Early the next morning, the German Football Association officially announced on its official website that Rolin Bachmann had been selected for the U20 National Youth Team.
Shortly after, news of Rolin being selected for the Germany U20 National Youth Team appeared on the front pages of major sports websites.
Germany U20 officially announced the call-up of Rolin Bachmann!
RB Leipzig Midfield Genius, Rolin Bachmann Steps Onto the National Youth Stage Son of RB Leipzig Rolin Bachmann Strengthens the U20 National Youth Team Midfield Rolin, far away in Germany, knew nothing of this, and his attention was entirely on training and matches.
He knew very well in his heart that as long as he performed excellently in the matches, all doubts would dissipate.
— Rolin, who had just finished training, received a call from Mino Raiola.
“Rolin, tomorrow Rafaela Pimenta will go to the club, mainly to discuss your endorsement contract.” Without waiting for Rolin to voice his inquiry, Mino Raiola continued speaking: “The Red Bull group behind your club has taken a fancy to your potential and wants to sign an internal exclusive contract with you.
Rafaela Pimenta and I have basically negotiated the specific contract terms for you.
You can take a look tomorrow, and if there are no problems, you can sign it.” Rolin did not expect his first endorsement contract to come so quickly.
“I saw your debut in the Bundesliga, and you gave me a huge surprise.
Your commercial endorsement offers will only become more and more numerous.” Mino Raiola said with a smile: “However, I will strictly vet them for you, you just need to focus your energy on training and matches.” Rolin smiled and thanked Mino Raiola.
The next day, with the help of Rafaela Pimenta, Rolin signed an endorsement contract with the Red Bull group.
This endorsement contract was for a term of three years, settled once a year.
If the player transferred midway, they could negotiate to terminate the contract without a high penalty fee.
The endorsement fee was 120,000 euros per year, but this was only the base annual salary, and there was also a portion that was bonuses.
Making more than 12 official appearances in a single Bundesliga season came with a one-time bonus of 8,000 euros; Being selected for the Germany U20 National Youth Team and playing in international matches came with a one-time bonus of 15,000 euros; Being selected for the training camp observation candidate list of the senior Germany Team came with a one-time bonus of 30,000 euros; The team advancing to European competitions (Champions League / Europa League) that season came with a one-time bonus of 10,000 euros.
Of course, restrictive clauses were also indispensable.
During the endorsement period, competing products must be avoided in public occasions; Fighting, excessive drinking, negative public opinion, and other behaviors must be eliminated during the contract period…
Rolin asked a question on the spot that left everyone not knowing whether to laugh or cry: “If I get into a fight with an opposing player on the pitch, it shouldn’t be considered fighting, right?” — Time quickly arrived at October 28, and RB Leipzig players gathered at the training ground, preparing to take the bus to Darmstadt.
On October 29, in the 9th round of the Bundesliga, they would challenge Darmstadt away from home.
This time Rolin still entered the matchday squad and was expected to get a starting opportunity.
RB Leipzig primarily played a high-pressing tactic, which predetermined that they would need to carry out high-frequency rotations.
Long-term high-intensity matches would increase the risk of player injuries.
The team’s starting left attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg recently had tight thigh muscles, and whether he could play was open to question.
This gave Rolin the opportunity to start.
Although Kaiser was the team captain, this season he had completely been relegated to a substitute.
The RB Leipzig team attached great importance to the cultivation of young players.
As Kaiser was gradually marginalized, Rolin rose abruptly as a new force.
The club had already decided to focus on cultivating Rolin and increase his number of appearances.
And in this round of matches against the weaker Darmstadt, Rolin had a high probability of starting.
The Darmstadt team was founded in 1898 and was one of the clubs with the longest history in Germany.
They were a civilian team, without a wealthy parent company, nor with large-scale investments.
Forming a huge contrast with Wolfsburg backed by Volkswagen and RB Leipzig blessed by Red Bull capital, their annual budget was only 5 million euros, which could be described as extremely shabby.
Yet, it was precisely such a club that successfully avoided relegation one round early in the 2015-16 season, obtaining 14th place in the Bundesliga.
This fiercely slapped the faces of numerous German media outlets and bookmakers.
Throughout the entire season, they never fell into the relegation zone, and even caused upsets multiple times.
They drew away against Bayern Munich, and defeated strong teams like Hertha BSC, Schalke 04, and Bayer Leverkusen.
But this season, their situation was not optimistic.
After 8 rounds of the League, they only achieved a record of 2 wins, 1 draw, and 5 losses, ranking fourth from bottom in the League, just a step away from the relegation zone.
Darmstadt primarily played defense and counter-attack, mainly using a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The team’s tactical style was relatively single, mainly relying on direct long passes behind the defense after stealing the ball to score.
The midfield lacked ball-carrying progression points, basically having no ground passing and control ability.
Once opponents locked down their long-passing routes, their offense would fall into paralysis.
This match was an excellent point-capturing opportunity for RB Leipzig, and they could not afford any mistakes.
After long consideration, Ralph Hasenhüttl still chose to let Rolin start.
Once he did not perform well on the pitch, or the team could not open up the situation, Emil Forsberg would be sent onto the pitch.
When Rolin was informed that he had entered the starting lineup, he did not appear very excited.
Because he knew very well in his heart that this was the head coach’s test for him.
If he started and continued to perform excellently, then he would enter the regular rotation.
Once he performed poorly, he would lose the starting opportunity in a short period of time.