Chapter 1 If Zhou Yi Had Signed for Arsenal

British netizens racked their brains after this report was published—what would it be like if Arsenal had signed Zhou Yi back then?

Arsenal would very likely have ended the embarrassing record of not winning a single championship since 2005.

League title, FA Cup, League Cup, or even the Champions League... Zhou Yi could always help Arsenal win one or two, right?

Look at his performance in Dortmund. Before Zhou Yi became a first-team player for Dortmund, Dortmund couldn't even make it into the top six in the league and had only won one German Cup. After Zhou Yi became a first-team player, they won three league titles, one German Cup, and one UEFA Champions League title!

In one fell swoop, Dortmund went from a mid-table team in the Bundesliga to a ruler.

Even a long-established powerhouse like Bayern Munich was firmly suppressed by Dortmund and couldn't move.

If Arsenal had Zhou Yi, would they be able to get rid of the embarrassing title of "Top Four Maniac" and become a "Title Favorite" in one fell swoop?

Of course, some people disagreed with this idea, believing that Zhou Yi's outstanding performance in Dortmund did not mean that he could perform like that in Arsenal. It's simple, the style of the Premier League is completely different from the Bundesliga. The Premier League emphasizes physical confrontation. The same physical contact might be called a foul on the German court, but in the Premier League, the referee wouldn't even take a look.

It's no news that the Premier League advocates physical contact and confrontation.

In this case, it's hard to say whether Zhou Yi can still have outstanding performances. After all, his body is not strong, and although his physical fitness has increased, his physical confrontation ability has not. If he becomes the core in Arsenal, he will inevitably become the target of the opponent's key defense. In frequent physical confrontations, he can't even hold the ball, so what is there to talk about organizing the offense?

This view also aroused opposition from some other people, who believed that Zhou Yi was not a fool. There was no shortage of physical confrontation in the Bundesliga, and Zhou Yi's performance was not bad.

The two sides argued.

But no matter how the two sides quarreled, they couldn't change Arsenal's determination to "mend the fold after the sheep are lost."

Soon, British media broke the news that Arsenal had decided to spend a lot of money to introduce Zhou Yi.

But Arsenal is facing very difficult opponents. In addition to Barcelona, ​​their competitors in England also include Manchester United and Manchester City, the Manchester duo.

Before the rise of Barcelona and Real Madrid, Manchester United had always been the football club with the highest global brand awareness, especially in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Manchester City, on the other hand, is backed by petrodollars and is rich and powerful.

Compared with them, Arsenal does not have any obvious advantages.

A few years ago, coach Wenger could still be Arsenal's golden sign to attract young players. But after so many years, with no championships and no outstanding young players being cultivated, the halo above Wenger's head seems to be gradually fading.

Looking at it this way, it is very difficult for Arsenal to introduce Zhou Yi.

※※※

The "Transfer Market" report ignited various media's speculation and attention to Zhou Yi's transfer destination.

It also put enormous pressure on Borussia Dortmund.

Because Dortmund and Zhou Yi's contract renewal had not been fully negotiated, Schulze was a very difficult agent to deal with. He actively fought for Zhou Yi's rights and almost didn't give an inch.

At the same time, Schulze also admired Zhou Yi's decision to insist on negotiating a contract renewal with Dortmund after the end of the season. In his opinion, Zhou Yi was not blinded by the feelings between him and Dortmund. When it came to interests, his head was very clear, knowing what he should do and what he should want.

Many players' brains are not as clear as Zhou Yi's, so they are either deceived by their agents or by the club...

In Schulze's view, Zhou Yi insisted on waiting until the end of the season to talk about it, despite the pressure from the club, because Zhou Yi was very confident in himself.

Sure enough, at the end of the season, Dortmund won the league title and the Champions League title, especially the Champions League title, which had a great impact on Zhou Yi. As an important contributor to the team's Champions League victory, Zhou Yi's worth was naturally completely different from before the Champions League victory. At this time, Schulze also had the confidence to ask the club for a high price, and he was confident that Dortmund would agree to his conditions.

