Chapter 1 Zhou Yi's Phone Call
Zhou Yi was just about to head out for training when the cell phone in his pocket rang.

It was rare for anyone to call him at this hour. Zhou Yi found it odd and stopped lacing up his shoes. He answered the phone. It was his agent, Tino Schulze.

"Hey, Zhou Yi, there's something I thought I should tell you."

"What is it, Tino?"

"Er, Götze is transferring to Bayern Munich…"

"What?" Zhou Yi was genuinely shocked when he heard this. "How is that possible?"

"It's true, Zhou Yi. You know Götze's agent is the boss of my agency…" Schulze explained.

Zhou Yi knew that. Götze's agent, Volker Struth, was one of the founders of Schulze's agency.

So it was normal for Schulze to know some inside information.

If he said it was true, then it was basically true. Zhou Yi trusted Schulze not to lie to him about this.

But why decide to go to Bayern Munich at this time?

Zhou Yi couldn't understand. Generally, transfer deals only started after the end of the season. Not to mention that Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich were direct competitors now. Transferring to Bayern Munich at this juncture?

Zhou Yi really couldn't understand why Götze would do this.

Schulze explained to him why Götze had to choose to transfer at this time.

"Because in Götze's contract with Borussia Dortmund, there's a buyout clause that expires on April 30th this year. After April 30th, the clause is invalid. As long as a club activates the buyout clause before that date, Borussia Dortmund has to accept the club's offer, regardless of whether they want to let him go. At that point, whether the transfer deal goes through depends solely on the player's own wishes. But you also know that Götze is actually a Bayern Munich supporter…"

After listening to Schulze's explanation, Zhou Yi fell silent.

The motive was reasonable.

But Zhou Yi was still quite upset by this happening at this critical moment. Everyone was thinking about winning the league for the third time in a row and making a push for the Champions League, but Götze was going to their domestic league rival… What would everyone think when this was made public, and what impact would it have on the team?

There had always been a saying in the media that Borussia Dortmund was a team that couldn't hold onto its core players and mainstays. Previously, Şahin had resolutely left Borussia Dortmund, even preferring to be a substitute at Real Madrid rather than renew his contract with Borussia Dortmund, which was already very hurtful.

Now, if Götze left too, the blow to Borussia Dortmund wouldn't just be on a competitive level.

Besides… Zhou Yi didn't think Bayern Munich was a good choice for Götze either. On the one hand, they were Borussia Dortmund's arch-rivals, and on the other hand, being a regular starter at Borussia Dortmund didn't mean Götze would be a regular starter at Bayern Munich…

"I wanted you to know about this and be mentally prepared." Schulze explained to Zhou Yi why he was calling him to tell him. He didn't have to say anything at all. He could have waited for Zhou Yi to get the news from the media or some other source. He wasn't obligated to report everything to Zhou Yi. But he did it anyway, because he considered that a series of upcoming games were very important to Borussia Dortmund and to Zhou Yi. He hoped Zhou Yi could be mentally prepared so he wouldn't be too shocked and have his performance in the games affected.

"Thank you, Tino." Zhou Yi certainly understood Schulze's good intentions, so he thanked him instead of blaming Schulze for ruining his good mood.

Although his good mood had indeed been ruined.

Originally, Zhou Yi was quite happy about eliminating Atletico Madrid and winning his bet with Sun Pan. He had been in a good mood for the past two days.

But now, Schulze's phone call instantly destroyed his good mood.

He even had the urge to call Götze and ask him why, why he had to choose to go to Bayern Munich.

If Zhou Yi didn't have any special preference or feelings for either Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich when he first joined Borussia Dortmund, then after playing for Borussia Dortmund for so many years, Zhou Yi had a very deep affection for this city and this team. This affection was more than just camaraderie. Because of his feelings for Borussia Dortmund, he naturally couldn't have too much affection for Bayern Munich.

Even if he were to transfer one day, there were two teams he would never go to: one was Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund's arch-rival in the Ruhr area, and the other was Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund's arch-rival in Germany.

He wouldn't even choose other German teams. If he were to leave Borussia Dortmund, it could only be to go abroad.

This was out of respect for Borussia Dortmund, and also out of his own feelings.

But in the end, Zhou Yi didn't make the call, even though he had already brought up Götze's phone number.

He put his phone back in his pants pocket, put his shoes back on, and headed out to the Brackel training ground.

※※※

Zhou Yi made up his mind. Although he knew this news, he wouldn't tell anyone about it. Although Schulze hadn't told him not to tell anyone else, Zhou Yi wouldn't be a gossipmonger and spread this around.

Not out of respect for other people's privacy, but because he believed that if this news was made public, the blow and impact on the whole team would be enormous. At this critical moment when the team was fighting for the league title and trying to reach the Champions League final, this impact might ruin the team's efforts for the entire season.

This was actually why Zhou Yi was a little unhappy with Götze.

He had played with Götze in the youth team and helped the team win the championship. He and Götze were naturally friends too.

Now he felt like he had been betrayed by his friend.

But Zhou Yi not saying anything didn't mean that no one else knew about this.

As the saying goes, there are no walls that don't leak. How could such explosive news be kept secret?

If Schulze, an agent who had no connection to Götze, could know about Götze's transfer, then what about others?

When Zhou Yi arrived in the locker room, Götze wasn't there yet, but Zhou Yi keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the locker room was somewhat different from usual.

Yesterday when he came to training, the locker room was full of laughter and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Because they had just won against Atletico Madrid, defeating a tenacious and powerful enemy, everyone was full of confidence in the future. At this time, the atmosphere in the team was very good.

But today, the atmosphere was slightly depressing. Some people's brows weren't as relaxed as usual.

What did this mean?

Zhou Yi had a bad feeling. What he was most worried about might have already happened, or was happening…

When Großkreutz entered the locker room, he looked around, then he saw Zhou Yi and walked straight towards him.

Zhou Yi had a premonition, but he sat still in his seat.

Großkreutz walked up to him, just opened his mouth, and before he could make a sound, the locker room door was opened again.

He turned his head and saw Götze walking in from the door.

When Götze appeared at the door, many eyes in the locker room turned to him. Großkreutz simply abandoned Zhou Yi, turned around and walked towards Götze.

"I heard, Mario, that you're going to Bayern Munich, is it true?" Großkreutz walked up to Götze and asked bluntly, without any beating around the bush.

As soon as he said this, some people in the locker room frowned even more, while others looked surprised.

Obviously, some people knew about this news and weren't surprised, while others were hearing it for the first time and were very shocked.

Zhou Yi took in everything in the locker room, and finally turned his gaze to Götze as well.

Götze, standing at the door, didn't expect Großkreutz to be so direct and ask him in front of everyone.

But he didn't deny it, and nodded: "Yes."

After receiving Götze's affirmative answer, Großkreutz's emotions became somewhat out of control. He suddenly took a step forward and grabbed Götze's collar: "Why!?"

He roared.

This action frightened the others around him. Subotić, who was nearby, quickly rushed over and pulled the two men apart: "Calm down, calm down…"

Although Großkreutz was pulled away by Subotić, he still roared at Götze: "Why?! Why choose this time?! Do you want to go to Bayern Munich that badly!?"

The locker room fell into silence. Götze didn't answer, and neither did anyone else. Only Großkreutz's heavy breathing could be heard.

At this time, Mark Wagner appeared behind Götze, looking at the tense scene in front of him with some confusion, and asked: "What happened?"