Football: Salary System - Chapter 159: Securing Qualification (Patreon)

Zayn had already been at the center of attention lately, and after producing a dazzling Man of the Match performance in the Ruhr Derby, Dortmund's press officer naturally wasn't going to waste the exposure.

So the post-match media interview was handed straight to him.

"Zayn, how does it feel to become the youngest goalscorer in Ruhr Derby history?"

"Pretty good. But taking all three points from the Veltins Arena is what I'm happiest about tonight."

"After scoring, you did that celebration again where you seemed to be enjoying the boos. Was that specifically for the Schalke fans?"

"No. I'm just enjoying football. But if scoring can shut a few people up, that's not bad either."

With those two answers, Zayn turned and walked away.

The confidence of youth needed no further explanation.

Even so, the media still couldn't resist dissecting the interview from every possible angle.

France's L'Équipe interpreted the line, "But if scoring can shut a few people up, that's not bad either," as a direct response to those who had criticized Zayn as arrogant after the Ballon d'Or ceremony.

In England, where derby culture ran especially deep, most media outlets felt there was absolutely nothing wrong with what Zayn had said after such a heated rivalry match.

Especially since he had also stepped in to defend Reus during the game, earning the first yellow card of his Bundesliga career in the process.

His performance that day was practically a textbook example of the kind of fighting spirit a young player was expected to show on derby day.

Of course, there were always exceptions in the British press.

The Sun, for example, went straight with the headline:

"KING ZAYN SHUTS UP THE WORLD!"

By now, though, most fans had grown used to this kind of post-match coverage. Some were even getting tired of it.

Ever since Zayn burst onto the scene, almost anything he said seemed capable of sparking a media storm.

So compared to whatever Zayn had said this time, fans cared far more about how many goals he had scored.

And Zayn's terrifying efficiency, scoring almost as easily as breathing, combined with his ability to turn important matches into his own personal showcase, inevitably reminded people of Messi and Ronaldo at their peaks.

Just a few days earlier at the Grand Palais in Paris, Luka Modrić had ended Messi and Ronaldo's decade-long monopoly on the Ballon d'Or.

At the time, almost everyone underestimated just how much staying power Modrić, Messi, and Ronaldo still had.

To most people, Modrić's triumph looked more like one final curtain call before the old era came to an end.

Modrić was already 33, and many fans believed the Croatian had reached the peak of his career. Besides, midfielders ultimately had a harder time dominating the spotlight the way forwards did.

So people were already eagerly searching for the next pair of stars who might dominate world football.

Who was qualified to inherit the spotlight?

Zayn Ryder was unquestionably one of the best candidates.

And the other was Kylian Mbappé.

They were close in age and played in similar areas of the pitch.

One was the Golden Boot winner who had led England back to the World Cup final.

The other was the speedster who had helped France reach the summit of world football.

More importantly, there was already plenty of history between them.

Their clash on that rainy night in Moscow.

The four-point margin in the Kopa Trophy voting.

It was almost too perfect a storyline.

And just like that, talk of the "New Dynamic Duo" began to spread.

Zayn himself, however, paid little attention to all the hype.

Give me a break.

Even right up until his rebirth, the so-called "Mbappé era" had never truly arrived.

Those old guys were still far too good!

People had been talking about the "Twilight of the Gods" ever since the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and they were still saying it heading into the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Thanks to advances in modern sports science, the veterans had no intention of giving up the stage so easily.

But just because Mbappé's era had been delayed didn't mean Zayn's had to be.

Zayn had never planned on succeeding anyone.

He was going to walk his own path.

After the Ruhr Derby, Dortmund entered their final congested stretch before the Bundesliga winter break.

They still had four matches to play in just 13 days.

Three days later, Zayn boarded a flight to Monaco with the rest of the team.

He had actually been looking forward to this Champions League group-stage match, because Monaco's new head coach was Thierry Henry.

In his previous life, Zayn had watched plenty of Henry's matches and studied many of his tactical analysis videos after retirement.

That was why he had never been able to understand how someone with Henry's tactical knowledge could have such a disastrous start to his coaching career.

Ever since the first meeting between the two teams, Zayn had been looking forward to testing himself against this "Henry's Monaco."

But once he stepped onto the pitch, he realized he had been looking forward to it for nothing.

The result of the match had no effect on the group standings.

Monaco had already been eliminated and hadn't even managed to secure a Europa League place.

So Henry's starting lineup consisted mostly of youngsters and rotation players.

Having taken over the club in the middle of a crisis, his attention clearly wasn't on this Champions League match at all.

A few days later, Monaco had a crucial relegation battle in the league.

That was the match that truly mattered to them.

As a result, there was almost no suspense from the opening whistle.

By halftime, Dortmund were already 2-0 up away from home thanks to goals from Zayn and Reus.

In the second half, Favre deliberately slowed the tempo.

He took off three key players, Zayn, Reus, and Witsel, allowing them to call it a day and rest on the bench.

Substitute Götze later added another goal, sealing a 3-0 win.

With five wins and one draw, Dortmund finished top of Group A unbeaten and advanced to the knockout stage.

As the final round of fixtures in the other groups also came to an end, the full lineup for the 2018-19 Champions League Round of 16 was confirmed.

Clubs from Europe's top five leagues occupied 14 of the 16 knockout-stage spots.

All four Premier League teams advanced from the group stage, while the Bundesliga and La Liga each had three teams remaining.

Portuguese giants Porto and Dutch powerhouse Ajax were the only two Round of 16 teams from outside Europe's top five leagues.

And five days later, the draw for the Champions League Round of 16 would take place.

Zorc normally traveled with Dortmund for every away match.

But today, he wasn't sitting in the VIP section at the Stade Louis II watching the Yellow and Blacks cruise past "Henry's Monaco."

Instead, Dortmund's sporting director was sitting on a flight to Istanbul, flipping through a report from the scouting department.

The main subject of the report was Portuguese defender Pepe.

But its focus wasn't his performances on the pitch or his physical condition.

It was his club, Beşiktaş.

One of the traditional "Big Three" of Turkish football alongside Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, and one of the country's oldest and most prestigious clubs, Beşiktaş had fallen into a severe financial crisis.

They were already close to bankruptcy.

And when it came to bankruptcy, veteran Dortmund man Zorc knew the subject all too well.

According to information from his sources, Beşiktaş had already spoken with Pepe about terminating his contract early, even though it was originally due to run until June 2019.

Doing so would ease the club's wage burden while allowing Pepe to choose a new team for himself during the winter transfer window.

Pepe's expensive contract was one of the biggest burdens Beşiktaş's management wanted off their books.

And for Dortmund, an experienced leader at the back was exactly what they needed.

Whenever Zorc thought back to the Ruhr Derby three days earlier, he got a headache.

A fullback filling in up front had managed to throw Dortmund's entire defense into chaos.

Pepe's age was certainly a risk.

But his experience, his current level, and the possibility of signing him on a free transfer made Zorc believe it was a gamble worth taking.

As he thought about it, Zorc remembered the recommendation Zayn had made in his office that day.

"Signing a defender who's won three Champions League titles on a free transfer... just how far ahead can that guy see?"