The "Chop Ye Chen" tactic.
Mendes' Operation Officially Begins!
At the moment the contract was signed, Mendes' operation had officially begun!
Football's hottest websites were flooded with various posts about Ye Chen's transfer!
[Manchester United submits a formal £30 million bid for Dortmund—Countdown to Ye's return to the Theatre of Dreams!][Mourinho: Ye is the striker every coach needs—Real Madrid welcomes you!][Barcelona president: Our bid for Ye is to support Messi, not just for the Chinese market...][Wenger: Ye is an exciting talent, and he will surely succeed in England!][...]
At the same time, six top clubs had made offers for Ye Chen.
Manchester United showed the most sincerity, while Bayern Munich had the lowest bid.
Besides them, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, and Chelsea all offered €30 million!
The reason why so many top clubs bid at the same time was simple—it all stemmed from a report by Kicker.
In Germany, and even across European football, Kicker was an authoritative publication.
That in-depth report analyzed Ye Chen's technical abilities, future development, and market value, ultimately concluding that Ye Chen would become the number one Asian football superstar!
However, Dortmund still hoped to renew Ye Chen's contract.
Even the club's owner personally came to meet him.
This was the first time Ye Chen had met the club owner.
Of course, all transfer matters had been fully entrusted to Mendes. What Ye Chen needed to do now was return to training!
Mendes' advice was simple: "Don't respond to transfer rumors. Just focus on training and wait for the results."
Ye Chen was happy to comply.
Top clubs were like sharks smelling blood—no matter their motives, their bids were real.
Dortmund's top management also started paying attention to this young player who had only been at the club for a month.
Initially, Ye Chen signed a "Future Star" contract with an annual salary of €1 million.
This salary was on the same level as Mario Götze's at the time, showing the club's sincerity.
Most importantly, the additional clauses Ye Chen requested were all included—even earning a place in the Bundesliga's Team of the Month would bring him a €5,000 bonus.
Back then, when negotiating with Ye Chen, the club didn't believe he could make it onto that list.
After all, the Bundesliga was full of talent!
However, from the match against Augsburg to Werder Bremen and the recent game against Cologne, Ye Chen had won MVP for three consecutive matches, scoring three hat-tricks and providing one assist!
That €5,000 bonus was now a certainty.
For the rest of the month, Dortmund had two more matches left:
DFB-Pokal second round against Dynamo DresdenBundesliga away match against Stuttgart
These two matches were only two days apart.
Klopp's strategy was to use a half-rotated squad for the DFB-Pokal and a full-strength lineup for Stuttgart.
Stuttgart was currently ranked 5th in the Bundesliga, a team not to be underestimated!
On the Bundesliga table, Bayern Munich remained the undisputed leader.
Ye Chen's phenomenal rise had propelled Dortmund back to second place.
In third place was Dortmund's arch-rival, Schalke 04, led by striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Fourth place belonged to Hannover 96, the team that had beaten both Dortmund (2-1) and Bayern (2-1) this season.
The 11th round clash between Dortmund and Stuttgart was undoubtedly a high-profile battle.
Meanwhile, at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, Dynamo Dresden's head coach, Ralf Loose, stood with a serious expression as he addressed his players.
On the screen in front of them was a replay of Ye Chen's post-match interview.
After being provoked by Taro Tano, Ye Chen had responded confidently:
"Scoring in five consecutive matches should be a little better than four, right?"
Loose paused the video and turned to his players.
"Did you all hear what he said?"** he asked through gritted teeth.
Then, he replayed the clip again!
"Open your eyes wide and remember this kid's face!"
"He is the hottest new star in the Bundesliga right now!"
"He has scored hat-tricks in four consecutive games!"
"He is incredibly talented, but he wants to make history at our expense. Do you agree to this?"
"Are you willing to be his stepping stone, his background in the record books?" Loose's voice grew louder, his bulging eyes filled with intensity.
Dynamo Dresden had only recently been promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.
When spoken in Cantonese, their name sounded like "Tressden".
After reaching the 2. Bundesliga, they had undergone a complete squad overhaul.
Since October, their form had been improving:
October 2nd: 4-2 victory against 1860 Munich (Away)October 16th: 1-1 draw against Alemannia Aachen, scoring the equalizer in the 93rd minute (Home)Last match (Round 12): 2-0 clean-sheet victory over Braunschweig
The team was on the right path.
Originally, Loose had planned to give up the cup match against Dortmund.
But after watching this interview, he was furious!
"We might lose, but we won't let him set records against us!"
The players were instantly fired up.
"No way we're letting that happen!""Boss, let's take him down!""This is the perfect chance to test ourselves against a Bundesliga team!""Exactly! This isn't China—he can't just walk over us!"
Loose nodded.
"I analyzed Ye Chen's previous matches with my coaching staff. Beating Dortmund is difficult, but stopping Ye Chen isn't!"
"I'm calling this strategy... 'The Chop Ye Tactic!'"
"I don't care what we call it, we just can't let him set a record!""Yeah! We're not going to be his stepping stone!""Boss, just tell us what to do!"
Seeing his players fired up, Loose smirked.
Ye Chen had become Dortmund's attacking core after his stunning performance against Cologne, where he scored three goals and assisted one.
If they could shut down Ye Chen, even Dortmund would struggle to attack!
At that moment…
Loose had a wild idea.
A soldier who doesn't dream of being a general is not a good soldier.
A coach who doesn't dream of winning isn't a good coach either!
Besides, cup competitions are where upsets happen.
Even European giants have been eliminated by underdogs.
So why not dream big?
He imagined a silent, stunned Westfalenstadion, home of Dortmund's infamous Yellow Wall.
Just the thought made him tremble with excitement.
Of course, he didn't tell his players this.
Instead, he used their anger toward Ye Chen to fuel their determination.
His plan?
A Chelsea-style defensive strategy against Barcelona in the Champions League!
Meanwhile, at Dortmund's training ground, the players had returned to training.
Klopp pulled Ye Chen aside.
"Ye, I'm making you the tactical core for the next match!"
Since their DFB-Pokal opponent was weak, Klopp wanted to test a new tactical system.
If it worked, Dortmund could unleash a yellow hurricane in the Champions League's second half!
"Huh?"
"What? You got a problem with that?" Klopp raised an eyebrow.
"No, boss!" Ye Chen shook his head immediately, his blood boiling with excitement.
He was on fire!
Step by step, he had risen from a substitute to a starter, and now—
Dortmund's tactical centerpiece!
And this was only the beginning!