Champion’s Heart

Mark stared blankly at the TV screen. Pique took the football down and passed it to Xavi. Xavi then turned around and passed the ball forward to Iniesta. Skimmed, then passed the football to Messi.

Facing Dortmund's central defender Subotic, Messi broke through easily, entered the penalty area, and shot!

Although Weidenfeller made a saving action, he was not able to save Messi's shot.

The football hit the net, Barcelona 2-0 to seal the victory!

Champions League champion, say goodbye to Mark completely.

Mark slowly turned his head to look at the door, his dull eyes gradually became clearer, then he jumped up from the ground, rushed to the door and shouted down: Zhouyi—! What are you howling!!! My Champions League !My UEFA Champions League champion!!!!!! You—— pay!!”

What are you playing, Mark! Pack up your things and go out! We're going to Brackle! Zhou Yi shouted from downstairs.

Why? Isn't the season over? It's a holiday now, what are you still doing at the training base? Mark was puzzled.

Go sign the contract! Professional contract! Zhou Yi shouted at the top of his voice.

Mrs. Wagner, who was busy back in the kitchen, froze when she heard Zhou Yi's words.

Soon, she heard a burst of dense and messy footsteps coming from above her head.

Mark appeared at the stairs. He grabbed the railing and leaned down, looking at Zhou Yi: Are you kidding, Zhou Yi?

Who's joking? Mr. Ricken called to inform you that you and I are going to Brackle now to sign a professional contract! Zhou Yi shouted excitedly at Mark.

Mark froze for a moment, then turned around and ran back: I'm going to change clothes!

Zhou Yi also ran upstairs with him, and he was also going to get things.

※※※

Lars Rickon held the phone, listening helplessly to the various shouts and footsteps coming from inside.

Hello, Zhou Yi? He asked tentatively. Zhou Yi, are you still on the phone?

What answered him was Mrs. Wagner's voice faintly: I'll call your father back, Mark, and let him come and see you off!

Then came the sound of footsteps...

Zhou Yi did not answer Ricken.

Obviously, Zhou Yi seemed to have forgotten that he was still talking to him, and just ran away.

He has been the director of youth training for a year, and he has been in charge of notifying some players to sign professional contracts, but this is the first time he has seen such an excited notified person...

He smiled and shook his head, then hung up the phone himself.

Forget it, let's talk about the rest when he comes to the training base...

※※※

Mark's father was working in the company when he suddenly received a call from his wife. After he listened to the phone quietly, he hung up and went to ask his boss for leave.

Uh, old Wagner, we haven't gotten off work yet... The boss pointed to the clock hanging on the wall to remind Old Wagner.

Old Wagner nodded: I know, sir. But I have to go home.

Why? asked the boss.

My son is about to sign a professional contract with Borussia Dortmund.

I'm going to send them to the club.

Ah? Ah! After hearing the news, the boss froze for a moment, and then slapped him. Okay, I'm on leave! You go! This is a very important thing!

Thank you sir. Old Wagner turned and left the boss's office.

Coming out of the company, the old Wagner drove the car fast in silence, and returned home at the fastest speed.

When his car was just parked in front of the house, Zhou Yi, Mark, and Mrs. Wagner all opened the door and walked out. They were ready.

Get in the car, children. Mrs. Wagner pushed the two children into the car and sat in the passenger seat herself.

It's a pity that the time was too sudden, and I didn't have time to inform your sister. Sitting in the car, Mrs. Wagner still felt a little regretful. However, I will call her to come back for dinner, and we must have a good celebration tonight!

After finishing speaking, she patted the center console of the car and announced vigorously: Let's go! Go to Brakel!

It feels like it's not Mark who is going to sign a professional contract with Dortmund, but her...

※※※

On the way, Mark and Zhou Yi looked forward to a better life after signing a professional contract. They would no longer be under a youth contract. In terms of income, they would be much better than they are now. They can be regarded as real professional players, relying on the salary paid by the club to support themselves, instead of relying on their parents.

While speaking, the car had arrived at the parking lot outside the Brakel training base. After seeing Old Wagner, Zhou Yi, and Mark, the guard at the gate raised the railing without saying anything, and let it pass.

These people are parents who often send their children to the club for training. The guards have known each other for a long time, and there is no need to check any documents.

But the guard was also surprised, isn't the youth team already on vacation, what are these two kids doing at the training base again?

Before the car stopped in the parking lot, the rear door was opened by Mark. He couldn't wait to jump out of the car, followed by Zhou Yi. After the two got out of the car, they wanted to run in, but they were stopped by Mrs. Wagner.

Wait a minute, boys!

She got off the co-pilot, walked quickly to the two eager teenagers, and arranged their clothes.

Don't run, it will be so ugly when you sign the contract out of breath. She said to the two children. Calm down, you guys are already professional players!

Mark scratched his head in embarrassment, but Zhou Yi just smiled.

