Eintracht Frankfurt manager Adi Hutter isn’t surprised to see Andre Silva linked with a summer transfer to the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City, as reported by Sport1.
Just a few short weeks ago the Eagles were flying high in the Champions League places and seemingly destined to secure a seat at Europe’s top table for the first time.
But if Frankfurt hoped to retain the services of their talismanic top scorer, they couldn’t afford the kind of collapse that left a once-promising 2021/22 season in ruins.
The Bundesliga’s very own Leicester City story, Frankfurt spent most of the season in the top four only to drop out at the death as an in-form Dortmund side sneaked into the promised land at their expense.
As a result, hanging on to the £35 million-rated Silva has just become that little bit harder.
In March, Calciomercato reported Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had identified the Portugal international as a potential successor for the ageing Alexandre Lacazette.
BILD, meanwhile, yesterday claimed Manchester City are interested too, with a Sergio Aguero-shaped void in Pep Guardiola’s title-winning forward line.
“If a player scores 27 goals, other clubs take notice,” says Hutter, who will walk away from the Commerzbank Arena himself to take the Monchengladbach job.
“I’m happy about good developments. If a player then goes to a top club, we’ve done everything right.”
With 29 in all competitions in 2020/21, the “extraordinary” Silva became the first player since the legendary Bernd Holzenbein almost 50 years ago to score so many goals for Frankfurt in a single campaign.
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