He was meant to be sold! Bundesliga club reshapes system for striker

He was meant to be sold! Bundesliga club reshapes system for striker "He knows his role in the team. Serhou Guirassy is our number one striker. He is the challenger." With these clear words, Niko Kovač made it plain at the press conference ahead of the season opener against Hamburger SV who is in charge in Dortmund’s attack. But in football, two weeks can feel like an eternity. In the meantime, the black-and-yellow world looks very different. Because Fabio Silva has now become so important that he could even trigger a system change at Dortmund. Guirassy himself also spoke highly of his rival. "Fabio Silva and I really enjoy playing together, and we have a lot of fun in training. He is a great player," he said after the Champions League win against Villarreal in an interview with Amazon Prime. You can see what else the two say about each other here in the video. Coach Kovač was also full of praise after the win against the Spaniards. Fabio Silva repeatedly worked his way into big chances and rewarded himself for his efforts. "You can see that we can play just as well with this system of two strikers as we can with one striker. If, alongside Serhou (Guirassy, editor’s note), we now also get Fabio (Silva, editor’s note) going too — and we will — then we’ll really have something to work with," said the BVB coach happily. Few would probably have expected this kind of praise for the Portuguese player at the moment. In the summer, there were rumors of a move because Silva had only rarely been able to meet expectations. According to Sky, the Bundesliga club would have been open to talks starting at a fee of 20 million euros. Both a loan and a sale were considered. Only a year ago, they had signed him from Wolves for 22.5 million euros. There were also said to have been offers, with clubs from Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal apparently interested. But the striker ultimately turned them down himself. Instead, it was said that he wanted to establish himself with the black-and-yellows. In doing so, he may also have prevented a move by Jamie Leweling to Dortmund. Shortly before the end of the transfer window, those in charge are said to have considered a deal, but only if Silva had been sold. As Sky reports, Kovač in particular was seen as a major supporter of the transfer. Silva, for his part, did not let his coach’s comments about the striker situation get him down either. Instead of sulking, he put in extra work and made his case as a super sub. In his first four competitive appearances, all as a substitute, he has already recorded four goal contributions (three goals, one assist) and noticeably injected life into the attack every single time. The bosses are pleased with that. "It’s a good feeling when you know you have a player like that sitting on the bench. That can make the difference," Lars Ricken said after the Champions League match. Ole Book also had nothing but praise for his performances and gave Silva hope of more minutes: "If Fabio performs the way he has in the last few matches, then of course he is underlining his ambitions for more playing time." That means the old understanding of roles is starting to shake considerably. Within just a few weeks, the former "challenger" has become an indispensable factor. Niko Kovač now has to fundamentally rethink the striker hierarchy from the start of the season. Silva has fought his way from backup to a true equal partner. And who knows — maybe the two of them will line up as a strike duo against Paderborn. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.