The Man Who Brought Them Miracles

"Mr. Klopp, you... can guarantee my playing time?" Even though he had already heard as much from Wagner, Chen Anno still wanted to make sure.

After all, this was Borussia Dortmund—a Borussia Dortmund that had already emerged from its debt crisis and was on the road to revival.

They had been strong contenders for the Bundesliga title over the past few seasons, and last year they had even reached the Champions League final.

Klopp folded his hands on the table in front of him and looked at Chen Anno sincerely. "Anno, please believe this. We'll put all of these promises into the contract."

"And as the current head coach of Borussia Dortmund, I'm telling you sincerely that I have great faith in you and in your future. We won't just promise you a certain amount of playing time—we'll give you a starting position and develop you as the future core of the team."

Looking at Klopp's sincere expression and hearing his calm tone, Chen Anno suddenly felt the kind of impulse that made a man willing to die for someone who truly understood him.

Aside from his father, Chen Fuqing, and his first coach, Vizoli, Klopp was the third person to have such faith in him.

With just that one statement, Chen Anno had already made his decision in his heart!

He was going to join Borussia Dortmund!

"All right! I'll go to Borussia Dortmund!" Chen Anno nodded seriously.

"Anno, aren't you going to hear the salary package we're offering first?" Chen Anno had agreed so quickly that Klopp was the one who froze for a moment. Before coming here, he had prepared so many things to say, and he had not even used them yet.

Sitting beside him, Wagner nudged Chen Anno's arm under the table. His meaning was obvious: I haven't even started negotiating your wages yet. Don't rush.

But Chen Anno acted very free and easy. "I'm only seventeen right now. Being able to get stable playing time and having a coach who understands me—I think that's enough! As for everything else... it isn't important. Or at least, for the current me, it isn't the most important thing."

After a pause, a confident smile appeared on Chen Anno's face. "If one day I can become a world-class star, all of that will come naturally, won't it?"

"Hahaha..."

Klopp laughed, and Peter Kravietz beside him laughed as well. In that moment, Klopp became even more certain that he had not misjudged him.

Seventeen-year-old Chen Anno had a very clear understanding of his own future!

Chen Anno did not need to take part in what came next. His agent and Sao Paulo's sporting director Suarez would settle everything with Borussia Dortmund's side. When the time came, all he needed to do was wait and sign.

After returning to the hotel, Chen Anno called Vizoli and told him his decision.

On the phone, Vizoli was very happy. Seeing Chen Anno go to a higher stage to show himself had always been what he hoped for deep down. Now that hope had come true, all he had was sincere blessings.

Two days later, Sao Paulo played a friendly against Portuguese Super League side Benfica at 1860 Munich's home ground, Grunwalder Stadion.

Chen Anno only played the first half and scored a goal, with the two teams drawing 1-1.

It was worth mentioning that after the match, Chen Anno also received an offer from Benfica, but he politely declined it.

This was also Sao Paulo's final match in Germany. Afterward, the entire Sao Paulo team rested in Munich for a day, then would take a flight back to Brazil.

However, on the morning of the day before they were about to return to Brazil, Chen Anno and Wagner went together to Borussia Dortmund's headquarters and officially signed with Borussia Dortmund, becoming a member of their squad for the new season.

To obtain Chen Anno, Borussia Dortmund paid Sao Paulo FC a transfer fee of thirty million euros.

On the day of signing, Borussia Dortmund paid fifteen million first.

In the second stage, before January 31, 2014, after Chen Anno had spent half a season at Borussia Dortmund, they would pay another eight million.

In the third stage, before June 30, 2014, if Chen Anno did not suffer any major injuries, they would pay the remaining seven million.

The reason Sao Paulo agreed to a sum lower than the forty-five-million release clause was because there was also an additional clause.

It was a sell-on percentage for Chen Anno's second transfer. If Chen Anno transferred from Borussia Dortmund to another team in the future, Sao Paulo would receive a 25% share.

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As for Chen Anno's personal terms, Borussia Dortmund was not stingy either.

The two sides signed a five-year contract, with an annual salary set directly at 800,000 euros after tax. This was already very close to the salary Mario Gotze had been earning at Borussia Dortmund before his recent transfer to Bayern Munich, and in each of the next five years, it would also increase by 20%.

Of course, that was only the base annual salary. There were also various performance bonuses, such as appearance fees, win bonuses, goal and assist bonuses, as well as bonuses for winning the Bundesliga, winning the German Cup, and advancing in or winning the Champions League.

Aside from these, Wagner also helped him secure a signing-on fee of 1.5 million euros. He would receive that right after signing, and it could serve as Chen Anno's living expenses after coming to Germany.

At the end of the contract were the release clause and the ownership of image rights.

Through Wagner's hard fight, Chen Anno personally retained 60% of his image rights.

The release clause was confidential.

After the two sides signed, Borussia Dortmund's official account released a piece of news, immediately attracting the attention of major media outlets.

<Sao Paulo player Anno Chen officially transfers to Borussia Dortmund>!

Released at the same time was a photo of Chen Anno holding up a Borussia Dortmund number 10 shirt.

Number 10 was the number left behind by former Borussia Dortmund core Mario Gotze, and it also represented Borussia Dortmund's expectations for Chen Anno.

Once this news came out, not only the media, but even Borussia Dortmund's own fans were a little stunned.

Of course, what stunned them was not that they were unfamiliar with Chen Anno. On the contrary, they were far too familiar with him. After all, Chen Anno's performance in the Audi Cup a few days earlier had been obvious to everyone.

But... wasn't Chen Anno negotiating with Bayern Munich?

These past two days, the media had been hyping up this news the whole time, and Borussia Dortmund's fans had even sourly mocked it online, saying Bayern Munich was always like this—if they could not beat someone, they bought them.

This happiness had come way too suddenly, hadn't it?

Since when could our Borussia Dortmund compete with Bayern Munich for players?

However, before Borussia Dortmund's fans could finish celebrating, less than half an hour later, the official account released another bombshell.

<Robert Lewandowski officially transferred to Bayern Munich. The club thanked Robert for his contributions to the team and wished him a bright future.>

Damn it! So it really was this. Now this was the familiar feeling!

That was exactly how The Bumblebees' fans felt at that moment: they had traded a Bundesliga Golden Boot winner, the team's top scorer, for a seventeen-year-old kid.

Even if Chen Anno had torn Bayern Munich apart in the Audi Cup, that was still a commercial tournament!

To put it bluntly, it was just a friendly!

In their minds, Lewandowski was definitely worth more than Chen Anno. After all, Lewandowski had already proven himself in both the league and the Champions League.

No matter how much of a genius Chen Anno was, he was still only seventeen!

Although they were somewhat angry, Borussia Dortmund's fans still did not criticize the club's decision.

After all, the team had only just gotten through its financial crisis, and everyone knew that Lewandowski had refused to renew his contract. Rather than force him to stay for one more season, it was more practical to sell him early and get some money back.

Of course, they were not too worried that the club's results this season would fall off a cliff, because they believed in Klopp. They believed in the man who had once brought them miracles.

As long as Klopp was there, Borussia Dortmund would have hope!

If they found out that this very man had been the one who advocated selling Lewandowski and bringing in the seventeen-year-old kid in their eyes...

Then...

They would definitely be even happier!

Because in the eyes of Borussia Dortmund fans, no one understood how to discover young players better than Klopp.