Football: Salary System - Chapter 149: A Friendly Raiola? (Patreon)

"At any cost?"

Watzke snorted, making no effort to hide his displeasure at the phrase.

Having personally dragged Dortmund back from the brink of bankruptcy, what he despised most was the kind of behavior where wealthy owners simply threw money around.

Zorc's reaction was less obvious. After thinking for a moment, he said,

"Mino, you and I both know that whether Chelsea want to buy is one thing. Whether we want to sell is another."

"Of course, Michael."

Raiola caught the veiled threat in Zorc's tone, but didn't care in the slightest.

Dortmund certainly had every reason to feel confident in the face of Chelsea's attempt to poach Zayn.

After all, the five-year contract Zayn had signed with Dortmund four months earlier contained no release clause.

Dortmund had already learned a painful lesson about release clauses.

In 2013, Bayern triggered Götze's €37 million release clause and took him away from Westfalen, catching Dortmund completely off guard.

Ever since then, Dortmund had refused to include release clauses in player contracts.

When Watzke saw that Raiola barely reacted, he quietly glanced at Zorc.

Zorc immediately understood and continued,

"Mino, you're a smart man. Whenever someone says 'at any cost,' there's still a limit."

There was no need to spell it out. Unless Chelsea offered a transfer fee so enormous that Dortmund simply couldn't refuse, there was no chance they would willingly let Zayn leave.

And Zorc was confident that such a figure would be far beyond Chelsea's limit.

Raiola, meanwhile, was laughing to himself.

"At any cost" was something he'd completely made up.

Just look at how nervous he'd made these two Dortmund executives.

For Raiola, the lack of a release clause did make things slightly more troublesome.

But only slightly.

Apart from the contracts he had with his own clients, Raiola had never been particularly concerned with the sanctity of contracts. Just because there was no release clause didn't mean there weren't other ways to pressure a club into making concessions for the benefit of his client.

Besides, he hadn't come here today intending to take Zayn away from Westfalen in the first place.

Watzke and Zorc both looked calm and composed, as though everything was firmly under control.

In reality, neither of them felt nearly as confident as they appeared.

After spending the past six months with Zayn, the club had developed an extremely high opinion of his professionalism. There was almost nothing they could criticize about his conduct, either on or off the pitch.

The problem was his agent.

His agent was a devil.

Watzke and Zorc were afraid Raiola might talk Zayn into refusing to train.

There were more examples than they could count on one hand of Raiola's players using training strikes to force transfers.

When Ibrahimović moved from Ajax to Juventus, he had refused to train before the season began.

Before Mkhitaryan moved from Shakhtar Donetsk to Dortmund, the Armenian had also followed Raiola's advice and refused to join the squad for their training camp in Austria.

There had been countless similar cases over the years.

Zorc trusted Zayn's professionalism, but the boy had only just turned eighteen.

What if Raiola actually got into his head and convinced him to follow those examples?

That would be a disaster.

Especially when Dortmund were enjoying such an excellent season, holding a double-digit lead over Bayern in the Bundesliga while already having secured first place in their Champions League group.

If Raiola was truly determined to force through a transfer, then whether Dortmund stubbornly kept Zayn against his wishes or were eventually forced to sell him, both sides would end up losing.

That was absolutely not the outcome Dortmund wanted.

"Michael, Hans, there's no need to make things so tense." Raiola smiled faintly. "To be honest, Zayn is very happy at Westfalen. He wants to stay here."

Watzke and Zorc exchanged glances and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Zayn didn't want to leave, everything else could be discussed.

Raiola took in their reactions and finally got to the point.

"I'm here because I don't think Zayn's current salary matches his current ability."

Zorc knew they had finally reached the real purpose of the meeting.

But Zayn had only just signed a contract worth €10 million a year. He hadn't even played half a season yet, and he already wanted another raise?

Wasn't that a little too greedy?

It was almost unheard of in European football.

Normally, salary increases only came up when clubs began negotiating contract extensions one or two years before a player's existing deal expired.

At the very least, a player should complete a full season first.

No professionally run club could allow something like this to become the norm.

If they gave one player a raise after only half a season of outstanding performances, the rest of the squad would start demanding the same treatment, and the entire wage structure could collapse overnight.

Zorc couldn't hold back any longer.

"Mino, are you serious? You've been around European football for years. When have you ever heard of someone signing a €10 million-a-year contract and getting a raise after half a season?"

"Michael, that's where you're wrong. Of course an ordinary player couldn't do that. But is Zayn an ordinary player?"

Raiola looked completely at ease.

"After all these years in football, have you ever seen anyone improve as terrifyingly fast as Zayn?"

"I'll be honest with you. If Zayn had already shown this level of ability four months ago, I never would've let him come to Dortmund."

"Or rather, you wouldn't have been able to afford him."

"You...!"

