TOr hunter Bas Dost never has to think twice when asked about his favorite hits. “The easy goals,” says the 31-year-old professional footballer from the Netherlands, “are the best.” Those that, to the annoyance of the opponent, he can score from close range without much fanfare because the ball is in the penalty area right moment jumped to him. In the last step, Dost just has to do his duty.
Graduations of this kind are a sign for him that things are going well in his primary area of responsibility, because then luck is on his side. In the future, the former Dutch international will be at the forefront of the Belgian first division causing unrest. On Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. Frankfurt Eintracht announced the move from Dost to Club Bruges. With the leader of the “Division 1A”, the attacker receives a contract up to and including June 30, 2022. After stints in Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, his active Bundesliga career has come to an early end.
The corona pandemic also “is known to present unity with economic challenges,” said sports director Fredi Bobic, explaining the departure of the attacking giant. “Bruges tried very hard to get Bas, and for us it is a lucrative overall package.” At the moment, it is “the top priority to act economically and for the benefit of Eintracht Frankfurt”. The transfer fee for Dost, who was bound in Frankfurt until July 1, 2022, is between four and five million euros. The Belgians had already courted Dost’s services last summer. At that time, Frankfurt had called up to seven million euros in the event of a premature separation from their striker, but this deal was too expensive for Bruges.
With Dost, whose annual salary is estimated at just under four million euros, Eintracht also gets a top earner from their payroll. Now that Hesse’s sales have plummeted due to the Corona crisis, Dost’s career change is providing significant relief in personnel costs. Especially since it can be assumed that the Frankfurters will strive for a more cost-effective solution in search of a replacement for the offensive player.
Full of zest for action
In the fall of this year, Dost was full of energy and stressed that he was far from finished with Eintracht. But two months later he ended his engagement. Apparently, the perspective in Frankfurt no longer seems attractive enough to him. Where does his change of heart come from?
After coach Adi Hütter had changed the game system and only deployed one striker, who always formed André Silva (twelve goals and nine assists in twelve premier league games) in full possession of his strength, Dost had to make do with the role of substitute player a few times. Too little for the great ambition of the 1.96 meter long attacker, who sees himself in the role of a leader. Anyone who experiences him on the pitch will hear it: Dost always makes himself noticeable with loud comments and instructions. In addition to his personality, Eintracht, in which Danny da Costa is said to be the focus of Mainz 05, will also lack the accuracy of their target player in attack.
After his move from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2019, Dost scored 15 goals in 43 competitive games, twelve of which he scored in the Bundesliga. With his guards, the Dutchman was a strong headball and two-way striker, whose outstanding values in these statistics underlined his will to assert himself. Dost will bring this in the future to the Europa League participant from Belgium, who can hope to be represented in the Champions League in the coming season. This prospect will also have encouraged Dost to face the new challenge. On its website, Club Bruges announced that they had got a “center forward” in Dost, “who guarantees goals”. 233 goals and 52 assists in a total of 450 competitive games for four clubs are the impressive figures of the thoroughbred striker.
Need for action at Eintracht
Eintracht, which will conduct lactate and performance tests as well as corona tests this Monday and Tuesday, now feels a need for action to quickly close the gap that has arisen in the storm, as the personnel selection for Hütter is severely limited. Due to injury, the coach cannot yet fall back on the 21-year-old storm talent Ragnar Ache. In the circle of nominal attackers, Silva is currently playing the solo entertainer. Luka Jovic from Real Madrid is once again associated with Frankfurt.
His return to Main on loan would only be possible if the Spaniards continued to take over a large part of the Serb’s salary. Cenk Tosun (Everton FC) and Joshua Zirkzee (Bayern Munich) have also joined the list of candidates. “As usual, we observe the market with great calm and see whether something is possible” – that was what Bobic had said before Christmas in wise foresight on what will happen to Eintracht at the turn of the year.
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