Bellingham and Haaland

18)

The summer transfer window was extremely nerve wracking as usual, but it was finally coming to a close. In the end, nobody was leaving and nobody new was coming in.

Although, many big clubs have been keeping an eye on Haaland and Bellingham. If they play like they have this season their soon departure would be inevitable.

It's finally time to start getting prepared for real football.

Dortmund will spend the whole month of July in Austria for friendly matches. They weren't necessary nor very competitive, but it was still a great way to warm up for the real games coming up.

The team needs to assemble at the stadium by 7:30, later they'll get picked up by a bus and transferred to the airport.

***

The grass was still soaked in morning dew, glistening in the sun. Despite the sun being out, it was still fairly cold. Nonetheless, Marco Rose was still wearing shorts.

Marco Rose was the soon to be manager of Borussia Dortmund. The decision was not yet made public, but rumours have been floating around, so it was best to settle things before they got obscure.

"Chilly day, ain't it?" Rose said. Ironically, he was sweating.

Edin sensed the nervous tone in his voice. "You really have nothing to be paranoid about. You've been with us since 2019, you've proven yourself capable multiple times." Edin continued walking along the stadium, not even turning to face Rose once. This was mundane to him.

"I'm not nervous about our performance, the squad is exceptional." Rose sighed in frustration. "I'm worried about the press." Edin abruptly stopped in his tracks.

He finally looked him in the eye. "You have a reason to be scared." Rose wasn't expecting this answer. "I've seen careers end because of the lies spread in media. It's best to ignore it." He continued walking as if he didn't drop the most intimidating speech Rose has ever heard.

"It ruins squad performance and morale, tension rises between players." Rose silently listened as Edin expressed his burning passion for the topic.

"That's why it is important to always stay professional. Keep all personal matters private. Whatever conflict comes up, whatever fight breaks out, never speak of it." Edin's footsteps were slightly more aggressive than before. Rose assumed he was getting angry because of this topic.

"Well, you certainly keep a clean image. That's very impressive." Edin chuckled.

"It really isn't that hard. You just need self control. A thing many people lack nowadays."

"It isn't that hard to contain yourself from running your dirty mouth.." He insinuated every word, and stomped the ground even harder than before.

Rose was invested. "How do you discipline our players? That's a lot of mouths you have to keep from running.. and I've certainly heard things." Edin laughed.

"I scare them into submission." Rose snickered. "Of course you do."

***

"Is that what you've been hiding from me?" Gio spoke a tad bit too loud. Can glanced over.

"Be quiet, dumbass! That's not something you can talk about anywhere." Hummels shushed Gio, bringing his index finger over his lips.

"I'm sorry, I just thought I was the last person to know?!" Gio did not bring the volume down at all.

Hummels facepalmed. "Why don't you go yell at them?" Hummels covered his mouth with his hand and whispered. "It's not my fault your friends are kissing without you knowing." Gio broke character and started laughing.

Hummels sighed. "All jokes aside, you really have to turn it down." He pointed to the gate overflowing with fans and cameras. Gio nodded.

The team continued to talk to each other. Some of the clout-chasing players would occasionally wave to the fans.

The slapstick was cut short by Edin, who emerged from the stadium. He didn't look half as angry as earlier. He clapped his hands.

"Gather around! The bus is coming in five minutes, and I need to make sure all of you are here."

When counting heads, Edin made sure to firmly grab each and every one of them by the temple, just to let them know how serious he was. Many were later left with pounding headaches.

"Seems like we've got everyone onboard. It also seems like the bus is here." The crowd of people grew more enthusiastic at the sight of the busses' arrival.

They entered the bus in the order of their jersey numbers. As each one of them entered, you could hear several reporters swarm around the bus entrance.

The most highlighted players and the players that had the most trouble getting into the bus were Bellingham and Haaland.

Bellingham started talking to the reporters but Edin scurried him into the bus. He apologized to the reporters in a very condescending way.

When Bellingham got into the bus, he took a moment to breathe. Edin disturbed him once more, telling him to go sit down.

Haaland waved to him. "Saved you a seat." Bellingham nodded in gratitude. He shoved his rucksack in the overhead locker.

"Where have you been?" Gio's head popped up from the seat behind them.

"Oh God." Bellingham placed his face in his hands.

"Can we not?" Haaland leaned in his seat.

Gio shook his head. "I'm with my best friend Burki right now, and he never keeps anything from me. I always feel included when he's around." Burki had his earphones plugged in, paying no attention to the world around him.

"Be quiet. I don't want to hear it." Haaland shut his eyes closed.

The bus took off. The first few minutes were spent in complete silence.

"I will forgive you if you let me braid your hair." Gio was back at their necks, with no intention of leaving them alone. Haaland turned his head to look at him.

"Why would you even want to do that? How do you even know how to do that?" Gio shrugged. "I don't. But it's never too late to learn." Haaland looked at Bellingham, expecting him to answer for him.

"Just.. let him have his way."

Haaland sighed. He gave in and untied his hair, handing Gio the hair tie. In a matter of seconds, he could feel Gio lightly tugging at his scalp. Not even a minute later, another pair of hands joined Gio. Gio dragged Burki into the art of hairstyling.

Bellingham found this so unbelievably funny, that he decided to join them in their craft. With three fleas tugging at his hair, Haaland prayed it would all end soon.