Chapter 1 Nuri

"Nuri, Zorc just told me that if Real Madrid can offer a price that satisfies them, they are willing to consider their offer!" His agent, Reza Fazeli, said to Sahin on the phone, sounding excited.

Being able to get his player to a giant like Real Madrid would be a very successful operation for any agent.

"They agreed?" Sahin was surprised.

"That's right! They suddenly agreed!"

Sahin fell silent.

"Hello, Nuri?"

"Reza, are we really going to leave Borussia Dortmund?" Sahin asked.

"Of course, why not? Whether it's from the team's strength or financial resources, Borussia Dortmund is not a good place to stay. From your personal development perspective, Real Madrid is also a better choice. If this transfer can really happen, why not go to Real Madrid instead of staying in Dortmund?" Fazeli seemed to hear the hesitation in Sahin's voice and quickly persuaded him. "Let's just talk about this contract renewal. The conditions offered by Borussia Dortmund are too low. A team plagued by financial problems cannot achieve anything on the competitive level. Leaving while you are still on the rise is also a good thing for you."

What Fazeli said made sense, and Sahin was speechless. He could only decide to follow Fazeli's arrangements.

"Okay, then I'll leave everything to you, Reza."

"No problem. Oh, right, Nuri. Your performance in the last few games hasn't been very good, but now is the key period for negotiations. You have to show some real stuff so that I can fight for the best deal for you at the negotiating table," Fazeli reminded Sahin.

"I know, that's not a problem," Sahin said.

"Good, leave the rest to me. Just focus on playing football and don't let the outside world have too much criticism of you."

※※※

In the thirty-third round of the league, Borussia Dortmund played Wolfsburg at home.

Before this game, discussions about whether Sahin should continue to start were rampant in the media.

But in the end, Klopp still put Sahin in the starting lineup.

Regarding this, he explained to the media: "We believe that Sahin's performance in training shows that he is ready to play."

The reporters certainly thought he was just being perfunctory.

But the fact was that Sahin's performance in training was indeed good, otherwise Klopp wouldn't have put him in the starting lineup.

As for why Sahin performed so well in the game, Klopp and the players could more or less guess, and it had something to do with the transfer and contract renewal.

Whether it was a transfer or a contract renewal, at least one thing was basically settled. Only then could Sahin play with peace of mind.

The players hoped that the contract renewal had been settled. Everyone still hoped that the team's lineup could remain stable, especially the main lineup.

Klopp didn't care whether it was a transfer or a contract renewal. He had made preparations anyway.

If Sahin stayed, then they would continue the double-core tactics, and the team was already adapted to it.

But if Sahin insisted on leaving, it wouldn't matter. Klopp and assistant coach Buvac had repeatedly assessed that Zhou Yi could replace Sahin without any problems, as long as he had enough stamina.

It was just the stamina issue that was still a problem.

However, what made Klopp happy was that Zhou Yi's stamina was getting better bit by bit. Now he could play a full game in some matches. Although he definitely couldn't play a full ninety minutes in the next game after completing one, any progress was good.

※※※

In the game against Wolfsburg, Sahin started and, together with Zhou Yi, formed a double core that performed excellently again.

In the end, Sahin contributed an assist, helping the team beat Wolfsburg 2:1 at home.

In this game, Sahin's performance left Marcel Reif with nothing to criticize. The sporadic boos from the stands disappeared, and Sahin once again heard applause and cheers from the Borussia Dortmund fans.

Everything was beautiful, and things were being resolved.

Now there was only the last round left in the Bundesliga. Because there were no Champions League matches and the German Cup had been eliminated early, Borussia Dortmund only had this last game left this season.

For Zhou Yi, this was his first Bundesliga season, but it was not complete, because he did not participate in the games at the beginning of the season.

But the final result was still good. Zhou Yi joined midway and quickly became the team's main player and core.

Everyone had reason to look forward to Zhou Yi's new season even more.

Especially since Borussia Dortmund had already secured a Champions League spot for next season.

