Even with Ronaldo’s help: This masterplan is going completely wrong | OneFootball

“First, we had no luck, and then bad luck came on top of it.” A quote attributed to Jürgen Wegmann, a former Bundesliga striker, and already a few decades old. But it could just as well have been said by a current professional who gets paid to prevent goals. Lately, there hasn’t been much to laugh about for him at work. That’s likely to make his bosses nervous soon.

Kauã Santos made a name for himself almost exactly a year ago. In the cauldron of Besiktas Istanbul, the young keeper first saved a penalty at 0:0 and then, with several spectacular saves, ensured that his Eintracht Frankfurt could snatch a 3:1 victory from Turkey.

Just six days later, SGE quickly extended the contract with the designated successor to Kevin Trapp until June 2030. When the former German national goalkeeper was injured again in the spring, his competitor delivered once more and, even after Trapp’s recovery, kept him on the bench—for now.

Because in the second leg of the EL quarterfinal against Tottenham, Kauã Santos tore his cruciate ligament—and with it, a master plan in the executive suite. Up to that point, the future music of the world’s smallest violin could already be heard quite clearly there. The 1.97-meter giant from Copacabana was well on his way to becoming the next SGE export hit.

📸 KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV - AFP or licensors

Just shortly before, ‘Bild’ had reported that the Eagles wanted at least 60 million euros for their goalkeeping gem. For this position, that’s (still) a hefty price. Only for Kepa (€80 million) and Alisson (€72.5 million) has more ever been paid. In Hesse, a paltry €1.6 million was invested in 2023. Following the successful recipe of manager Markus Krösche, the first offer—this time from Manchester United—for the shooting star was reportedly rejected in winter 2024.

He was supposed to fly through the auction house Deutsche-Bank-Park for a while longer and then be sold to the highest bidder. Competition stimulates business just as much as Frankfurt’s lack of pressure to act. After all, Kauã Santos still has a long-term contract.

Normally, however, an athlete also has to deal with a cruciate ligament tear for a while—six to twelve months of recovery time should be expected. At least if the serious injury is treated surgically. After thorough examinations, Frankfurt therefore considered the possibility of getting Kauã Santos fit again more quickly with intensive rehab and without surgery.

Through a couple of connections, Frankfurt also sought the opinion of a Portuguese expert who works closely with Cristiano Ronaldo. He approved the unusual idea and, lo and behold: just 151 days after the injury, Kauã Santos was back on the pitch.

In the meantime, the competition situation on the Main had also relaxed. Trapp recognized the signs of the times in the summer and once again moved to Paris. The newly signed Michael Zetterer came from Bremen under the premise that he would, if necessary, have to line up behind the talented colleague.

The unplanned bonus point in the master plan seemed like a feature, not a bug, when Kauã Santos celebrated his comeback between the posts on matchday four against Union Berlin. However, the party mood quickly evaporated. Against Berlin, he conceded four goals, a week later against Gladbach the same, and in the Champions League, the 22-year-old recently had to pick the ball out of his net five times.

The goalkeeper was rarely personally at fault. But even the most generous Premier League club will think twice when they see that the potential new signing is currently averaging more than four goals conceded per game. (Un-)fortunately, today’s opponent is FC Bayern Munich, who have so far scored a good four goals per game in the league.

Especially in the banking city, those in charge know that the value of speculative assets can also fall. The beautifully crafted plan—as of today—is really going down the drain. However, they know in Frankfurt, at least since Niko Kovac, how quickly such a situation can change.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 OSCAR DEL POZO - AFP or licensors