Watzke's expression shifted between anger and embarrassment. He desperately wanted to argue, but couldn't find anything to say.

Raiola continued.

"Gentlemen, let's be honest with each other. Dortmund got the bargain of a lifetime, and you both know that better than anyone."

Zorc fell silent as well.

In nearly forty years in professional football, he had never encountered a monster like Zayn, someone who shattered everyone's expectations at every step.

Just as Watzke and Zorc expected Raiola to make some outrageous demand and throw out an astronomical figure, the agent suddenly changed tack.

"That said, neither Zayn nor I are unreasonable. Like I just told you, he really likes it here, and he's well aware of Dortmund's current wage structure."

"So we can discuss a relatively modest increase."

Watzke and Zorc exchanged another look.

Neither of them could figure out what Raiola was playing at anymore.

He had completely taken control of the rhythm of the negotiation.

"But I have two conditions.

"First, the new contract has to make Zayn the highest-paid player at the club. I need to see that the club recognizes his ability, and I need to see your sincerity about keeping him. Just slightly more than Marco is enough. Zayn doesn't want to upset the balance of the dressing room and turn this place into another Manchester United.

"Second, and more importantly, Dortmund must strengthen the squad in the winter transfer window. You can't throw away the lead you have now simply because the squad isn't deep enough."

"Strengthen the squad?"

Raiola nodded.

"Exactly. My boy desperately wants to win trophies and bring silverware back to Westfalen.

"But if Dortmund fall apart during the crucial stages of competing on multiple fronts because the squad can't rotate properly, it will hurt both Zayn's body and his market value.

"I don't think either of you want that."

Watzke had to admit that Raiola's reasoning made sense.

Which left the "Grand Emperor" somewhat bewildered.

Since when had this fat man become so reasonable?

Wasn't he supposed to care only about his own interests?

Back when Watzke had desperately tried to convince Mkhitaryan to stay, Raiola certainly hadn't behaved like this.

Could it be...

Perhaps Zayn himself hadn't even asked for a raise.

Maybe Raiola had received Chelsea's call and suddenly decided to come pressure the club so he could increase his commission from Zayn's salary.

But because Zayn wanted to stay, Raiola didn't dare make an outrageous demand?

Yes.

That was probably it.

That greedy fat bastard.

Still, Raiola's words had put the negotiations on relatively friendly ground.

Watzke slowly replied,

"We already have plans to strengthen the squad. We'll assess the situation during the winter transfer window.

"As for adjusting Zayn's salary, that's not a problem. We've all seen his ability and how much he's improved. We simply need to discuss the specific figures. Michael, you handle it."

Zorc nodded.

"Mino, we'll meet to work out the details and get back to you as soon as possible."

Raiola gave a satisfied smile.

"Then I have nothing else to say. Zayn will receive the compensation he deserves at Westfalen, and Dortmund will remain as competitive as possible. Everybody wins."

The meeting ended in an unexpectedly cordial atmosphere.

As Raiola left, he even leisurely hummed an Italian folk tune, clearly in a very good mood.

The reason he hadn't made any outrageous demands was simple.

Zayn's request had been extremely straightforward.

He only wanted to be the highest-paid player at the club, just slightly above Reus.

Despite the kid's deep obsession with money, the things he fixated on always managed to surprise Raiola.

"So he really cares about being number one in the club. Does he want recognition of his status that badly?"

Back at Villa, Zayn had once asked for a raise that would put him "one pound above Terry."

Raiola didn't really understand it, but he fully supported it.

That was why he'd never intended to come to Dortmund and destroy the club's wage structure by demanding some absurd contract.

As a super-agent, Raiola didn't particularly care about the small amount he earned from salary commissions anyway.

That five percent cut was pocket change compared with what he could earn from transfer fees.

If Zayn could lead Dortmund to the Bundesliga title, or even take them deep into the Champions League, how high would his market value climb by the summer?

€180 million?

€200 million?

€300 million?

By then, whether Zayn transferred elsewhere or signed a new contract with Dortmund, the commission Raiola could earn from the deal would be enough to make him smile in his sleep.

But for that to happen, Dortmund had to remain competitive.

They couldn't afford to collapse at a crucial moment because their squad was too thin.

That was why Raiola himself had raised the issue of reinforcements at the negotiating table.

It was partly for Zayn's performances on the pitch, and partly for Raiola's future bank balance.

Of course, Raiola never made a deal that didn't benefit him.

There was another personal reason behind today's visit.

Dortmund was unquestionably one of the best stepping-stone clubs in Europe for young talents.

And Raiola currently represented a young Norwegian who had yet to reach one of Europe's top five leagues.

Erling Haaland.

If he could use today's negotiations over Zayn to repair his relationship with Watzke and Zorc, then bringing Haaland, or even other clients, to Dortmund as a stepping stone in the future would face far less resistance.