"What happened?" Mark Wagner appeared behind Götze, looking bewildered, and stood in the doorway.

"Ask Mario himself, Mark," Grosskreutz said, pointing to Götze with a sour expression.

Götze turned to see Mark, who was looking at him with a questioning gaze. "What's wrong, Mario?"

Götze didn't answer him. Instead, he turned back to face his teammates in the locker room and said, "Bayern Munich has triggered the release clause in my contract. The club can't refuse…"

His tone was calm.

Behind him, Mark Wagner's eyes widened, his face registering disbelief as he stared intently at Götze's back.

"But you can refuse!" Grosskreutz shouted excitedly. "Dortmund nurtured you! Why do you have to go to Bayern Munich?!"

Facing the furious Grosskreutz, Götze shrugged. "Bayern Munich fans could ask Mats the same question."

Several people in the locker room immediately turned to look at Mats Hummels.

Hummels quickly raised his hands. "What does this have to do with me? Yes, I came from Bayern Munich's youth academy, but Dortmund is my home. I've said it before, even if Bayern Munich offered 200 million euros to buy me back, I wouldn't go. I'm staying at Dortmund!"

The previous year, the media had interviewed Hummels about this issue. At the time, Hummels' contract stipulated that Bayern Munich could buy him back for eight million euros in 2012, and that was his answer.

After speaking, Hummels turned to Götze and said, "Mario, I honestly don't understand. You're a starter at Dortmund, one of the most popular players. What's so great about going to Bayern Munich?"

"Yeah, Mario. You say you're going to Bayern Munich to pursue glory… but we've clearly won more titles than them in the last two years. What's worse about staying at Dortmund compared to going to Bayern Munich?" This time, it was Subotić who asked, while tightly holding onto Grosskreutz.

Grosskreutz, still in Subotić's arms, scoffed. "Because he loves Bayern Munich more than he loves Dortmund! Who doesn't know that even the sheets on his bed have the Bayern Munich logo?"

Faced with his teammates' questions and taunts, Götze remained silent, standing motionless like a statue.

Just then, captain Kehl stood up from his seat. "Alright, everyone."

He said.

Hearing his voice, the locker room quieted down again, and everyone turned to look at the captain.

"I don't know what happened here, but since it's already happened, there's no use saying anything. Everyone has the right to choose where they want to go, whether it's Bayern Munich or Schalke 04." Kehl spread his hands. "I think the most important thing now isn't who's going where, but that the season isn't over yet. We still have league and Champions League games to play. And I believe in Mario's professionalism, even if he's already decided to go to Bayern Munich, he'll still complete the remaining games seriously, right, Mario?"

Kehl turned to look at Götze.

Götze nodded slightly and said, "Of course. Until the end of the season, I'm still a Dortmund player."

Grosskreutz snorted loudly, clearly finding it ironic to hear those words from Götze.

"So this matter ends here. No matter what happens next, we just need to do our own jobs. Let the club and the agents handle the player transfers," Kehl concluded.

No one spoke anymore. Götze also turned and walked past Grosskreutz into the locker room. "Big Cross" was about to make a move, but Subotić grabbed him tightly. He could only glare at Götze, then spit viciously behind him. "Traitor!"

The word made Götze stop for a moment, and at the same time, Kehl's reprimand rang out. "Kevin!"

Grosskreutz didn't speak, but he still glared at Götze.

Götze walked back to his locker, put down his backpack, and prepared to change.

Everyone else also turned and left, going to do their own things, but no one spoke, and the atmosphere was awkwardly embarrassing.

Mark hurried to Götze's side, seemingly wanting to say something to him, but even though his mouth opened, he couldn't say anything. In the end, he could only find Zhou Yi and quietly ask, "What exactly is going on, Zhou Yi?"

Zhou Yi leaned against his locker, looking at the anxious Mark. This was a truly passionate person who loved his hometown team, a simple person. He then remembered that compared to Mark, Götze wasn't born in Dortmund… He had moved to Dortmund with his father and family, and his hometown was in Bavaria. Munich was the capital of Bavaria…

He smiled at Mark and said softly, "As you can see, Mark, Mario is leaving us at the end of the season."

Mark looked at Götze with a lost expression, muttering, "Why?"

That was probably the question many people wanted to ask when they first heard the news.

Zhou Yi shook his head. "To each their own."

※※※

The atmosphere on the training ground that day was completely different from usual. Before, there was always laughter during Dortmund's training sessions, because there were people like Zhou Yi and Grosskreutz who were responsible for livening things up. But today, no one was in the mood for jokes. Everyone silently completed the training tasks assigned by the coach.

