Football: Salary System - Chapter 169: Winter Transfer Window (Part 2) (Patreon)

On January 3, the players’ winter break came to an end.

Zayn said goodbye to his family and returned to Dortmund, but this time he brought Biscuit, his loyal dog, with him.

He had originally wanted to take the adorable Egg Tart and Hamburger instead, since the two golden, fluffy pups were far better at winning girls over than their soy-sauce-colored father.

His family vetoed the idea.

Anna thought he was too busy to look after both puppies, while Lucy insisted he had already turned Biscuit into his loyal lackey and would not let him take the other two away from her.

In the end, Zayn could only take Biscuit with him.

That evening, Zayn and Biscuit returned to the villa on the eastern shore of Phoenix Lake in Dortmund, which was considerably larger than the old family home in Birmingham.

Biscuit excitedly dashed around the house, sniffing every corner, and finally decided to lie down at the door to Zayn’s bedroom, as if announcing that he had officially claimed the place as his territory.

The next morning, at the Brackel Training Center.

The first training session after the winter break was scheduled for 10:00 a.m.

January was still bitterly cold in Dortmund, so the session focused on recovery work and fitness assessments, all conducted indoors.

Before training, every player had to report to the medical office for a routine checkup.

After Zayn completed a series of tests, the team doctor in charge of his examination stared at the data on the screen for a long time, then glanced back at Zayn, his brow furrowed.

Zayn: “?”

The doctor called over Braun, the head of the medical staff. “Boss, come take a look at this.”

Zayn: “???”

Having died from overwork in his previous life, Zayn was particularly sensitive about his health this time around. Seeing the team doctor’s grave expression, he felt a sudden pang of anxiety.

Braun hurried over, pulled up the results of Zayn’s last physical, taken before the December break, and compared the two sets of results. His brow furrowed as well.

“Zayn, have you been sick recently? A cold, fever, gastroenteritis, or anything like that?”

“No.” Zayn shook his head.

“Well… do you feel unwell in any way? Fatigue, dizziness, loss of appetite?”

“None of that. I’m fine.”

“Then why have you lost weight? You’ve dropped below your pre-winter break weight, and your body fat percentage has gone down too. From what we usually see after Christmas and New Year’s, a player is considered disciplined if he comes back without gaining two or three kilograms. You’ve somehow managed the opposite.”

“Um… probably because I’ve kept up with my workouts…” Zayn said, feeling a little guilty.

In truth, he had spent several days doing almost nothing. He had lost weight because his favorite restaurant had closed for the holidays.

With the owner away visiting family, Zayn had been left without his usual meals. He couldn’t be bothered to find another place, so he had spent the entire break making do with Anna’s home-cooked “Christmas feast.”

That was how he had lost weight.

Not knowing any of that, Braun assumed Zayn was being excessively disciplined and doing too much cardio.

“A center forward can’t afford to get too skinny. Eat more.”

After asking a few more questions to make sure Zayn wasn’t sick, he had the nutrition team draw up a personalized nutrition plan for him and sent him off to training.

...

In the indoor training facility, a few teammates who’d arrived early were already stretching.

Just as Zayn was about to join them, he heard footsteps and voices behind him.

“This way is the weight room, next door is the recovery center, and over there is…”

Zayn turned around and saw team captain Reus leading new signing Pepe on a tour of the Brackel Training Center. The Portugal veteran seemed to have just finished checking in.

The famously fierce defender broke into a broad smile as soon as he saw Zayn, strode over, and pulled him into a hearty hug.

“Zayn, it’s good to finally see you!”

“Uh, welcome to Dortmund.” Zayn was quite taken aback by Pepe’s enthusiasm.

Pepe released him and looked him up and down with undisguised admiration.

“Everyone keeps telling me to retire and enjoy my old age. I nearly believed them, but you’ve made me feel like I’m not old yet.”

Zayn finally understood why Pepe had greeted him with such enthusiasm.

“Of course,” he replied sincerely. “I think you can keep playing until 2024.”

Zayn might have been bluffing when he told Zorc he had watched Pepe’s Turkish Süper Lig matches, but he really had seen Portugal face France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinal!

Pepe had played all 120 minutes at age forty-one. Even near the end of regulation time, he had chased down the twenty-six-year-old Marcus Thuram on a French counterattack!

Pepe could hear how certain Zayn was, and it genuinely moved him.

“All right, then. I’ll have to keep playing until I’m forty before I retire.”

Pepe hadn’t felt this sense of being valued and trusted since his later days at Real Madrid.

Of course, that was partly because the compliment had come from Zayn.

Coming from almost anyone else, the compliment might have been forgotten within minutes.

