Chapter 501 Bayern's Curse of Number Nine
"Hello, Su, welcome to Bayern!"
"Welcome, Sue!"
"So glad you chose Bayern!"
"Oh my goodness, Sue, I'm so glad to see you!"
"That's awesome, Sue. I'm excited to be your teammate!"
"You actually came. I almost thought I was dreaming."
…
What Su Dong completely did not expect was that in the club office, led by captain Kahn and vice-captain Sagnol, many Bayern players were actually waiting for him.
As soon as they saw him, they all came forward and welcomed him.
Kahn, Sagnol, Sauer, Lucio, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Van Buyten, Hummels, Rensing, Demichelis, Oter, Podolski...
Su Dong was also very polite. He shook hands with his teammates one by one, and even gave polite hugs to some of those he was familiar with.
"Hey, buddy!" Van Bommel shook hands with Su Dongshuang and gave him a tight hug.
The two actually didn't have a very deep friendship in Barcelona, but when they came to Bayern Munich, they both needed to band together for warmth.
After meeting everyone, Su Dong slowly stepped back and opened his arms to everyone, thanking them for their warm welcome.
In fact, he noticed it too.
Most of the players who came to the scene today were midfielders and defenders. Only Podolski came to the forward line because he is a local player. Players like Makaay, Pizarro, Santa Cruz, and even Karimi, who is also an Asian player, did not come.
This is not difficult to guess, because after Su Dong arrived, it was basically equivalent to sentencing them to death in Bayern.
Many outside media have been discussing this, believing that Su Dong’s arrival at Bayern is a dimensionality reduction attack, which is a bit like using technology to alleviate poverty. But for many Bayern players, or even the vast majority of Bayern players, Bayern is the pinnacle of their careers.
This may sound cruel, but it is the absolute truth.
Su Dong understood this very well and did not feel unhappy at all, because if he were in their shoes, he would probably do the same.
…
From Sporting Lisbon to Valencia and then to Barcelona, this is not the first time that Sudong has joined a new team.
Although each time is different, there are also many similarities.
Su Dong knew very well that if he wanted to gain a foothold in Bayern, the first thing he had to do was to integrate into the locker room and gain the recognition and trust of the players in the locker room.
So, when Kahn asked him what the first thing he wanted to do after arriving in Munich, Su Dong immediately joked that he wanted to know which was the best restaurant in Munich.
"Why do you want to know the best restaurant?" Ram asked curiously.
Everyone was also very puzzled, because in their impression, Su Dong didn't seem like a foodie.
"Because I thought, when everyone has time, I will treat you to a meal."
Considering Su Dong's current status, his words were an obvious gesture of goodwill. Kahn and others naturally sensed it and agreed with a smile, especially Kahn.
The old captain patted his chest and said that there was no reason for Su Dong to treat them, he would treat them.
In this back-and-forth conversation, the distance between them was invisibly shortened.
Although it's just a beginning, well begun is half done.
…
"Su, I have arranged the wardrobe and room for you. Have you chosen your jersey number?" Kahn asked with concern.
Everyone was also very concerned, especially Podolski.
He is now wearing the No. 11 jersey, which is also a very good number.
"That's exactly what I'm curious about." Su Dong frowned and asked, "Just now Hoeness showed me our team's jersey numbers for this season, and I noticed, why is there no number nine?"
This is what he just saw, but he didn't have time to ask.
Kahn and others laughed and immediately told Su Dong the reason.
In fact, it’s not just this season, it wasn’t there last season either.
This is a long story, and there is also the so-called Bayern No. 9 curse hyped up by the outside media.
Su Dong had time, and Kahn and others were happy to teach him about Bayern's history, so they sat down in the office and started chatting.
The history of Bayern's No. 9 jersey is certainly very long. After all, it is a very classic jersey number for all football teams in the world, such as Gerd Muller and Dieter Hoeness.
Dieter Hoeness is the general manager of Hertha Berlin. He is the younger brother of Uli Hoeness, who is now in Bayern. Both brothers used to play for Bayern, but what’s interesting is that his younger brother Dieter Hoeness came just after Uli Hoeness left.
Among them, Hoeness Jr. took over the No. 9 jersey from Gerd Muller.
And young Hoeness did not disappoint this classic jersey and left his own page in Bayern's history.
But after Hoeness Jr., Bayern's No. 9 jersey did not perform well for a decade. In the late 1980s, Bayern introduced Wichmann from Schalke 04. Although he scored quite a few goals, he was not convincing and left the team after only two seasons.
