How Krösche is making room for new signings
A few days ago, the Frankfurter Rundschau reported that Eintracht Frankfurt would need to sell players to be able to make new signings. Since the article was published, Markus Krösche has sold both Nacho Ferri and Igor Matanovic for a combined fee of around €10m. More players are expected to follow.
Returning Loanees
Most notably, several returning loanees (excluding Aaronson and Baum) are all likely to leave the club this summer. Hrvoje Smolcic, who played for LASK in Austria last season, doesn’t seem to have a future at the club anymore, and has been linked with a move to Turkey. Aurelio Buta is also not part of Toppmöller’s plans anymore. Especially with youngster Elias Baum joining the squad after a successful loan spell in the 2. Bundesliga, the right-back position is already filled. Lastly, Jessic Ngankam could earn us a significant transfer fee this summer. After suffering a horrible injury whilst on loan at Hanover, the forward is unlikely to make the cut in Toppmöllers squad for the coming season. The sale of these three could bring in around €8-12m, in transfer fees and player wage savings.
First-Team Players
From our current squad, Niels Nkounkou, Junior Dina Embimbe, and Mo Dahoud are serious candidate to leave the club this summer. Despite starting last season as our ‘starting’ left-back, the steady rise of Nene Brown this season has caused Nkounkous game-time to drop significantly over the course of the campaign. Eintracht are ready to sell the left wing-back, with a few French clubs said to be interested in securing his signature. Similarly, Dina Ebimbe could be heading to France this summer. After almost joining Monaco in January, he‘s now linked with their Ligue 1 rival OGC Nice. Other French teams and La Liga club Sevilla are also reportedly monitoring the 24-year-old. Another likely departure is Mo Dahoud. After his arrival from the Premier League, he had little to no game-time under Toppmöller in the second half of the season, with Hugo Larsson and Ellyes Skhiri building a strong duo in central midfield. A few MLS clubs are reportedly interested in signing him, however no concrete offers have materialised.
The possible sales of Nkounkou, Ebimbe and Dahoud could generate an additional €17-22m for the club. In total, all of these player sales — including the already departed Ferri and Matanovic — could generate around €36-45m in income. While Markus Krösche won’t be able to reinvest all of that money into new signings (it’s not FIFA Career Mode), it would definitely be beneficial in funding the impending transfer of Ritsu Doan, which is yet to be completed.
However, this many sales would create the need to sign a few more players to provide squad depth: a new left back, replacing Niels Nkounkou, and maybe a central midfielder. Krösche has reportedly been targeting Victor Froholdt from FC København, who would take Mo Dahoud’s place in the team.
For a major sale, Hugo Ekitike is the obvious candidate, as he would bring in €90-100m. Even though Krösche has announced he will reject all offers below €100m, the internal plan is to sell the striker. The money could help reinforce multiple areas of the squad. Eintracht could afford to bring in at least one additional big-money signing, to prepare for the Champions League.