But Zayn was the hottest young star in European football!

The three of them began chatting casually on the sidelines of the training field.

Pepe asked about the Bundesliga, and Reus answered each question in turn, with Zayn chiming in occasionally.

Just as they were talking, Pulisic walked over from the direction of the office building.

“Hello, Pepe!”

Pulisic walked up to the trio, shook hands with Pepe, and then hugged Reus and Zayn in turn.

“Zayn, Marco, the boss wants you both in his office. Right now.”

“Did you just come from there?”

“Yeah. The boss gave me a little motivational speech.” Pulisic shrugged.

Captain America’s departure at the end of the season was already confirmed. Favre was probably worried that Pulisic would take his foot off the gas during the second half of the campaign.

...

Favre got straight to the point in his office.

“I called you two in to get your input on potential signings for the winter transfer window. The club is willing to continue investing this winter, but the budget is limited. We have room for only one signing.”

Reus and Zayn naturally nodded.

Being consulted on transfers was a sign of a player’s standing at the club, and the two of them were the only members of Dortmund’s dressing room with that kind of influence.

Favre pointed to the two scouting reports on the table, gesturing for the two to pick them up and look them over.

Zayn opened the first report. The name at the top was Lucas Torreira.

“The first name that comes to mind is Torreira from Arsenal.”

The scouting report was densely packed with all sorts of statistics on Torreira.

Since Torreira’s arrival, Arsenal had conceded once every 144.6 minutes with him on the pitch, compared with once every 40.9 minutes without him.

Zayn nodded. “I remember him. He’s only 1.68 meters tall, so the British media now call him ‘White Kanté,’ while Arsenal fans go a bit overboard and call him ‘the new Vieira.’”

Even Zayn found those comparisons ridiculous. The British press really knew how to overhype a player.

“I wanted to sign him last summer, but in the end, the club decided to pour the entire budget into you.” Favre shrugged.

Zayn smiled but didn’t respond.

Reus, who had been intently studying a report nearby, furrowed his brow.

“He’s definitely a good player, but boss, will Arsenal sell him? He must cost even more now than he did last summer.”

“That’s exactly why I need you guys. The money from Pulisic’s transfer has already come in. The club has the funds, but that doesn’t mean they want to spend them. If you can help me lobby them, we’ve got a pretty good chance.”

Favre sighed, briefly envying the authority enjoyed by Premier League managers. In Germany, a head coach generally had far less say over transfers.

Seeing his mentor sigh, Reus said: “I can speak to Mr. Zorc or Mr. Watzke. But to be honest, boss, I doubt it’ll work. I’ve been at Dortmund long enough to know exactly how the board operates.”

Favre turned his gaze toward Zayn.

Zayn thought for a moment before speaking frankly: “Boss, I think our chances of signing Torreira are too slim.”

“Arsenal have lacked a proper defensive midfielder for years, and Torreira has finally given them the protection they’ve been missing.

“Besides, this isn’t the old Arsenal that sold its captain every summer. They’re already calling him the ‘White Kanté.’ Whatever price they name will be beyond Dortmund’s reach. There’s no point wasting our time.”

After Zayn finished speaking, seeing that the other two were deep in thought, he added in a tactful tone: “I watch the Premier League regularly, and I’m not convinced Torreira will maintain this level. I suspect he’ll have a strong start and then fade.”

That was the real reason Zayn had rejected the idea so quickly. It was not his money Dortmund would be spending, so the transfer fee itself did not concern him.

As Zayn remembered it, Torreira’s decline began during the second half of this very season. His form dropped, and he gradually lost Emery’s trust.

The Uruguayan midfielder eventually bounced around several clubs before leaving the top five leagues at the prime age of 26 to join the Turkish Super League.

Signing him this winter might have changed the course of his career, but Zayn saw no reason to gamble. He did not know why Torreira’s career would decline while he was still in his prime. What if the underlying problem could not be fixed?

Besides, he had a better option in mind.

Before Zayn could make his recommendation, however, Favre spoke again.

“I know it’s a long shot. I missed out on him in the summer, though, and I don’t want another one of those ‘almost signed him’ stories on my record.”

He waved his hand and pointed to another report on the table.

“Let’s not talk about him then. I have another alternative here.”

Reus opened it and looked at it with Zayn.

“Zayn, your fellow Brit, Danny Drinkwater. A key player in Leicester City’s miracle run during the 2015–16 season.”

“But he’s hardly played since joining Chelsea. His only appearance this season was as a substitute in the Community Shield, and Sarri has left him out of his plans ever since.”

Sarri preferred midfielders like Jorginho, who could keep possession and circulate the ball with great precision. A more defensive, hard-running player like Drinkwater did not fit his system.

