Chapter 237 - 64: A Huge Gamble, Sponsorship, and a Record Price

"Bro, I’ll be honest with you. Dortmund is actually drowning in debt too. You could call them a bigger version of Mainz."

Huh?

Wang Shuo felt a little frustrated.

’Didn’t I just jump from one pit into an even bigger one?’

"But don’t worry. Dortmund is a big club with deep roots, much better off than Mainz. And they don’t delay paying salaries and bonuses, so you don’t have to worry about that."

Hearing this, Wang Shuo felt a little better.

However, speaking of salaries and bonuses, Mainz still owed him a large sum of money, and he needed to get it back.

"I heard that Dortmund really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to sign you. We even suffered a loss last season, so raising that 20 million euros wasn’t easy."

Subotic, however, was quite impressed by the club’s maneuvering and boldness.

Most importantly, not only was Wang Shuo joining Dortmund, but Klopp would also be coaching them.

Although the transfer fee would be paid in installments, raising the money was still very challenging.

Subotic was now living with his girlfriend, so if Wang Shuo really moved to Dortmund, he would feel awkward about staying with him.

It would be inconvenient, too.

So, he would have to find a place of his own.

Fortunately, Subotic said that Dortmund’s first-team training ground was right next to the Westfalen Stadium.

Based on Wang Shuo’s preferences, Subotic suggested he live in the affluent southern district of the city.

The night Wang Shuo arrived in Hu City and checked into his hotel, he received another call from Klopp.

Over the phone, Klopp told Wang Shuo that Mainz had officially accepted Dortmund’s offer.

"I’m very much looking forward to working with you at Dortmund!"

But the transfer was only halfway complete.

The next step was to negotiate Wang Shuo’s personal contract.

This was why Thomas Essien had urged him to return to Europe quickly.

The next day, Wang Shuo took a flight from Hu City to Frankfurt.

Thomas Essien picked him up at Frankfurt Airport and drove him straight back to his home in Mainz.

Along the way, he updated him on the latest developments.

Dortmund had been in touch and offered a personal contract that he felt was quite good.

The annual salary was two million euros.

It included everything from appearance fees, goal and assist bonuses, to championship and league ranking bonuses.

But the bonuses weren’t as generous as those at Mainz.

The Mainz contract had been an exception.

After all, when they signed that contract, no one expected Mainz to win the DFB-Pokal and qualify for a Champions League spot.

At Mainz, both Subotic and Wang Shuo had an annual salary of 800,000 euros.

Moving to Dortmund, Subotic’s salary increased to 1.5 million euros.

Wang Shuo’s, on the other hand, jumped straight to two million euros.

In the Bundesliga, this annual salary was considered upper-middle tier.

"You can tell Dortmund is being very sincere."

Besides, the terms offered by the Bumblebees were something Mainz could never match, no matter what.

...

On the second day after Wang Shuo’s arrival in Germany, he met with representatives from Dortmund at a hotel in Frankfurt.

Present were the club’s Chairman of the Board, Watzke; Sporting Director Zorc; and the new head coach, Klopp.

Wang Shuo, for his part, was accompanied by his agent, Thomas Essien.

The five of them met in the sitting room of a spacious executive suite at the hotel.

Watzke and Zorc, representing Dortmund, formally invited Wang Shuo to join the club.

"We hope that under Jurgen’s coaching, and with your help after you join, our Dortmund will be able to quickly return to the Champions League and once again challenge for the Bundesliga title!"

This was a statement of ambition!

No matter what state Dortmund was in, it was still one of the European G-14 powerhouse clubs.

In Germany, it was the second-strongest powerhouse, second only to Bayern.

But over the past few years, the Bumblebees’ performance had indeed been too lackluster.

Wang Shuo and Thomas Essien had already discussed the matter, and Wang Shuo was very satisfied with the terms Dortmund had offered.

Dortmund had also agreed to guarantee his position in the team for the new season in writing, as part of the contract.

Most importantly, the head coach was Klopp.

Wang Shuo had an excellent relationship with Klopp, and they had worked together very well.

This was the reason he chose to join Dortmund without much hesitation.

He trusted Klopp’s judgment and ability.

So, the meeting went very smoothly and was quite pleasant.

Next, Wang Shuo was scheduled to travel to Stuttgart to visit the Porsche headquarters.

After that, he would head to Dortmund to officially sign with the Bumblebees.

However, they did preliminarily sign an agreement at the hotel.

After seeing Watzke and Zorc off, Wang Shuo, Thomas Essien, and Klopp had a meal together at the hotel.

Wang Shuo remarked that Dortmund was making a big gamble this time.

"It’s probably mainly because they’re jealous of Bayern," Klopp said, getting straight to the point.

"Jealous of Bayern?"

Klopp nodded. "How did Bayern survive the Kirch Group bankruptcy crisis?"

At that time, almost every team in the Bundesliga was mired in a bankruptcy crisis. How could Bayern possibly have been spared?

But the reality was, not only did Bayern avoid a bankruptcy crisis, they didn’t even have any debt. In fact, they loaned a lot of money to other clubs and even took the opportunity to buy low, snapping up star players from other teams.

Isn’t that how stars like Lucio and Ballack ended up at Bayern?

That’s what led to Bayern’s subsequent dominance.

"Investment from Adidas and Deutsche Telekom!" Klopp answered his own question.