At the same time, after this round of the league, Bayern Munich also won the league title in advance.

At the beginning of the league, Bayern Munich, like Borussia Dortmund, had a bad start and was ranked low.

But since their 5:0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at home, Bayern Munich had found their rhythm of victory and then advanced all the way.

After being snatched a league title by Wolfsburg last season, they finally regained their throne.

And neither Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Leverkusen, nor even Borussia Dortmund, who were also catching up, could pose a threat to Bayern Munich.

It seemed that this behemoth was still the king of the Bundesliga, and it was difficult for anyone to shake their dominance.

※※※

In the last round of the league, Borussia Dortmund challenged Freiburg away.

Because the league championship was definitely out of the question before this game, and the second place in the league was also very stable, this game was a game with no pursuits for Dortmund.

During training before the game, Zhou Yi could actually feel everyone's laissez-faire mentality.

Zhou Yi understood and empathized with this mentality.

Because he had similar feelings before the last exam of each final exam.

What he was thinking about was no longer the exam, but how to play during the summer and winter vacations after the exam, to sleep in for a few days to make up for all the lazy sleep he hadn't gotten this semester, and then to play football, watch TV, and have fun here and there...

Professional players were actually the same.

If the last round had no pursuits or specific goals, then what they were thinking about now was where to go on vacation.

In the locker room, everyone's topics of discussion began to shift to vacation.

"Hey, Zhou Yi, where are you going to play?" Grosskreutz came up and asked Zhou Yi.

"Me? I'm going home. I haven't been home in almost two years," Zhou Yi said. He wasn't interested in going on vacation.

Since he left his hometown in November 2008 until now, May 2010, he hadn't been home once.

Although there was a gap at the end of one season, the youth league ended very late at that time, and the league started early next season. In order to better integrate into the first team, he had no way to return home.

Now, he could finally go home to see his parents.

This was also what Zhou Yi had always wanted to do.

So when everyone was enthusiastically saying that they were going to the Maldives, Thailand, Mallorca, the United States... Zhou Yi felt that the most beautiful scenery in the world was not as good as going home.

"Haven't been home in two years? My God, you're really working hard!" Subotic, who was next to him, was also very surprised to hear Zhou Yi's words.

They were all professional players, and the teams they played for were unlikely to be in their hometowns. So as professional players, it was normal to leave their hometowns to play football. For example, Subotic was a Serbian, and his hometown was in Prnjavor.

But not going home for two consecutive years was indeed too hard. After all, the Bundesliga was not the Premier League. In addition to the summer vacation every year, the Bundesliga also had a winter break.

However, although Zhou Yi returned to China during the winter break this season, he had no time to go home at all. He just went to participate in the national team's training camp, played two games, and then rushed back to Germany.

"Then you should really go back and see your parents and rest at home," Hummels said.

※※※

Everyone packed up and said goodbye to the remaining teammates in the locker room and left. Zhou Yi stayed behind.

This was actually a habit that Zhou Yi had developed since the Ruhr derby.

He used to pack up and leave the training base, but since being blocked by fans outside the training base for more than half an hour after the Ruhr derby, Zhou Yi was scared.

He decided to be the last one to leave the locker room every day, so that his teammates could go out first to clear the way for him. After they met the fans' autograph requests, the fans gathered outside the training base would become less and less. Finally, even if there were fans asking him for autographs when he went out, there wouldn't be many, which was completely within his acceptable range.

So although Zhou Yi had already taken a shower and changed his clothes, he was still sitting in the locker room, saying goodbye to his teammates who were leaving one by one.

In the end, only Zhou Yi and... Sahin were left in the locker room.

Today, Sahin's movements felt slower than usual. He slowly took a shower and slowly changed his clothes. Finally, he waited until he and Zhou Yi were the only two left.

Zhou Yi looked at him: "Nuri, aren't you leaving yet?"

He was waiting for Sahin to leave and take away the last batch of fans he could take away.

"Actually, I have something to say to you, Zhou Yi." Sahin's answer surprised Zhou Yi a little.

"Ah?"