Top striker Konaté is missing for a long time
©IMAGO
The first version of this article appeared on December 4th at 5:31 p.m. and was supplemented by an update – with statements from Rouven Schröder – after the first paragraph.
Since RB Leipzig was founded in 2009, 20 players have moved from sister club Red Bull Salzburg to today’s Bundesliga club – significantly more than from any other club. At least seven professionals took the opposite path – the eighth could follow in January. According to the “Salzburger Nachrichten”, the new sports director of the former Austrian series champion, Rouven Schröder – who himself has just come from Leipzig – would like to guide striker André Silva to the Salzach. What the manager himself later clearly denied.
Update December 5th, 7:06 a.m.: On Wednesday evening, after the 4-0 win against Hartberg, Schröder said on “Sky Sport Austria”: “I looked at the contract again. André is a great player and great character. But there was nothing to it at all. That was really a duck, so to speak, there is no chance.” In general, the squad is too big and they still want to give away professionals.
Transfer streams: This is where most of the New Leipzig residents came from / this is where most of them went
The 29-year-old Silva, who cost 23 million euros in 2021 and is contractually bound to Leipzig until 2026, hardly plays a role under Marco Rose anymore. And that despite the fact that recently things haven’t gone much better for the Saxons than for the Salzburg team. Silva will make nine appearances with 223 minutes of playing time across all competitions in 2024/25. The 53-time Portuguese international is still waiting for his first goal, and he has prepared two.
There is a need in Salzburg given the injury to top striker Karim Konaté (20). The Ivorian suffered a torn cruciate ligament at the end of November and will probably be out until the end of the season. Since Fernando (25) has also been missing for months, Pepijn Lijnders currently only has the inexperienced Moussa Yeo (20) and Petar Ratkov (21) available, while Gaoussou Diakité (19) usually plays for Liefering in the second division.
Together, Yeo and Ratkov only have six goals this season. Lijnders’ team is already 14 points behind defending champions Sturm Graz and is currently in seventh place, even in the relegation round. Silva’s experience, should a transfer happen contrary to expectations, could be important in saving the season from the perspective of the Austrian Red Bulls.