Go. Looking at the two children, Mrs. Wagner said lovingly.

The two turned around and walked towards the youth training building. At first they could maintain their pace and not walk too fast. However, it was difficult to restrain the joy and excitement in his heart, he walked faster and faster, and finally ran.

Mrs. Wagner looked at the backs of the two children running from behind, but she just shook her head with a smile and did not make a sound to stop them.

Because this is the nature of children.

※※※

Rickon waited in his office for two teenagers, Zhou Yi and Mark. Seeing that they were out of breath and their cheeks were flushed, Rickon pretended to be surprised and asked, You didn't come here directly from home, did you?

How is it possible, sir. We don't have that kind of physical strength. We ran from the parking lot. Zhou Yi said.

Rickon smiled.

Okay, come on, you can take a look at the contract, and you can ask any questions at any time. Rickon pushed the two children to the chair and sat down, and the contract text was placed in front of each of them.

In fact, generally speaking. Signing a professional contract should be accompanied by an agent, even for youth team players. Nowadays, more and more players are precocious. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, they can enter the first team to play and even become the main force. Therefore, agents have already extended their tentacles to the youth team. Famous young players will always be approached by agents.

However, the speed at which Mark and Zhou Yi came out was too short, so neither of them has an agent yet.

Naturally, you can only read the contract by yourself.

In fact, Zhou Yi couldn't understand the contract. Those complicated legal terms made him immediately think of the passages in the political textbooks that needed to be memorized, and he got dizzy when he thought of it.

Zhou Yi only cares about two things - the contract period and salary, time and money.

It was the only thing he could understand.

And the contract of a professional player, to put it bluntly, is actually the most important thing.

How long you play for a team determines the player's next step of development. The more famous a player is, the less willing he is to sign a long-term contract with a small team. But this is not a problem for youth team players, because they often have not yet achieved fame. At this time, they are often pursuing stability instead of using the team as a springboard.

At the same time, clubs also treat differently in terms of the age limit of the contract. For those players with outstanding talents, clubs often give a long-term contract. There are ten or eight years, and five or six years are normal.

As for those youth team players with average qualifications, the club usually controls the number of years to be shorter, such as three or four years. Three or four years can also see how far an eighteen-year-old player can develop in the future. If after three seasons, the player still does not perform very well and his progress tends to stop, it can mean that the player no longer meets the requirements of his team, and the club will choose to return the contract when the contract expires. Sell ​​him the year before, or simply wait for the contract to expire and not renew it.

Zhou Yi glanced at his contract period - eight years.

He is eighteen years old now, and eight years later, he will be twenty-six years old, and he is in the prime of his career.

From this number of years, it can be seen that the Dortmund club is still very optimistic about Zhou Yi's future. Of course, there was a reason for their optimism, which was due to Zhou Yi's own performance.

Just eight months after joining the youth team, he has become the absolute core of the two youth teams, helping the Dortmund Youth A team win two important championships, and is a talented player second only to Götze.

Such talent and performance are naturally worthy of the club's attention to him.

Zhou Yi has no objection to the eight-year contract period, because he knows very well that the first professional contract in life is often not actually fulfilled until the contract expires.

As long as the insurance is good, the contract will definitely be re-signed, and both the salary and the number of years will be revised at that time.

So now there is no need to worry about whether it is eight years or six years.

There is no problem with the contract period, Zhou Yi will look at the salary next.

As the first professional contract in life, the salary is often not too high.

But this is not too high compared with those first-team stars. Compared with an ordinary working-class person, the salary of professional players is still very impressive.

Unlike the English team that pays attention to weekly salary, Bundesliga teams all talk about annual salary.

So what is Zhou Yi's annual salary?

The contract says 150,000 euros.

One hundred and fifty thousand euros!

Converted into RMB, that would be a bonus of 1.5 million!

Zhou Yi is only eighteen years old, and he has already become a millionaire!

And this is more than money, his parents may take a lifetime to earn it based on their current income. Now it is only Zhou Yi's income for one year.

This is one of the reasons why Zhou Yi must be a professional player.

Not only for the football dream in my heart, but also for money.

But... Zhou Yi, who was in a happy period, suddenly saw that there was a point stated in the contract, the 150,000 was...annual salary before tax!

One hundred and fifty thousand before tax, how much is it after tax?

Zhou Yi raised his head and asked Ricken: Sir, um...how is the personal income tax collected in Germany?

Rickon seemed to have been prepared for a long time. Seeing Zhou Yi's question, he handed him a piece of paper. Zhou Yi took it over and saw that it was a table about German personal income tax rates.

The tax rates for different income classes in Germany are clearly marked on it.

Those whose annual income is less than 7,664 euros do not have to pay taxes.

Annual income between EUR 7,665 and EUR 12,739

Yuan, the tax rate is 15%.

The tax rate is 24% for annual income between EUR 12,740 and EUR 52,151.

