Even with Ronaldo’s help: This masterplan is backfiring spectacularly | OneFootball

"First we had no luck, and then bad luck came along." A quote that originates from Jürgen Wegmann, a former Bundesliga striker, and is a few decades old. However, a current professional who is paid to prevent goals could have said it. There hasn't been much to laugh about for him at work lately. This is likely to make his bosses uneasy soon.

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

Just six days later, SGE quickly extended the contract with Kevin Trapp's designated successor until June 2030. When the former DFB goalkeeper was injured again in the spring, his competitor stepped up and condemned Trapp to watch even after his recovery - for the time being.

Because in the second leg of the EL quarter-finals against Tottenham, Kauã Santos tore his cruciate ligament and a master plan in the executive suite. Until then, the future music of the world's smallest violin could be heard clearly. The 1.97-meter giant from Copacabana was also on the best way to become the next SGE export hit.

📸 KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV - AFP or licensors

Just a short time before, 'Bild' had reported that the Eagles wanted at least 60 million euros for their goalkeeper jewel. For this position, this is (still) a proud price. Only Kepa (80 Mio.) and Alisson (72.5 Mio.) were ever paid more. In Hesse in 2023, a measly 1.6 million euros were invested for this. Therefore, following the successful recipe of manager Markus Krösche, the first best offer, in this case from Manchester United, was allegedly rejected for the shooting star in the winter of 2024.

He should rather fly through the auction house Deutsche-Bank-Park for a while and then be handed over to the highest bidder. Competition stimulates business just as much as the lack of urgency for Frankfurt. After all, Kauã Santos still has a long-term contract.

However, an athlete usually has something to deal with a cruciate ligament tear for a longer time, six to twelve months of regeneration time should be taken into account. At least if the severe injury is treated surgically. After thorough examinations, the possibility was therefore examined in Frankfurt to get Kauã Santos fit again more quickly with intensive rehab without surgery.

Through two corners, the Frankfurters therefore also got the opinion of a Portuguese expert who works closely with Cristiano Ronaldo. He nodded off the unusual idea and lo and behold: Only 151 days after the injury, Kauã Santos was back on the pitch.

In the meantime, the competitive situation on the Main had also relaxed. Trapp recognized the signs of the times in the summer and decamped back to Paris. The newly signed Michael Zetterer came from Bremen on the premise that he would have to line up behind the talented colleague in case of doubt.

The unplanned extra point in the master plan seemed to be a feature and not a mistake when Kauã Santos celebrated his comeback between the posts on the fourth matchday against Union Berlin. However, the party mood quickly evaporated. Against the Berliners, there were four goals against, a week later against Gladbach as well, and in the Champions League, the 22-year-old had to reach behind him five times recently.

The goalkeeper was never much to blame personally. But even the most generous PL club will have a hedgehog in its pocket when it sees that the potential new signing is currently conceding an average of over four goals per game. (In)appropriately, today's opponent is FC Bayern Munich, who score well over four goals per game in the league.

Especially in the banking city, those responsible are of course aware that the prices of speculative objects can also fall. The plan so beautifully forged - as of today - is going really wrong. How quickly such a situation can change, they know in Frankfurt at least since Niko Kovac.

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

📸 OSCAR DEL POZO - AFP or licensors