I'm Not Interested in Men at All

Dortmund, Germany.

"Hey...! Jurgen, I called you several times. Why didn't you pick up?" The voice on the other end sounded a little anxious.

"Peter, my old friend, what's so urgent? Is your house on fire? Haha..."

As the man answered the phone, he was still fastening his belt. Judging by the motion, he had most likely been in the bathroom just now.

His name was Jurgen Klopp, the current head coach of Borussia Dortmund and a meritorious manager.

The person on the other end was naturally his assistant, Peter Kravietz. The two had begun working together back at Mainz, and Kravietz was known to the outside world as Klopp's eyes.

After Klopp came to Borussia Dortmund, he brought him along as well.

And these two were precisely the mysterious men who had worn caps while watching the match at Munich's Allianz Arena earlier.

"Shit! I'm not in the mood to joke with you, Jurgen. Listen to me. A friend of mine over at Bayern told me that an hour ago, Anno Chen and his agent went to Saebener Strasse together, to Bayern Munich headquarters!"

"What did you say?" Klopp hadn't even pulled his pants up properly before he suddenly sprang up. "They went to Bayern? Are you sure the information is right? Oh... shit! Those shameless bastards. As if poaching our core wasn't enough, now they're coming after the player I've set my sights on too? Hurry up and tell me, how did their talks go?"

"We don't know yet. Apparently Wagner and Anno didn't stay in Sammer's office for long. They left in less than an hour, but when they left, Sammer saw them off personally. It seemed... the talk went pretty well."

"Hiss... pretty well?" Klopp sat on the sofa, his brows tightly furrowed. "Peter, listen to me... go and probe around again. It'd be best if you could find out how far their talks went and whether they signed a contract.

"I'll call Hans right away. I told that guy about this the moment I got back yesterday, and he still hasn't replied to me.

"Right, if you really can't find out anything, then contact Wagner directly. You can sound him out... mm... no, just state our intentions outright... that won't work either. In terms of appeal, we have to admit Borussia Dortmund can't compete with Bayern. Forget it. Ask around on Bayern's side first."

After hanging up, Klopp casually grabbed his jacket and went straight out the door, heading for the Brackel training base.

As one of the Bundesliga's powerhouse clubs and one of the first member clubs of Europe's G14, Borussia Dortmund had an extremely glorious past.

On October 31, 2000, Borussia Dortmund was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed club in Germany.

However, it was precisely from that time onward that, after raising funds from the stock market, they began buying big-name stars like mad. It would not be an exaggeration to describe them as spending money like water.

This also led to the team racking up massive foreign debts within just a few short years.

By 2005, Borussia Dortmund had almost reached the brink of bankruptcy, and the team's results had also plummeted.

It was in that year that Hans-Joachim Watzke took over the club's day-to-day affairs as team manager, organizing debt restructuring and financial recovery work.

From 2005 to 2008, the club began a major purge of the squad, selling off some highly paid big-name stars.

Then, in the 2008-09 season, a man appeared. He turned the tide and propped up a collapsing building.

He turned his attention to the club's own youth academy and began heavily using youth players. Every signing he made was a young player who was cheap and useful.

He was Jurgen Klopp!

The man who led Borussia Dortmund toward rebirth, the man who led Dortmund's young army to sweep across Europe.

If the Borussia Dortmund of that time was compared to a dying man bleeding heavily, then Watzke was the doctor who stopped the bleeding, while Klopp was the savior who gave him the blood transfusion that brought him back to life.

Brackel base, CEO's office.

Watzke was in a very good mood. The team had long since escaped the mire of debt, and the entire club was showing a flourishing upward trend.

In the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, they won the Bundesliga title in two consecutive seasons. In particular, in the 2011-12 season, they even captured a domestic double.

Although they failed to defend the title last season, they still finished second in the league, continuing to keep up their pursuit of Bayern.

Most, most importantly, last season Borussia Dortmund eliminated Real Madrid in the Champions League and reached the final, letting all the fans see hope in the Champions League.

Of course, in the final, they narrowly lost to their mortal enemy Bayern Munich, but this was also the first time the team had reached the Champions League final since winning the title in the 1996-97 season.

Although the team's core, Mario Gotze, had been poached by Bayern in the summer window, at least he had left the team a sizable transfer fee.

With this money, he could do many things again.

As for the Polish striker Lewandowski, who was still clamoring about wanting to go to Bayern, Watzke could only say sorry.

"La-la-li-la-lang..."

Watzke half-reclined in his chair, his feet resting on the desk, humming some unknown little tune while holding a steaming, fragrant cup of coffee in his hand.

The office door was suddenly pushed open, startling him so badly he almost spilled the coffee on his pant leg.

"Hey...! Jurgen, you scared me, you know that? That's just how you are. Whatever you do, you're always in such a hurry..."

Klopp stepped forward and braced both hands on the desk, his eyes fixed hard on Watzke in front of him.

"Contact Bayern. Tell them we agree. Sell Lewandowski to them!"

"Hah..." Watzke slowly lowered his feet from the desk. "I thought you said... what did you say!?"

Watzke shot to his feet. "Are you crazy, Jurgen! Sell Lewandowski to Bayern? Then what do we do? Rely on that Gabonese kid we just brought in from Saint-Etienne?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Jurgen, there's no way I can agree to this! Do you know how much Bayern are offering? Twenty-five million! They think twenty-five million is enough to take away the Bundesliga and Champions League double Silver Boot winner! They're dreaming!"

"Watzke, listen to me. I'm not crazy! Robert's contract expires next year. We've opened renewal talks before, but... whether it's his agent or Robert himself, neither of them has any sincerity about renewing. Rather than letting him leave on a free next season, we might as well sell him now. At least we can still get some income."

Klopp spoke slowly and sincerely.

Watzke frowned when he heard this. "But... Jurgen, are you sure that Gabonese kid can fill the gap left after Robert leaves?"

"Of course he can't do it alone!" Klopp looked at Watzke, determination showing in his eyes. "Hans, do you still remember the Anno Chen I told you about when I came back yesterday?"

"Anno Chen?" Watzke looked a little lost.

Klopp took one look at him and knew the guy had completely forgotten what he had told him yesterday. He pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Anno Chen, a Sao Paulo player. You know Peter and I went to Munich yesterday to watch an Audi Cup match. That kid scored a hat trick against Bayern Munich!"

When Watzke heard him say that, he seemed to remember a little. "All right, I remember now. But... Jurgen, if I'm not mistaken, that little guy is only seventeen, right? You're that confident in him?"

Klopp reached out, grabbed the coffee on the desk, and took a fierce gulp.

"Hey...! That's my coffee!"

"Too sweet. You put in too much sugar!" Klopp ignored Watzke's cry and complained instead.

He set down the coffee cup in his hand. "Hans, look into my eyes!"

"Jurgen, is there something wrong with you today? I have absolutely no interest in men!" Watzke waved him off in disgust.