Now it has happened what everyone at Frankfurter Eintracht assumed: top scorer and club record holder André Silva succumbed to an offer from a more potent club and switched to RB Leipzig.

The amount of the transfer fee of 23 to 25 million euros (depending on whether bonus payments are due) seems unsatisfactory at first glance, the fans dreamed of sums in excess of 40 million euros.

But these expectations were doubly unrealistic.

On the one hand, such an amount can only be raised by very few clubs because of the Corona recession, on the other hand there was this well-kept secret that a special passage had been included in Silva's Eintracht contract that regulates a future change of club.

This set a basic transfer fee of 23 million euros.

In return, Eintracht saved the consultant fee for Silva's permanent commitment after the loan from AC Milan and after the offsetting with Ante Rebic's move to Milan, almost no transfer was due.

A typical Fredi Bobic deal.

No cause for criticism

He did not withdraw any liquidity from Eintracht in the difficult Corona high phase, the team received a qualified professional and gave a dissatisfied professional (Rebic) to whom they only owned 50 percent of the transfer rights. Nobody could have expected that the Portuguese striker would score 28 goals in the following season and that a Silva transfer could therefore appear in a dim light. Bobic's business was nothing short of praiseworthy at the time of closing. And even now there is no reason for criticism. If the exchange between Silva and Rebic had never happened, a transfer of Rebics would have required a transfer fee of 46 million euros to get the same positive result. A completely unrealistic amount for a player who really wanted to leave Eintracht.

Silva's farewell means a great sporting loss for the Frankfurters. But none that cannot be compensated. Eintracht will not find an attacker who is good for 28 goals again. But the burden of scoring goals can be spread over several feet and heads. RB Leipzig also scored 60 goals this season - and had their best shooter in Marcel Sabitzer, who only put the ball in the opposing goal eight times. Borussia Mönchengladbach scored 64 times with Lars Stindl (14 goals) as the shooter king. The harmony with the legendary buffalo herd scored 60 Bundesliga goals, without them 59.

To put it in one sentence: Many roads lead to success in football, you should even have heard of top teams who defined themselves through the defensive. This is exactly the approach of the new trainer Oliver Glasner. In Wolfsburg he dreamed of conceding 1.0 and managed in his second season on the Mittelland Canal that the new defensive strength did not lead to a paralysis of the offensive. That is what the Austrian has in mind in Frankfurt, maybe it will even be a little faster to find the right balance.

With the 23 million euros for Silva, Eintracht has also acquired a degree of planning security and freedom of design. The club does not have to sell another professional and can now counter offers for a Kostic, Ndicka or Kamada with increased salaries if necessary. If the coveted people still want to change, then the cash register rings with additional transfer income. It has sufficiently proven that Eintracht can effectively reinvest the money in the transfer market. Silva's farewell is also an opportunity.