On the one hand, it is because of Zhou Yi's current fame and status.

On the other hand, it is the movements of other people in Dortmund.

Gotze's departure prompted Dortmund to start the work of renewing Zhou Yi's contract in advance.

And now, the latest news is that Lewandowski is making a fuss about transferring, and his attitude is very tough and firm.

As the top scorer in the Bundesliga last season and Dortmund's top scorer in the Champions League, if Lewandowski leaves the team again, it will be a very heavy blow to Dortmund...

In this case, the Dortmund club will definitely stabilize Zhou Yi at all costs.

Zhou Yi's contract with Dortmund has not actually expired yet, which is different from Lewandowski's situation, but if Zhou Yi himself is unhappy and must leave Dortmund this summer, it is not impossible.

Zhou Yi will not use such激烈的手段 (jīliè de shǒuduàn, extreme measures) as a strike, but who knows if he will not work hard on the court?

Even if he does not do this subjectively, as the core of the team, affected by the transfer incident, his state will definitely not be able to remain stable. If he is absent-minded, it is impossible to exert his full energy.

In this way, his performance will inevitably affect the team's overall performance.

The unlucky one will still be Dortmund.

In order to prevent Zhou Yi from wanting to leave, their best option is to renew Zhou Yi's contract and give Zhou Yi a contract that will allow him to stay in Dortmund for another two or three years with peace of mind.

What makes them happy is that Zhou Yi himself has not refused to conduct contract renewal negotiations with the club, which shows that Zhou Yi has not yet determined that he will leave the team. This is Dortmund's opportunity.

Originally, the Dortmund club adhered to their consistent tradition of frugality in recent years, planning to slowly grind the terms of the contract with Schulze one by one.

But now an article on "Transfer Market" has made Dortmund's wishful thinking come to nothing—in this article, Zhou Yi clearly stated under what circumstances he would consider leaving Dortmund. Now that he has won the Champions League, there is nothing to stop him from leaving. Those other giants are all sharks, how could they not come to pursue Zhou Yi crazily when they smell blood?

At that time, the crazy actions of the pursuers may shake Zhou Yi's originally not very firm determination. What if he really wants to leave Dortmund?

Gotze has already left, Lewandowski is still making trouble, if Zhou Yi makes trouble again... the Dortmund executives probably won't be able to sleep well this summer, no, let alone sleep, they may not even dare to go out...

Of course, staying at home is probably not safe either. The angry Dortmund fans may smash their glass windows with stones.

Therefore, the Dortmund club executives are very clear that after unexpectedly losing Gotze, they can no longer afford to lose Zhou Yi again.

And this is not only the result of considering from the perspective of satisfying the fans, but from the perspective of the club's image, if a team that has just won the Champions League has three main core players leaving the team, how will others view Dortmund? Even if they win a heavyweight championship, Dortmund can't keep its core players, so what kind of brand image does Dortmund have?

This question has led to a new question, and it is a fatal question—in the eyes of investors and sponsors, what is the value of a club like Dortmund that is constantly losing core players?

※※※

For the Dortmund club executives, if they want to prioritize the events of this summer, then Zhou Yi should be the highest priority, and the Zhou Yi issue must be resolved first, and the possible dangers must be nipped in the bud.

But in fact, to talk about it on its merits, Lewandowski may be their biggest trouble...

Lewandowski performed very well in the league and the Champions League this season and was one of the important contributors to Dortmund's league title and Champions League title. Especially his four goals in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid almost dominated the pages of various European media for a whole week.

The Dortmund club executives probably did not expect that Lewandowski would be in such good form and performance this season when they allowed Lewandowski to find his next home in advance, right?

Of course, the least expected thing is probably Gotze being forcibly poached by Bayern Munich...