For weeks they only spread good news among the women of Frankfurt Eintracht.
Various regular players have extended their contracts, with defensive power Sara Doorsoun, a German national player joined the SGE in winter.
But now Eintracht received bad news on Tuesday: Merle Frohms, the clear number one between the posts at Eintracht and the national team, will leave the club in the summer.
The 27-year-old moves to VfL Wolfsburg, which is always striving for national and international titles.
An exit clause made it possible for Merle Frohms to switch despite her contract on Main, which was valid until mid-2023.
Which means an enormous weakening for the Hessians, because with Merle Frohms the goalkeeper position has not only been filled in qualitatively better than in previous years, but the team also had a driving force in her who stood out with her professionalism.
Not to mention the image gain of having the German number one in the team.
Siegfried Dietrich pointed out that Eintracht was an important career station for Frohms after moving from SC Freiburg.
"Merle has established himself in Frankfurt, developed enormously in sport and has matured into a leader in German women's football - and has thus been able to confirm her status as number one among the DFB women," said the Eintracht sports director.
When asked, Dietrich said that the exit clause was possible in the third year of the contract and has now been drawn.
The transfer of Sara Doorsoun from Wolfsburg to Frankfurt and the departure of Merle Frohms in the other direction have "nothing to do with each other," Dietrich continued.
In any case, Eintracht will have to look for a new goalkeeper.
There is no crown princess in the current squad who could be expected to make the leap to the new number one.
A Frohms successor should not make her coming dependent on participation in the Champions League, because the race for the three starting places in the Bundesliga seems to remain tight until May.
For Merle Frohms it will be a return to Wolfsburg, where she has signed a contract until mid-2025.
The athlete, who was born not far from Celle, switched to VfL at the age of 16 and stayed for seven years.
Although she won eleven titles at that time, she only played 24 competitive games.
In Wolfsburg, Merle Frohms was always behind Almuth Schult, who she inherited now that the doyen has not extended her contract.
“VfL is very important to me.
I have the clear goal of returning as number one.” In his words, VfL sporting director Ralf Kellermann wins “our absolute dream solution”.
Eintracht loses its real support in the goalkeeper position with a very low error rate, as Merle Frohms has proven in her 41 appearances so far.