Reus wondered, “Then his form could be an issue. It’s been so long since he played a competitive match.”

“What Dortmund need right now is cover in case injuries pile up. Drinkwater should be inexpensive, and we might even get him on loan. The club would be much more likely to approve that.”

Reus didn’t know much about Drinkwater, but he chose to trust his mentor’s judgment and nodded in agreement.

Zayn chimed in from the side: “‘Kanté’s partner’ is definitely more viable than ‘White Kanté.’”

This remark brought a faint smile to the faces of the two men beside him.

But Zayn suddenly changed the subject:

“However, boss, there’s someone else I’d like to recommend even more.”

This was actually exactly what Favre had expected: “Who?”

“The Belgian midfielder from Monaco, Youri Tielemans.”

Upon hearing this, both Reus and Favre wore looks of obvious surprise.

Dortmund had faced Monaco twice in the Champions League this season, so they naturally knew something about the players from the Ligue 1 powerhouse.

Tielemans had been hailed as a “Belgian prodigy” since breaking through at Anderlecht at sixteen, becoming the fourth-youngest top-flight debutant in Belgian history. At sixteen years and 148 days, he also became the youngest Belgian to play in the Champions League.

Favre, who had previously coached Nice in Ligue 1, knew Tielemans even better, as the two share a history.

“Tielemans? I know René Weiler quite well. He coached Tielemans at Anderlecht.

“When I was coaching at Nice, I wanted to use my connection with him to bring Tielemans to Nice for a tryout. But Monaco had already set their sights on him, and eventually, Monaco shelled out 25 million euros to sign him.”

Favre winced at the memory. Another player he had almost signed.

Reus furrowed his brow and looked at Zayn: “Zayn, Tielemans is an attacking midfielder, right? Aren’t we supposed to be looking for a defensive midfielder?”

The “Little Rocket” harbored even greater doubts and confusion.

In Favre’s 4-2-3-1, Reus himself had always played as the attacking midfielder.

Wouldn’t signing Tielemans simply mean finding a backup for Reus himself?

Reus certainly wasn’t worried that Tielemans would threaten his starting spot, but his main backup right now was his good buddy Götze.

If Zayn recommended another attacking midfielder, would that not make him direct competition for Reus’s best friend?

A ridiculous thought popped into Reus’s head.

Could it be that Zayn didn’t like the huge pork knuckle Götze treated him to?

Zayn, of course, had no idea Reus’s imagination could run so wild, and explained with a smile: “Marco, think back to our two Champions League matches against Monaco. Tielemans did play as an attacking midfielder, but his defensive performance wasn’t bad either. He drops deep, actively receives the ball in front of the defensive line, and helps cover for the fullbacks in the half-spaces. He covers a lot of ground and has a great first pass to transition from defense to attack.”

Zayn sounded thoroughly convincing, though much of his confidence came from knowing the future.

He remembered how Tielemans had joined Leicester City on loan that very winter and developed under Brendan Rodgers from a pure playmaker into a midfielder who linked defense and attack. After moving to Aston Villa, he grew into a true all-around midfielder under Emery. He could operate as a holding midfielder, a box-to-box No. 8, or in his original attacking midfield role, contributing on both sides of the ball.

Manchester United would eventually prise him away by activating a €35 million release clause. The figure was so low because of a gentleman’s agreement made when he signed for Villa.

In short, Tielemans was no slouch defensively, and he could speed up transitions in a way neither of Dortmund’s current holding midfielders could.

Upon hearing this, Reus realized he had misunderstood Zayn, so he took a moment to reflect on the two matches against Monaco.

As he recalled the games, he realized it seemed exactly as Zayn had described!

The Dortmund captain was startled by just how sharp Zayn’s eye for talent seemed to be.

But in reality, this was because Dortmund had easily won both group stage matches 3-0, giving Favre the leeway to experiment with rotations during those two games.

In truth, Monaco had been pinned inside their own half for almost the entirety of both matches and had barely attacked at all. Of course Tielemans had spent most of his time defending!

So when Reus recalled those matches, the images that naturally came to mind were all of Tielemans defending!

“Hmm… his defensive attitude is indeed very proactive.”

Favre knew Tielemans better and now realized the young player’s potential on the defensive end.

“So how much do you think Monaco would ask for him?”

Zayn shook his head: “Maybe we could try a loan.”

In his previous life, Tielemans was loaned to Leicester City during this very winter transfer window, where he performed exceptionally well, leading the Foxes to buy him outright for around 40 million pounds at the end of the season.

If Dortmund acted now, the club’s reputation as Europe’s premier developer of young talent could give them an excellent chance of beating Leicester to a loan deal!