Chapter 1 As in the Repeat of Twelve Years Ago

Just like the replay of twelve years ago, the summer of 2013 was a very noisy time on Chinese television screens, with national team players appearing in front of television audiences in groups.

Zhou Yi, on the other hand, was not the most frequently seen national team player.

Zhou Yi didn't stay in China for long either, before returning to Dortmund. There were simply too many activities in China, and Zhou Yi couldn't push them all away. It became so annoying that he simply ran back to Germany early, claiming that he was going back to resume training and maintain his form.

This reason was impeccable, and no one could say anything more.

Leaving China, Zhou Yi also moved away from the center of the noise. Although he was also a big star in Dortmund, he didn't have too many activities finding him. Here, the focus was still on soccer.

And here, it was easier for Zhou Yi to reject people. Everyone was in a working relationship, and they could say whatever they wanted. Unlike in China, where favors were asked through other favors, it was difficult to refuse.

Zhou Yi also completely experienced the terrible aspects of personal connections and meetings.

Back in Dortmund, Zhou Yi really devoted himself to recovery training. He hadn't rested well in the past two seasons, and now he needed a scientifically sound training plan to allow his body to get adequate rest. In addition, he felt that his physical fitness still had room for improvement. The feeling of weakness at the end of the Champions League final left a deep impression on him. He could imagine that he would have more and more games in the future, and his position in the team would be more important. If he didn't have enough physical fitness, he would become an important bottleneck restricting his development by the end of the season.

So after returning to Dortmund, Zhou Yi rested for a few days before reappearing at the Brackel training base and starting his physical and recovery training.

Dortmund's official Twitter account posted a photo of Zhou Yi training at the training base, with the caption: "The first Dortmund player to start preparing for the 2013-2014 season."

Under this tweet, many fans left messages: "So that's why Zhou Yi can achieve such great success at such a young age!"

"Zhou Yi's professional attitude puts some players to shame!"

"Zhou Yi is really diligent, we're counting on you next season too!"

After Götze's transfer, Zhou Yi's performance made Dortmund fans feel at ease.

But on the German website *Transfermarkt*, there was not much optimism about whether Zhou Yi would stay in Dortmund.

This website is a famous European soccer portal with more than two million daily visitors and supports multiple languages. *Transfermarkt* focuses on information in the soccer transfer market, and data surveyors from all over the world enter information such as recruitment information to establish an authoritative database covering player background information, transfer information, and value. The player value information provided by *Transfermarkt* is currently a relatively authoritative source for estimating player value by major media outlets.

Therefore, the analysis of player transfer trends on this media outlet is also very authoritative and accurate.

Just after Dortmund's official account disclosed the news that Zhou Yi had returned to the team early to start training, an article appeared in a prominent position on the homepage of the *Transfermarkt* website.

Without looking at the content, the title of this article alone was sensational enough: "Will Zhou Yi Be the Next Götze?"

Götze had just transferred to Bayern Munich, and the impact he brought to Dortmund had not completely dissipated. Now, *Transfermarkt*, the authoritative media in terms of transfers, compared Götze with Zhou Yi again, which would definitely make Dortmund fans worry.

The article revealed that several clubs in European soccer were interested in Zhou Yi - which was not uncommon. But *Transfermarkt* published a detailed list of the teams interested in Zhou Yi.

Of course, this was not the most important factor in this article.

The most eye-catching thing in this article was the first time the conditions for Zhou Yi to transfer away from Dortmund were revealed!

The author of this article had indeed put in a lot of effort in collecting information. He dug up that Zhou Yi had once revealed to others that if he wanted to leave Dortmund and go to other teams, he had to meet one condition - he had to win a championship in Dortmund.

Regardless of what the specific concept of this "championship" was, the requirement Zhou Yi had made had now been met: the league championship, the domestic cup championship, and the Champions League championship, he had won them all. So what else could prevent Zhou Yi from leaving Dortmund?

Although the article on *Transfermarkt* did not reveal under what circumstances Zhou Yi said this requirement to whom, based on the consistent authority and credibility of this portal website, everyone was willing to believe that they were not lying.

If this was true, then it would be like a bolt from the blue for Dortmund fans.

So the author of this article finally asked: "Will Zhou Yi be the Next Götze?"

This question made Dortmund fans tremble with fear.

For a time, this question sparked heated discussions.