During training, Klopp constantly observed his players. Judging from their performance, they should already know that Götze was transferring to Bayern Munich, although he didn't know how the news had leaked.

And it was obvious that the news of Götze's transfer to Bayern Munich had a huge impact on the players. Some players were clearly badly affected.

Initially, he wanted to hide the news within the team until it couldn't be hidden anymore, or until after the Champions League semi-finals. He wanted to minimize the impact of this matter on the team.

But now, it seemed that he had to change his strategy, from hiding the news to actively talking to the players about Götze's transfer.

He had to provide psychological intervention to the players to prevent the team's morale from collapsing.

This matter was indeed fatal. If he wasn't careful, all of Dortmund's efforts throughout the season would be in vain.

After training, Klopp called Zhou Yi's name and asked him to stay behind because he had something to say to him.

The teammates exchanged glances, and everyone knew why Klopp wanted to keep Zhou Yi. As the core of the team, the coach naturally had to talk to him when the team was facing such a huge change.

※※※

In Klopp's office, Zhou Yi sat in a chair, with the team's coach Klopp sitting across the table from him.

"Do you know about Götze's matter?" Klopp asked directly.

Zhou Yi nodded. "Yes."

"What are your thoughts?" During the day's training, Klopp observed everyone in the team. Even the usually calm Zhou Yi didn't perform as usual, although his change was the slightest. Some of the other teammates could almost be described as "dispirited," such as Mark Wagner.

"I don't have any thoughts, Coach," Zhou Yi said.

"Liar." Klopp stared intently into Zhou Yi's eyes. "It's just the two of us here, no need to hide anything from me. Just say what's on your mind."

Zhou Yi scratched his head, but still didn't speak.

Seeing that Zhou Yi didn't speak, Klopp said to himself, "To be honest, your reaction is a bit abnormal."

Hearing Klopp say this, Zhou Yi finally revealed a puzzled expression.

"Normally, when people learn that Götze is leaving, and especially going to Bayern Munich, they would be very devastated, disappointed, and hurt. But the feeling you give me is just that you're a little more pensive. I'm curious and want to know what you're really thinking, that's why I came to you first."

"So, Coach, were you planning to call everyone in for a talk like this?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Something like that." Klopp leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs. "Götze's transfer news is a big blow to the team. I noticed that some people feel hurt and disappointed, and I can understand their feelings to some extent. They must be wondering why Dortmund can't keep their best players, why the team has won the league title for two consecutive seasons, and the Champions League performance is getting better year by year, but the team's key players still want to transfer to Bayern Munich…"

"Actually, I'm not that affected," Zhou Yi said. "When I first heard the news, I was quite surprised. But I've already digested it now. I think instead of dwelling on why Götze is leaving, it's better to think about how to play the remaining games well."

"Well said, then what are your thoughts?"

"Coach, actually I think this might not be a bad thing."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Klopp became interested. He rested his chin on his hands, leaned forward, and propped himself on the table.

"It's true that some people will feel hurt and disappointed by Götze's departure, but I think they should also have another emotion in their hearts, which is… anger. The anger of being betrayed. This emotion will make them perform even better than usual, because they will desperately want to prove to the person who left that Dortmund is no worse than Bayern Munich, and that going to Bayern Munich is definitely a wrong choice."

"Hmm… there is that possibility." Klopp pondered.

"So I think, Coach, you don't have to worry too much. We have a saying in China: 'The army camp remains, but soldiers come and go.' Dortmund is this army camp, and the players are the soldiers. Not many people will stay with one team forever. Everyone comes and goes, but Dortmund will always be Dortmund."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yi thought of his first experience watching a game at the Westfalenstadion's South Stand. That was the reason why Dortmund was Dortmund.

Hearing Zhou Yi say this, Klopp laughed. "You kid, you see things pretty clearly!"

Zhou Yi spread his hands. "In modern football, player mobility is normal."

At this point, Klopp suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked Zhou Yi, "Then will you leave Dortmund?"

Zhou Yi was stunned by Klopp's sudden attack, but he quickly said with a smile, "Coach, if you're at Dortmund, I'm at Dortmund."

He not only answered Klopp's question but also flattered him, and at the same time passed the ball back to Klopp. Whether he leaves or not became a question of whether Klopp leaves or not… Would Klopp leave Dortmund? He himself couldn't say for sure, but one thing was certain, in today's football world, there are fewer and fewer coaches who stay with a team for more than ten years…

Klopp laughed loudly. "Good!"

Then he waved his hand. "Go back."

After talking to Zhou Yi for a while, his mood suddenly improved a lot.