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It didn't even take a day, then the next person was settled.
After the departure of coach Adi Hütter, who will leave Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of the season, it is now clear that Fredi Bobic will no longer work for Hessen in the future.
The 49-year-old sports director agreed on Wednesday morning with the Bundesliga club on an early termination of the contract, which was actually dated until the end of June 2023.
The employment relationship ends at the end of May.
“I look back on five great years at Eintracht Frankfurt.
I am proud of the successes achieved during this time.
We have changed a lot and created a lot.
My special thanks go to my fellow board members and all employees from the sport.
I would like to highlight the two trainers Niko Kovac and Adi Hütter, ”Bobic was quoted in a press release.
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Bobic, he announced a few weeks ago, is looking for a new challenge.
He had found it in no time.
On Wednesday evening, Hertha BSC confirmed that Bobic will be managing director for the coming season.
A smart move.
Now that his departure has been determined, he can look back on five years, some of them very successful, with Eintracht.
In 2017 - in its first season - the club made it into the DFB Cup final, which it lost to BVB.
A year later the coup finally succeeded: Frankfurt moved into the final again and defeated FC Bayern.
A season followed that will be remembered for a long time in Frankfurt.
Bobic made Eintracht a good address again
Adi Hütter, who will now move to Mönchengladbach, had replaced Niko Kovac, who had then migrated to FC Bayern, and led the Hessians to the semi-finals of the Europa League with exciting games, where they only failed at FC Chelsea.
Sometimes up to 15,000 supporters - such as for the game at Inter Milan - accompanied the team to the away games.
Frankfurt played good offensive football, driven by three players whom Bobic brought to Eintracht at a reasonable price and who were later sold on at high prices: Ante Rebic, Sébastien Haller and Luka Jovic.
The latter is currently playing for Eintracht again on loan.
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Bobic went his way in Frankfurt.
He knew how to work together with his scouts, analysts and coaches to discover good players and develop harmony with them.
It became a coveted address in the industry, something that was not foreseeable in the spring of 2016 when Bobic hired in Frankfurt.
Because the rejection of Bobic was great when he - who won the European Championship with Germany in 1996 - was traded as the successor to sports director Heribert Bruchhagen at the end of the 2015/16 season in Frankfurt.
At that time, Eintracht ran the risk of relegation and had to compete in the relegation against 1. FC Nürnberg.
Frankfurt prevailed and held the class.
Bobic, who would have started his job in the event of relegation, met with little approval from the appendix, who expressed his displeasure with an obligation of the former striker around the games in the relegation.
“Bobic, stay cool” was written on a poster that hung in the stadium, and another read: “Bobic goes with Frankfurt as football tradition goes with Red Bull.” Bobic took note of this, but was not deterred and defied the resistance.
With success - from which not only Eintracht benefited in the years of its activity.
Two English Premier League clubs wanted Bobic
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Bobic is one of the most sought-after managers in the industry because of his successful work in recent years.
National and international.
When his impending departure became public in Frankfurt, there were not only inquiries from the Bundesliga, but also from abroad.
Two Premier League clubs registered and wanted to know if he would be available.
Bobic has a large network, stands for good ideas and innovative solutions - and for a clear approach.
He does not avoid conflicts and speaks clearly and directly.
When Reinhard Grindel, at that time president of the DFB, said in 2017 that he would have to stop by the hotel to see the defeated Frankfurters after the cup final in Berlin, Bobic matched him at the entrance and, in a way, complemented him outside.
In the run-up to the final, Grindel had given a speech in which he - analogously - wished BVB the cup victory because the club had to go through a difficult time after the bomb attack on the team bus.
Grindel later wished Eintracht good luck too, but by then it was too late.
Bobic will now continue to work in Germany in the future.
Namely where he has had his main residence for years and where he played as a striker from 2003 to 2005 - in Berlin.
Hertha BSC, this has been unofficially known for weeks, is now entrusting the former attacker with the task of leading the club, which has never lived up to its claims for years, into higher spheres.
And Frankfurt?
Talks about possible successors have already taken place in the past few weeks.
Now they are becoming more concrete.
At least that's what Philip Holzer, the chairman of the supervisory board, announced.
“In view of the fact that an agreement was to be expected in the course of our discussions about Fredi Bobic's request for an early termination of the contract, we have already been quietly working on the successor and sounding out the market.
Now we can hold concrete talks with potential candidates to succeed Fredi Bobic without being put under time pressure when making a decision, ”said Holzer.
In the past few days there has been talk of Ralf Rangnick, the former trainer and sports director of RB Leipzig, as a possible successor to Bobic.
He should take over the unity in a double function.