Speaking to Das Erste after the transfer window closed on Tuesday, Eberl explained that the end of Nicolas Jackson's loan spell had left Bayern needing fresh attacking cover, regardless of any other factors affecting the squad.
"We lost Nicolas Jackson because his loan came to an end. So it was clear to us that we wanted to bring in an attacking player," Eberl said.
Gordon was the club's first choice, but the pursuit fell apart on price, with the England winger instead moving to Barcelona.
"We tried Gordon first, but he became too expensive for us," Eberl admitted. Bayern then turned to PSV's Ismael Saibari, viewing the Morocco international as a versatile alternative capable of playing across several attacking positions.
"Then we had Ismael as our top candidate, even though he's different from Gordon," Eberl said.
The move for Saibari was completed before he linked up with Morocco's World Cup preparations, a timeline Eberl was keen to stress worked in the club's favour. Bayern also brought in defender Nathaniel Brown and forward Bara Sapoko Ndiaye during the window, spending just over €100 million in total across their business, while allowing Leon Goretzka and Raphaël Guerreiro to leave alongside Jackson.
Despite missing out on Gordon, Bayern Munich made a strong start to the new Bundesliga season, beating Stuttgart 5-1 in their opening fixture. Vincent Kompany's side head into the second round of the league campaign against Schalke this weekend looking to build on that result, with Saibari having already made an impact off the bench in the club's early matches, including scoring against Brazil at the World Cup for his country.
Eberl had signalled earlier in the summer that Bayern would not be radically overhauling their squad, pointing instead to a run of contract extensions that left the group settled.
He indicated at the time that any incoming business would likely be targeted at just one or two positions of need, a stance that ultimately held true once the Gordon deal collapsed and Saibari was identified as the alternative.
Jackson had originally arrived at the Allianz Arena on loan, with his temporary spell in Bavaria expiring at the end of last season and no option in place for Bayern to make the move permanent.