The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 234 - 64: Huge Gamble and Sponsorship, Record-Breaking Price, My Classmate Reus, and Bayern Shuts the Door on Wang Shuo
After seeing Klopp off, the Dortmund executives were still sitting in the office.
They needed to vote on Klopp’s proposal.
Moreover, they could all tell that Klopp was dead set on getting Wang Shuo.
The first to state his position was the chairman of the board, Watzke.
He was a fan of Klopp!
"The first time I heard the name Klopp was at the 2004 German Professional Football Summit. At the time, I was the club’s treasurer, and I happened to be sitting right next to Mainz’s general manager, Christian Heidel."
"That year, our debt shocked the entire world!"
Though it had only been four or five years, everyone’s memory of that time was still fresh.
In fact, some of the people in the room had come to Dortmund because of the circumstances at the time.
"Everyone knows that Mainz has always been a rather unremarkable team, but Heidel is an incredible general manager. We got to talking, and he recommended Klopp to me."
"His exact words at the time were, ’I have never seen a head coach like him in all of Germany.’"
"I joked, ’Could he help us at Dortmund pay off our debts?’"
The others couldn’t help but smile.
At the time, Dortmund’s debt was a staggering 118.2 million euros.
But that wasn’t the main point.
The main point was that nearly 70 million of it had been incurred during the ’03-’04 season.
And by then, Dortmund had already exhausted all of its resources, even selling Westfalen Stadium.
The only training ground the team had left was the Strobelaler Training Ground, west of Westfalen Stadium.
One standard-sized football field and one small-sided field.
It was barely enough for the first team’s use.
The youth team?
They were scattered all over, with no cohesive structure.
Watzke waited for the smiles to subside before calmly continuing.
"I was only joking, but to my surprise, Heidel told me with a completely straight face that he could!"
Suddenly, no one was smiling anymore.
That was back in 2004.
Now, in 2009, looking back, was Heidel right?
The answer was: absolutely.
Because last season, Klopp had taken Mainz to unprecedented heights.
They had even broken into the Champions League qualification spots.
"The facts have proven that the era of Christopher Dom, of Heynckes, of the older generation of football managers, is over."
"Football now belongs to Klopp, to Rangnick, to Labbadia!"
"Therefore, I support Klopp!"
Watzke’s declaration was hardly a surprise.
For the past few years, ever since Heidel’s recommendation, he had been the biggest advocate within Dortmund for hiring Klopp. He was also the primary architect of Dortmund’s recovery from the brink.
President Laubal didn’t immediately state his position, instead looking to the other side.
"Marcus, tell us your thoughts."
Marcus Kneipen, Dortmund’s numbers expert.
But his numbers weren’t football stats, they were financial figures.
"Ever since the subprime mortgage crisis hit the United States, the entire global economy has been affected."
"In the last ’08-’09 season, only 11 of the 18 Bundesliga clubs turned a profit, and that number includes Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim, and VfL Wolfsburg."
Those three clubs have always been considered special cases in the Bundesliga.
Of course, they’ve also faced a fair amount of criticism.
"Bayern’s net profit last season was only about 2.5 million euros, while Schalke 04 posted a loss of over 30 million euros."
"And as for us, according to our current calculations, we have a loss of about 2.9 million euros."
As the team’s financial wizard, Kneipen had all the figures at his fingertips, rattling them off with ease.
"Our losses stem primarily from the Brackel Training Base."
This was a project launched in 2005.
Dortmund had partnered with a local company to purchase a large plot of land in the Brackel District, located in the eastern suburbs of Dortmund.
The purchase included the site of an abandoned factory, which was slated to be developed into Dortmund’s new training base.
The project was to be divided into five phases. So far, only the first phase—the youth training center—was complete.
The second phase was the first-team training center, but they currently lacked the funds to begin construction.
Once that was built, the Strobelaler Training Ground next to Westfalen Stadium would be converted into a high-level, fee-based youth football academy.
Later phases would include a main training building and residential housing for the academy.
That facility was destined to become the future heart of football in Dortmund.
Thus, it had been a constant source of investment over the years.
"Our current debt is still close to 150 million euros, including an 80 million euro loan from Morgan Stanley."
In the ’04-’05 season, Dortmund’s debt reached a staggering 118.2 million euros, a figure that shocked the world.
But the most shocking part wasn’t the number itself; it was that Dortmund had already exhausted all of its resources.
They had even sold Westfalen Stadium.
They were forced to pay a staggering 15 million euros a year just to rent their own stadium.
So, after the club’s restructuring in 2005, Watzke and his team took over and initiated a recovery plan and asset reorganization.
Watzke’s first major move to establish his credibility was securing an 80 million euro loan from Morgan Stanley, with a 15-year repayment term.
Of that amount, 51 million euros were used to buy back 51% ownership of Westfalen Stadium.
But even now, Dortmund still had to pay rent each year, as the other 49% was still in someone else’s hands.
The remaining twenty-some million was used to pay off and restructure other debts.
Later on, Dortmund also sold off several players, including Rosicky and Petrich.