The tax rate is 45% for annual income exceeding EUR 52,151.

Zhou Yi compared it and found that he had to pay 45% of the tax, and suddenly felt very heartbroken.

After paying 150,000 yuan, there are only more than 80,000 euros left...

Seeing that Zhou Yi was still studying taxes, Ricken asked, By the way, Zhou Yi, do you have any religious belief?

No. Zhou Yi shook his head. I am atheist.

Oh, then you escaped unharmed. Rickon laughed.

Ah? Zhou Yi didn't understand.

If you have a religious belief, you still have to pay a church tax of 3% to 4% of your income. But if you have no religious belief, you don't have to pay this tax. After all, Germany is a state-religious country. This aspect is mandatory. In addition, you have to pay about 11,000 euros in social insurance every year. Seeing that Zhou Yi is very concerned about income, Riken explained in detail.

He said that, after doing the calculations in Zhou Yi, he found that his income was even less, and only 70,000 was left over 80,000...

Before, he thought that the annual salary of 150,000 was quite a lot, but now he felt that it was not much at all!

While Zhou Yi was still struggling with income, Mark next to him had already decided to sign the contract.

Have you finished watching? Zhou Yi asked strangely.

Well, there is nothing to look at. It has always been my ideal to become a professional player for Dortmund. Mark laughed.

Mark then signed his name on the contract.

Seeing that Mark had signed, Zhou Yi had nothing to say. This contract is just like this anyway, he is not a professional agent, and he is not good at bargaining with the club. Anyway, it is the first contract in his life. Although he is not particularly satisfied with the income, it is also It gave Zhou Yi the motivation to continue to work hard-work hard to perform well, and then re-sign a big contract!

So Zhou Yi also signed.

Liken handed over the pen, but Zhou Yi waved his hand and refused. He took out a Montblanc fountain pen from his pocket, which looked familiar to Liken.

Is this given to you at the last signing? he asked.

Zhou Yi nodded: I specially used it to sign the contract.

Rickon smiled.

Zhou Yi unscrewed the pen cap and signed his name on the contract. From this moment on, he officially became a professional player.

His original goal was achieved.

But Zhou Yi is very clear.

Becoming a professional player is just the beginning. If he can't play in the first team, then even having a professional contract is meaningless.

Germany stipulates that one can sign a professional contract at the age of 18, so this is just a routine, and it does not mean that he can really play in the first team.

Now he is not even a player in the first team, let alone playing in the first team.

※※※

After the signing of the contract between the two parties, Rickon took out his camera and took a photo and a group photo of each of them as a souvenir.

After that, nothing happened, and the two wanted to say goodbye, and went out to tell the Wagners who were waiting outside the good news.

But Rickon stopped Zhou Yi: Zhou Yi, stay here for a while, I have something to say.

Both Zhou Yi and Mark were very strange, Zhou Yi pointed to himself: Is it just me?

Rickon nodded.

Then I'll wait for you outside. Mark quickly said to Zhou Yi, then said goodbye to Rickon and went out.

He closed the door, and now only Riken and Zhou Yi were left in the office.

Come on, sit down first. Riken signaled Zhou Yi to sit down, so Zhou Yi sat on the sofa.

And Rickon returned to his desk and sat down on the corner of the desk looking at his buttocks.

What are your plans for this holiday, Zhou Yi? he asked.

Go home, sir. Zhou Yi replied.

Oh? Is the ticket booked?

Will the club be reimbursed? Zhou Yi's eyes lit up, thinking that Rickon cared about his air ticket because of this.

Ricken didn't expect Zhou Yi to have such a big brain, and quickly waved his hand: You think too much. I'm afraid that you will lose some fees when you cancel the ticket.

Refund? Why should I refund? Zhou Yi was puzzled.

It's like this, Zhou Yi, you may not be able to go home for vacation, Rickon said.

Zhou Yi's eyes widened in doubt.

I received a call from Klopp before, summer training, you will be transferred to the first team to train with the team.

Zhou Yi opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at Liken.

And the first team's training camp starts on July 2, so...you don't have time to go home, Zhou Yi. But I want to remind you that you are only training with the first team now, which doesn't mean you are a first team player. Whether you can stay in the first team or not depends on your performance during the training camp.

Just you and Gotze. The whole U19 team will go to the first team for training. Ricken added.

Zhou Yi was stunned - there was no Mark.

Zhou Yi understood why he was left alone to talk about this matter - it was always a little embarrassing to say such things in front of Mark.

But Zhou Yi is in trouble now, how will he face Mark in a while?

He originally thought that with Mark's outstanding performance during this period, if he wanted to go to the first team, he would definitely go with him.

Did not expect them to be separated.

It should be a very happy thing to be selected for the first team to go to the training camp, but now Zhou Yi is suddenly not so happy.

Mark worked so hard and wanted to go to the first team. His hard work in the past few months is all in his own eyes.