The biggest “What If?” in Eintracht history
The 23rd of May 2016 was a historic day in the history of Eintracht Frankfurt. It can be seen as a turning point for the club, the beginning of a very successful era. If things had turned out just a little differently on that day, the club could’ve gone into a completely different direction.
THE SITUATION
Eintracht Frankfurt had played an awful season, leaving them in the relegation playoff against FC Nürnberg. After a 1-1 draw at the Waldstadion, Nürnberg had an advantage going into the second leg (away goals were still a thing). The pressure was on Eintracht…
The Eagles were lacking ideas, while Nürnberg defended bravely — until the 66th minute, when Gacinovic skipped past his marker with a double-step-over, before delivering the ball for Seferovic to tap it in from three meters out. It was the deciding goal of the tie. At the final whistle you could feel the relief, as the players, manager Niko Kovac, and the fans celebrated their survival. Somehow, they had managed to stay in the Bundesliga, but just imagine: what if Gacinovic hadn’t released his inner Lionel Messi, or Seferovic missed that chance (as he had done quite often that season)?!
The finances
Relegation would’ve been a disaster from all perspectives. However, the most dramatic one would’ve been the financial one. Eintracht would have missed out on €15m of TV revenue. They would have needed to cut €18m of wage and transfer budget. Krombacher, their prospective main sponsor, wouldn’t have accepted relegation. All other sponsoring and advertising revenues as well as the merchandise sales would’ve decreased significantly.
The Team
Many players, especially the most important ones like Hradecky, Fabian, Gacinovic and Abraham would’ve had to be sold, most likely below their market value. The squad would have had to be rebuilt from scratch — with little to no money. In reality we loaned Jesus Vallejo and Ante Rebic, and bought Omar Mascarell and Marius Wolf, who would go on to create our first solid transfer profits.
Our scouting department, which was already pretty good at the time, would have probably found some cheap lower league gems. However, the club could’ve never convinced players like Jovic, Rebic, Haller, Kostic, Ndicka, Hinteregger, Rode, Kamada, Lindstrom, Kolo Muani, Marmoush and all the talented players of the current squad to join Eintracht Frankfurt.
While Niko Kovac would’ve probably stayed, it’s not clear if the key positions in our board and management would’ve stayed the same. Fredi Bobic for example might have not joined if we had been relegated. As the example of Schalke showed, relegation can create a lot of chaos in leading positions. The stability of these positions was the foundation of our success in recent years.
It’s also interesting to speculate about who would’ve taken Eintracht Frankfurt‘s spot, or how our player’s careers would’ve turned out. Rebic, Haller, Kostic; would they be as successful today? Would Luka Jovic have made it to Real Madrid? If not: Who else would’ve been their €60m signing to replace Karim Benzema? How would Niko Kovac‘s career path look like? Who would’ve won the trophies that Eintracht won? Who would’ve signed the players Eintracht signed?
Takeaway
Even if the previous scenario is also not the most realistic, one thing is for sure: Eintracht Frankfurt wouldn’t have had the successful years, they’ve recently had if it weren’t for that moment of brilliance from Gacinovic and that goal from Seferovic. It was a turning point. The start of an era of success for the club, that we should all be grateful for.