In the comment section of this article, there were discussions among fans. Many Dortmund fans naturally did not want to believe it, and they asked *Transfermarkt* to provide evidence that Zhou Yi said this.

And fans of other teams were happily discussing what Dortmund would be like after losing Zhou Yi. Among them, the most enthusiastic and happy were the fans of Bayern Munich.

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In fact, the article on *Transfermarkt* was not a baseless rumor.

Why did Dortmund's official Twitter account post that tweet?

Wasn't it because Zhou Yi's future was still uncertain?

The contract renewal negotiations between Zhou Yi and Dortmund were still progressing with difficulty, so difficult that no one would be surprised if the transfer negotiations broke down directly.

It's just that this matter has not been revealed, and not many people know about it.

Dortmund's official Twitter account posted this tweet in the hope of creating the illusion that Zhou Yi would definitely stay in Dortmund, so that those teams who were interested in Zhou Yi would not be able to figure out the real situation.

If they thought that the contract renewal negotiations between Zhou Yi and Dortmund were going smoothly and were about to be signed, and they would retreat in the face of difficulties, that would naturally be the best.

As a result, an article on *Transfermarkt* rendered all their cover-up work useless.

A day later, Dortmund officially issued a statement saying that their contract renewal negotiations with Zhou Yi were progressing steadily. At the same time, they were not aware of the so-called conditions for Zhou Yi to leave Dortmund and would not comment on it.

Dortmund officials were not aware of it, so Zhou Yi always knew, right?

Reporters flocked to interview Zhou Yi, asking about matters related to this.

Zhou Yi's attitude was intriguing - he neither denied nor admitted it. Regarding his future, he only asked reporters to ask his agent. He said that his most important job now was to recover.

Avoiding talking about it himself, but asking reporters to ask his agent, this made people think a lot.

If there was no such thing, why didn't Zhou Yi directly deny it?

His attitude on this matter was very ambiguous, and speculations about him really leaving Dortmund suddenly became rife.

The media listed all the clubs that were said to be interested in Zhou Yi, and then analyzed them one by one to see how likely it was that Zhou Yi would go there.

It now seems that the club that is most interested in introducing Zhou Yi and is also making the biggest effort is Barcelona.

After all, Zhou Yi's style is the closest to their soccer philosophy. If Zhou Yi went there, he would be able to present his best self with almost no adaptation time.

At the same time, with Barcelona's status and financial resources in the soccer world, it is also the best place for Zhou Yi. After going there, he would not only be able to win more honors, but also double his salary, and his status in the soccer world would also rise with the tide.

This is also the transfer that Chinese fans most want to see - except for Chinese Real Madrid fans.

In addition to Barcelona, Arsenal is the club pursuing Zhou Yi with the greatest effort.

Arsenal has failed to win a championship for several years in a row, putting Wenger under tremendous pressure. He desperately needs a leader to bring new inspiration and passion to Arsenal. In his opinion, Zhou Yi is the most suitable candidate.

Recently, a report has been widely circulated in the UK.

After the Chinese team qualified for the World Cup, they returned to the world's top soccer stage, attracting attention from all over the world. The media in various countries have launched special reports on the Chinese team, and when introducing the Chinese team, how can they bypass the name Zhou Yi?

The British *442* soccer magazine used half a magazine to introduce the Chinese team returning to the international soccer stage, and the part about Zhou Yi accounted for more than one-sixth of it.

You know, the Chinese team is not just Zhou Yi. Sun Pan and He Ying are also familiar to British fans, or have heard of them. But none of them have been able to occupy such a large space as Zhou Yi.

In the report about Zhou Yi, an "old story" attracted everyone's attention - *442* reporters learned through interviews that before Zhou Yi became a professional player, he participated in a Chinese soccer reality show. In this show, he represented Chinese teenagers to challenge the youth teams of European clubs. When in the UK, the opponents of the Chinese teenagers included Arsenal's youth team. Zhou Yi performed well in the game, attracting the attention of Arsenal scouts. In the subsequent games, Arsenal has been sending scouts to track and observe Zhou Yi. They are very satisfied with Zhou Yi's performance and plan to sign him. However, Zhou Yi was unmoved by the conditions offered by Arsenal, and he chose Dortmund.

Everyone knows what happened next...

As soon as this article came out, it attracted everyone's high attention.

Some people joked that this was Arsenal's most regrettable "near miss."