Had it not been for this cyber criminal in France, and if the people in the press department of the French first division club Stade Rennes hadn’t been so damn overzealous, then it would have been a typically silent Freiburg business – a transaction in which at least discretion on all sides as efficiently as when shipping erotic toys. But then again there was restlessness and hectic in the office of the sports club on Schwarzwaldstraße. The anonymous hacker who hijacked Rennes’ website stepped in as the X-Factor.
The German soccer audience hardly noticed anything. It may have listened when it was reported on Tuesday, following the revelation by the hacker attack, that Baptiste Santamaria only wanted to return home a year after moving from France to SC Freiburg – unfortunately, the people in Rennes had the profile of expected new player already deposited on the club page. But before the topic could develop a discourse in interested circles – after all, Santamaria is the most expensive purchase the Freiburg residents have ever made – the sports club had put an end to it.
The club announced that midfielder Santamaria, 26, will actually go to Rennes and Maximilian Eggestein from SV Werder Bremen will take his place. Allegedly, the French pay around 14 million euros transfer fee, a portion (five to six million is the talk) is immediately forwarded to Bremen. Transfer market freaks could have argued about these personal details for weeks in their discussion forums, but as naturally as SC Freiburg presented the triangle deal, the matter was like an exchange in a department store that would not have taken longer than five minutes.
A few years ago, the transfer would certainly have taken place in the opposite direction
In truth, those responsible were aware that they were dealing with a process that should not get into difficult waters. When the recognized important regular Santamaria, referring to family concerns, expressed his wish to return at short notice, he brought the Freiburg team into a conscience that the tricky case had “fallen from the sky”, so to speak, says sports director Jochen Saier, 43. They wanted the player to have the wish did not fail, but the financial conditions had to be right and a replacement had to be found immediately. The scouting department at least knew one candidate: Eggestein, 24, has had a horrific year with Werder, which has now been followed by a few horrific appearances in the second division, but the Freiburg team can still remember that He was asked to join the national team by Jogi Löw two and a half years ago and Borussia Dortmund urgently wanted him.
A transfer like this would have been guaranteed in the opposite direction a few years ago. SV Werder would have lost an expensive player to a more affluent club and immediately ordered a replacement from the comparatively smaller sports club for the loss. Now the sports club is the financially strong business partner and SV Werder is in need. “The developments are somewhat contrary,” agrees Saier, but he is far from celebrating his club’s career: Werder is “an isolated incident that has come down a difficult and extremely unfortunate path,” said Saier.
Bremen serves the Freiburgers as a deterrent lesson
The fate of Bremen is followed with compassion in Freiburg. Despite their different characteristics, the two clubs are not dissimilar, which is probably one of the reasons why Saier finds the crash “terrifying – because you can see how fast it can go”. Existential fears are part of Freiburg’s self-image. Also in the previous season, which the SCF apparently relaxed in tenth place, and which, according to prevailing opinion, confirmed its affiliation with the establishment of the league, worries dominated the inner workings of the club for a long time. On the eighth day of the match, the SC had only six points and at the break of the home game were 3-0 down against Mainz without a win. “We didn’t skimp on emotionality either,” says Saier.
The difference to earlier times, however, is that head coach Christian Streich has ceased to complain that his “little Freiburgers” are at a disadvantage every match day. They are no longer that small, after the second international break, the club is moving to the new stadium. This not only offers more space for visitors, but also a playing field that complies with the norm.
A wistful sigh can still be heard from the host. The old sports field was five meters too short and had a slope of one meter, the guest cabin had the impression of a neat but modest bed and breakfast, and the tiers protruded into the Black Forest slopes like a village club, but all these years have been nothing but peculiarities. which “didn’t harm us”, as Saier, who has been with the club since 2003, comments: “We know that it is a great challenge to make the new stadium our new home.”