That night, Bild reported on the process and result of Germany's 4-0 victory over Portugal, and also highlighted Müller, who scored a hat-trick.
Finally, it did not forget to mention Mark, who came on as a substitute in this match, becoming the youngest player to debut in the World Cup for the German Team since 1958!
"Mark Lane came on as a substitute in the 70th minute of the second half. At 18 years and 235 days old, he became the youngest player to appear in the World Cup since Uwe Seeler!"
"Just a few minutes later, he dribbled past three defenders on the left wing and curled a shot, which the goalkeeper fumbled, leading to Müller's hat-trick tap-in..."
"It is worth mentioning that in the player tunnel after the match, Beckenbauer had a brief exchange with this rising superstar of German football..."
"It seems Bayern might recruit this Wolfsburg talent into its ranks this summer..."
Mark, who had just returned to the Bahia base camp with the team and was unaware of the news, immediately received a call from his agent, Raiola:
"Mark, you didn't agree to that old fox Beckenbauer, did you?"
Raiola's opening question left Mark confused.
"Agree to what?"
"Go online and check, Germany is blowing up right now!"
Under Raiola's explanation, Mark clicked on the Bild news link and saw the report.
He then opened the domestic Google search website and found that keywords like "Mark Bayern" and "Mark Beckenbauer" had surprisingly climbed into the top ten trending searches!
It should be known that with his excellent performance in the World Cup, his popularity and fame were also skyrocketing.
Moreover, Beckenbauer is a household name in Germany.
A rising superstar in German football and the most legendary figure in German football; when these two names are put together, it naturally attracts a lot of attention and traffic.
When he opened his personal social media account, he also found that the comment section was full of pleas from fans:
"Don't go!"
"Mark, this is your home!"
"If you join Bayern, I'll unfollow and become a hater!"
In addition to the Wolfsburg fans trying to keep him, many Bayern fans also flooded his comment section:
"Joining Bayern is the best choice you'll ever make!"
"Come to Bayern, you will become a world-class star!"
"Quickly become one of us!"
No one doubted the authenticity of the article.
After all, the photo of Mark and Beckenbauer face-to-face was not fake.
Moreover, Bild only made its own speculation and did not assert that Mark had already agreed to join Bayern at Beckenbauer's invitation.
Even so, this news was like a storm, sweeping across the entire German football scene.
There was no other way, as Bayern's reputation as the "Bundesliga Excavator" was simply too well-known.
Whenever a Bundesliga club developed a talent, they would poach him.
Götze last year and Lewandowski this year are living examples!
Now, it was Mark's turn!
After understanding the whole story, Mark called Raiola again:
"It seems everyone thinks I'm transferring to Bayern... but I clearly rejected Beckenbauer..."
"Mino, do I need to clarify anything?"
Upon hearing this, Raiola on the other end of the phone immediately replied:
"Absolutely not!"
"This is even better! Wolfsburg's proposed contract length and salary terms are not good enough."
"Now with Bayern's involvement, they will definitely feel a sense of crisis and will loosen up, thereby agreeing to the conditions we propose."
"Otherwise, they will face the possibility of losing you, a valuable asset!"
After listening to Raiola's analysis, Mark's mind was clear.
It was just using Bayern to drive up the price!
Using the interest of other clubs as a negotiation tool with the current employer is a common tactic for super agents like Raiola and Mendes.
Perhaps from the club's perspective, this is a very annoying practice:
But from the player's perspective, this is the agent fighting for better terms for his client!
After all, for a player, the best years in football are only about a decade, and only a few can earn a salary that ensures a worry-free second half of life.
Money is definitely one of the biggest factors for every player when considering a transfer or staying with the team.
"What if Wolfsburg doesn't accept our renewal terms?"
"Don't worry, they will definitely agree..."
Yes.
After the Bild report was published, the most anxious was not Mark himself, nor the Wolfsburg fans, but the senior management of Wolfsburg Club!
Club director Allofs's first reaction upon seeing the news was, "Bayern is too baby!"
They actually had the "Football Emperor" Beckenbauer personally come forward to recruit Mark?!
And so, the day after the news broke, Wolfsburg's senior management held an emergency meeting.
The sole agenda of the meeting was to finalize Mark's contract renewal as soon as possible!
With the World Cup as a stage, Mark's popularity and fame experienced explosive growth.
According to the club's forecast for Mark's development prospects, Mark could at least become a star of the caliber of Götze or Reus in the future.
Although they are backed by Volkswagen Group and are not short of money at all.
However, if Mark genuinely transferred to Bayern for better salary terms, they would not be able to stop him.
The only way was to renew Mark's contract as soon as possible and retain this most outstanding youth product in Wolfsburg's history with a matching salary package!
After deliberation at the emergency meeting, they also sent a third round of negotiation contract terms to Raiola.
This time, they not only made concessions on salary but also committed to ensuring Mark's starting position.
However, Raiola was still not satisfied.
Because Wolfsburg had not agreed to his condition of including a release clause in the contract!
For Wolfsburg Club, if a release clause were included in Mark's contract, they would have to live in constant fear that some club might trigger the clause and take Mark away!
And for Raiola, with Mark's potential and rapid development, he would sooner or later leave Wolfsburg and join a powerhouse club.
The release clause was a guarantee for Mark to leave smoothly in the future!
Of course, Wolfsburg Club's senior management were not fools.
Knowing that Raiola included a release clause to allow Mark to transfer later, they naturally were unwilling to agree.
The two sides were at a stalemate, and Raiola was not in a hurry.
In his opinion, the better Mark performed in the World Cup, the more leverage they would have in negotiations.
If Mark continued to get playing opportunities in the World Cup and performed well, then not only Bayern would want Mark, but other clubs would also want this rising superstar of German football.