In the 1990s, Labbadia was another Bayern number nine, scoring 28 goals in 82 games in three seasons, which was definitely not up to standard for Bayern Munich, so he left.
In 1994, FIFA World Footballer of the Year Papin took over the No. 9 jersey of Bayern, but in the following two seasons, he only scored three goals in 27 games. The aging Papin's career in Bayern can only be regarded as a failure.
After that, the No. 9 jersey remained vacant for a few years until its next owner, Brazilian striker Elber.
Looking back from the current perspective, Elber is definitely successful and has made great contributions to Bayern. But in fact, for a long time, due to injuries and other factors, Elber's performance has not been outstanding. His number of goals has always been around fifteen. Such a goal efficiency is indeed a bit low for Bayern.
It was not until his last season at Bayern that he scored 21 goals and won the Bundesliga Golden Boot, but unfortunately he had to share it with Bochum veteran Thomas Christiansen.
After his peak, Elber also moved to Lyon.
After Elber, Bayern's most recent number nine is the Asian player Hashemian, who scored 16 league goals in Bochum and was brought in by Bayern. However, with zero goals in nine games in Bayern, Hashemian has never regained his form in Bochum.
When Makaay joined Bayern, he chose the number 10 instead of the number 9 favored by center forwards.
…
"That's the way it is, so I suggest that you consider other jersey numbers. After all, we still have a lot of vacancies at the moment. You can even negotiate with your teammates, but it's best not to choose number nine," Kahn advised.
Everyone also looked at Su Dong, paying attention to his expression.
Su Dong could see that these people were trying to test him to some extent.
It is said that Bayern only produces unruly stars, and it is not easy to convince these teammates.
Germans are still very proud in their bones!
"To be honest, I was a little hesitant about whether to choose number nine..." Su Dong deliberately paused when he said this.
As expected, he sensed disappointment and even contempt in the eyes of many of his teammates.
But he quickly changed the subject, "However, I like to do challenging things. It would have been fine if I didn't know about it before, but now that I know about it, I think it will be a great motivation for me."
"You mean..." Kahn was quite surprised.
"Don't tell me that I don't believe there is such a curse in this world. Even if there is, I believe I can break it with my own hands. Since this jersey has been covered in dust for so many years after Gerd Muller and Dieter Hoeness, let me try to make it shine again!"
When Su Dong finished speaking, his confident look on his face infected everyone present with his confidence.
This is the double Footballer of the Year award for two consecutive years!
He came to the Bundesliga not to prove his strength, but to conquer the Bundesliga fans and all the players!
At this moment, Su Dong made no secret of his ambitions.
I come, I see, I conquer! …………
…………
After agreeing on a time to have dinner with the players, Kahn and others went their separate ways.
Hoeness was very surprised by Su Dong's performance. He didn't expect that at such a young age, he was very mature in handling the relationship with players such as Kahn. This also confirmed the previous statements of the outside world.
Su Dong has never been a troublemaker, but he is not easy to mess with either.
"At present, I have arranged for people to go to Croatia to talk to Dinamo Zagreb, hoping that they can release Luka Modric during the winter break, but there is a problem. He played in the Champions League for Dinamo Zagreb, although only in the peripheral qualifiers."
In other words, after the introduction of Modric, he, like Su Dong, cannot play in the second half of the Champions League.
However, this is not something Su Dong should worry about.
Whether it's Modric, Van der Vaart, or even Sneijder, it's all fine. Su Dong doesn't mind who his teammates are.
Because no matter who they are, they are here to play football around Su Dong and pass the ball to Su Dong.
So, is there a difference?
"I heard that Mendes recommended three players to you?" Su Dong asked with a smile.
Hennes nodded, "He knows what we need."
"Who are they?"
"Porto's right winger Quaresma and Benfica's center back Pepe are both old acquaintances of yours."
Su Dong nodded. These two were indeed old acquaintances, but neither of them was cheap.
"The other is a young Brazilian player who plays as a left back. His name is Marcelo. I heard that Real Madrid has always wanted to sign him, but Mendes wants to transfer him to Bayern. His price is not expensive. We have seen his performance in Brazil, which is pretty good, and we have decided to sign him." Hoeness introduced.
Su Dong knew what was going on. He knew that Bayern signed Marcelo more or less out of respect for Su Dong.
Sometimes, transfers are like this. Mendes is Su Dong's agent. Bayern giving him some sweeteners and signing the players he recommended is also a way to improve the relationship between the two parties.
But the other two players are not cheap.
Just as Su Dong was thinking, Hennes suddenly said another sentence.
"We are also considering signing Pepe."
Su Dong was a little surprised.
(End of this chapter)
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