The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Offering an annual salary of eight million euros, and that’s before tax, had already stretched them to their limit. Another raise?

’A small temple can’t house a great Buddha!’

To take it to an extreme, even if Wang Shuo went to Dortmund and told them, "I don’t need a raise. I’ll stay for the eight-million-euro annual salary."

Dortmund still might not be willing.

Even if Wang Shuo’s salary didn’t increase, others would still want a raise, right?

Homegrown players like Götze and Reus would want one, right?

It was standard procedure.

Just like in 2010, after Inter Milan won the Champions League, didn’t all their key players get massive raises?

A year later, how many people were calling Inter Milan idiots?

From the club’s perspective, they should have sold Maicon, Sneider, Eto’o, and the others right then and there to rebuild the team.

But what happened? The players all stayed, their performance plummeted, and their salaries had ballooned. What could they do then?

The advantage Dortmund had over Inter Milan was that their players were younger.

But for that very reason, Wang Shuo had now become a major obstacle.

If he stayed, how could they raise anyone else’s salary?

Raise everyone’s?

Dortmund couldn’t afford it!

Their performance in this season’s Champions League was excellent. They won the title, and the income was certainly good.

But that was all temporary.

Once salaries went up, that was a long-term commitment.

So, Wang Shuo had no doubt that the Dortmund management was probably eager for him to leave as soon as possible.

’Part on good terms, right!’

"Actually, our coach really wants you to come to Barça," Messi said suddenly.

Wang Shuo froze for a moment. His intuition told him this was a subtle probe.

"Go to Barça? To steal your spot as the top star?"

"You think you have what it takes?" Messi retorted, not backing down.

"If I’m not the top star, I’m definitely not going," Wang Shuo said with absolute certainty.

A flash of triumph flickered in Messi’s eyes, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He visibly relaxed.

Then he stepped forward again and gave Wang Shuo a hug.

...

"What did Messi talk to you about?"

Klopp walked over from a short distance behind him.

The final had drawn to a close, and the dust had settled.

It was both an end and a new beginning.

"He said Barça wants to buy me," Wang Shuo said jokingly.

"So, are you going?"

Wang Shuo didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at his coach and asked back, "I heard Manchester City wants to hire you as their coach. Are you going?"

Klopp only seemed rough and boisterous on the surface. In reality, he was very thoughtful.

He was even a very sensitive person who paid close attention to detail.

"I wouldn’t be able to handle things at Manchester City. Besides, before the match, Laubal and Watzke specifically talked to me, hoping I would stay."

As he said this, Klopp looked at Wang Shuo meaningfully.

Wang Shuo got Klopp’s hint.

Dortmund wanted to keep their head coach, which meant they would have to make concessions on his contract renewal and annual salary.

But they hadn’t talked to Wang Shuo.

’Makes sense.’

’Letting one Wang Shuo go would free up enough salary space to satisfy the raise demands of several others, like Götze and Reus.’

’What a bargain, just thinking about it!’

Klopp noticed the change in Wang Shuo’s expression and knew that Wang Shuo had understood the message he was trying to convey.

But for some reason, he felt a pang of sadness.

"Wang, thank you! Meeting you has been the greatest luck of my life so far!"

As he spoke, Klopp opened his arms and hugged Wang Shuo tightly.

"Me too, Jurgen!" Wang Shuo hugged Klopp back.

He no longer called him "Boss," but used his first name instead.

The transfer market was treacherous and unpredictable; many things were uncertain.

But the best choice was to make a choice while you still had the chance to!

After the two hugged, the Dortmund players suddenly swarmed in from all sides, surrounding Wang Shuo and Klopp. Then they began tossing them into the air.

...

The procedure for receiving the championship trophy was always the same.

First the referees went up, then the runner-up, and finally the champions.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Finally, the entire Dortmund team surrounded Weidenfeller as he triumphantly lifted the Champions League trophy high into the air!

At that moment, the atmosphere in the stadium reached its peak!

After the Barça players left the pitch, their fans also began to depart, leaving only the Dortmund players and fans to continue the celebration.

Klopp led everyone, carrying the championship trophy, to the stands to thank the fans.

After finally making it back to the locker room, the team’s wild celebration began.

After showering and changing his clothes, Wang Shuo took out his phone and found it flooded with congratulatory texts and messages.

He hadn’t realized it, but over the years, he had built up quite a network in the European football scene.

There were journalists, coaches, staff, club employees, players, referees, Football Association officials, and more...

Regardless of whether he knew them well or not, Wang Shuo replied to everyone with a "thank you."

For close friends, like Tuchel from Mainz, he would write a little more.

He also chatted a bit more with some of his friends from back home.

One message stood out in particular. Ronaldo had posted in their private group chat, telling them to check out YouTube.

As soon as he went online, Wang Shuo’s DMs exploded.

Countless netizens had left him messages.

He finally found Ronaldo’s latest video and saw that he was really wearing a white T-shirt in one of the private boxes at Wembley Stadium, filming the celebrating Dortmund team outside.

Written on the T-shirt were the words: Wang Shuo, The World’s Best!

But in the video, Ronaldo pointed provocatively at the screen and said, "Just you wait! Next season’s title is mine!"

Wang Shuo immediately gave his video a like, a favorite, and a share.