Why Eintracht Frankfurt should SELL Hugo Ekitike
After just 18 months at Eintracht Frankfurt, Hugo Ekitike is already on the verge of leaving the club. This comes to the disappointment of many fans, who would prefer to see the flashy striker for at least another season. However, Ekitike was never meant to be a long-term part of our squad. He was brought in with a clear plan, and selling him for a profit was always part of it.
Selling Hugo Ekitike this summer might not be a popular decision among some fans, but it’s the right one. Here’s why:
THE TRANSFER FEE
Unlike most other Champions League teams, Eintracht Frankfurt don’t have investors pouring millions into the club each season. That’s why we are still dependent on continuously generating transfer profits – even if Krösche has already pulled off a number of outstanding deals in recent years. If Ekitike were sold for any fee over his transfer value of €75m, he would become the third striker sold for an enormous fee in the last three seasons, after Omar Marmoush and Randal Kolo Muani.
Hugo Ekitike might be the most talented and well-rounded young striker currently on the market. Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle have been monitoring Ekitike as a serious option, with especially the latter ready to spend big on the Frenchman. Ekitike, who we signed for just €16.5m, is now worth more than five times that amount. If Krösche manages to sell the forward for anywhere upwards of €90m, the profit margin would be over €55m (as PSG are entitled to around 20% of the sell-on fee). It’s a financial opportunity we simply can’t afford to let pass by.
With a season of Champions League football on the horizon, that amount of money could be important now more than ever. Competing at that level requires a deeper, more balanced squad than we currently have. Krösche still wants a new right winger, a new central midfielder and possibly a left-back. Players with the quality to compete at Champions League level, such as Victor Froholdt or Ritsu Doan — who have both been linked with the club — don’t come cheap anymore. If we want to complete any more high-profile signings, Ekitike needs to be sold, and as early into the transfer window as possible.
THE STRATEGY
Selling Ekitike is not just about the money. It’s also about sticking to our transfer strategy as a club. When Eintracht sign a player like Ekitike, it’s not with the intention of building a team around him for the next five years. Our philosophy when it comes to player signings has always been about identifying undervalued talent, developing that talent by providing regular first-team minutes in the Bundesliga, and then selling players at the right time, for the right price. That philosophy itself is what often convinces young talents to join us in the first place, as the club give ambitious talents the pathway to develop and reach the elite level, while helping Eintracht both on the pitch, and financially. If we want to continue attracting those talents in the future, we need to keep the promise of letting them go at some point. Ekitike has reached that point where he wants to take the next step, and blocking that move wouldn’t just go against our principles, it would also send the wrong message to every possible future signing.
CONCLUSION
Letting go of Hugo Ekitike won’t be easy. He’s one of the most talented Eintracht players we’ve seen in years. However, it’s the right time for both the club and the player to let him go. Hugo Ekitike gets his big move and we get a massive transfer fee, that can be reinvested into the squad as well as the clubs infrastructure, helping us build sustainably into the future, and continue our positive trajectory of recent years.
