumors, nothing concrete yet, and all "distant water."

So how should Dortmund solve the problem of the current shortage of manpower?

It wasn't that Dortmund didn't want to solve it, but that it was very troublesome to solve.

First of all, apart from Gündoğan and Subotić, the others weren't the kind of injuries that required a season's rest. They could recover later. If they recovered, and Dortmund had introduced players in the same position, would it cause a waste of human resources?

In addition, it was difficult to buy satisfactory players during the winter transfer window. This was the norm. The winter transfer window was not as important as the summer transfer window, because it was a transfer in the middle of a season. Many players were doing well in their teams, and of course the teams were unwilling to let them go halfway. If the season was over and a new season was being planned, then it wouldn't matter to let go of a few players.

Everyone knew that it was difficult to buy people during the winter transfer window, so naturally they were unwilling to let go of their players easily, because once they let them go, it wouldn't be so easy for them to replenish their manpower from the transfer market...

All kinds of reasons have caused the current winter transfer market to lack sufficiently influential and sufficiently strong players. With Dortmund's current status and vision, of course not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry could be looked upon favorably by Dortmund.

Friedrich originally signed a fire-fighting contract that would end at the end of the season, so naturally it was impossible to give someone a half-season contract to buy someone during the winter break, right? Naturally, they had to be cautious.

These factors have led to Dortmund's current difficult situation in the winter transfer market.

There was news before that Dortmund was planning to continue to strengthen its strength in the forward position. They were not very satisfied with Schieber's performance in the first half of the season, so they took a fancy to Volland of Hoffenheim, but why should Hoffenheim let people go during the winter break?

In addition, the team also planned to target Czech international Kadlec, a former Bundesliga player who played for Fenerbahce. This player's position on the field was left back, but he was 1.85 meters tall and could also play as a center back. This could be a supplement to Dortmund's current injury-ridden defense.

But it was hard to say whether Fenerbahce would let him go, and many people expressed concern about Kadlec's strength. They didn't know whether he would really join Dortmund and mean a supplement or a loophole to Dortmund's defense...

After going around in circles, Dortmund only finalized one transfer, Ji Dong-won, a South Korean forward from Augsburg. But he would only come to Dortmund after the end of this season, which would still not help the team's current shortage of manpower.

In addition, the Dortmund club had another very important task, which was to renew Gündoğan's contract and keep him.

Gündoğan was unwilling to renew his contract with Dortmund before, but as he suffered a serious injury and was ruled out for the season, and Real Madrid was no longer interested in him, the road to renewal finally took a turn for the better. Recently, Gündoğan agreed to renegotiate the renewal with the club.

Although Gündoğan basically can't play this season, Dortmund still wants to keep him. Why?

Because Dortmund has always had a worry—will they still be able to keep Zhou Yi after this season?

At the end of last season, Zhou Yi was actually very close to leaving. After all, he had won all the championships he could win in Dortmund. What other reason could there be for him to continue to stay?

Feelings?

Don't be ridiculous.

But an accident happened. Götze and Lewandowski left one after another, making it impossible for Zhou Yi to choose to leave the team at this time, otherwise he would be burdened with infamy. At this time, feelings can be discussed...

With Götze and Lewandowski leaving the team at the same time, Zhou Yi couldn't leave even if he wanted to. He had to stay.

So he renewed his contract with the club.

But no one can guarantee that he will continue to stay in Dortmund in another year or two.

The Dortmund club itself also knows very well that they may never become a club like Bayern Munich, because they have experienced a painful economic crisis, so their hearts have always been not very open to spending money. They can't make the same big investments in the club as Bayern Munich, and this mentality leads to a lack of ambition.

They themselves don't believe that they can keep Zhou Yi forever. A player like Zhou Yi will definitely have more pursuits, such as in terms of salary... The Dortmund club doesn't dare to think that they will offer a player an annual salary of ten million euros.

Back then, when Lewandowski asked Dortmund for an annual salary of three million euros, the Dortmund club was reluctant to give it to him.

Not to mention ten million.

But as Zhou Yi becomes more and more famous and his achievements become higher and higher, his salary requirements will also become higher and higher. The club doesn't believe that Zhou Yi is the kind of saint who only talks about dedication and doesn't ask for anything in return.

When Zhou Yi's agent asks for an exorbitant price and proposes a contract requirement of more than ten million euros in annual salary, what should the club do?

In fact, an annual salary of ten million euros is no longer a rare thing in European football. Before Serie A had completely declined, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Kaká had received contracts worth ten million euros at Inter Milan and AC Milan respectively. This was even more so in the Spanish Super League giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Bundesliga has always adhered to the principle of financial health, so there are many restrictions on salary expenditures, which prevents the salary level of the Bundesliga from reaching the sky.

It's just that Zhou Yi, as the absolute core and number one star of the team, only received an annual salary of eight million euros in his most recent contract renewal, and this is before tax, with only half of it actually received.

If a real giant wants to poach Zhou Yi and offers an annual salary of ten million euros, how can the player resist?

Whether it is out of consideration for his career or income, the Dortmund club believes that they cannot keep Zhou Yi forever.

Since this premise has been set, then who can take over this role after Zhou Yi leaves?

Şahin, who transferred to Real Madrid before, had this ability, but after a few seasons of frustration at Real Madrid and Liverpool, Şahin's ambition and confidence were greatly affected, and his strength stagnated. He no longer had the aura he had before. The current him is impossible to lead the Dortmund team.

Mkhitaryan?

At least he hasn't shown that he has such ability yet.

The club is more optimistic about Gündoğan.

Although Gündoğan suffered a serious injury. But he still has some similarities with Zhou Yi in terms of technical characteristics. He is good at both offense and defense and is the best successor after Zhou Yi leaves.

That's why Dortmund is talking to Gündoğan about contract renewal, hoping that Gündoğan can stay.

※※※

In addition to some "distant water," Dortmund's actions in the transfer market are not very efficient.

The people they like can't come, and they don't like the people who can come...

The unfavorable situation in the introduction of new players made Klopp always frown during training, and even the atmosphere of the team was not as relaxed as before.

Everyone gradually realized that if the club could not introduce new players during the winter transfer window to strengthen the team, then the next half of the season would be a severe test for every Dortmund player. They would have to pay more than usual, and even face a situation where no one could be replaced in certain key positions.

During this period, the physiotherapy team where Kotana worked became more and more busy. In order to ensure that the players were not injured during training, the physiotherapy and relaxation work after training was very important, and the workload of their physiotherapy team naturally increased.

Although they are an official couple, they do not live together during the club's training camp. Kotana lives in a room specially arranged for physiotherapists, while Zhou Yi lives in a room with Mark.

On weekdays, Zhou Yi only goes to her for massages after training and has no other contact. Moreover, even the physiotherapy massage is done in a large room, with several players doing physiotherapy at the same time, so there is no way to chat about private matters.

They can only occasionally look at each other in the crowd and make eye contact.

Even so, Zhou Yi feels satisfied.