The Weekly Take, Issue 374: One Decent Signing - But That's It

Basically nobody genuinely believes that any club other than Bayern Munich has any chance whatsoever of winning the Bundesliga title in the 2025-26 season - and understandably so. The Bavarian club won the league title by a whopping 13 points over Bayer Leverkusen last season and not only that - during this current off-season, Leverkusen have been picked apart to such an extent that just two years after their astonishing league title victory in which they finished the 2023-24 season unbeaten in the league, Leverkusen are unlikely to finish second in the league again.

This therefore means that while the prospects of any club besides Bayern winning the league are essentially zero, the race for second place in the league is well and truly on with clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Mainz all having genuine chances of finishing the 2025-26 Bundesliga season as runners-up behind Bayern.

Earlier this week, Frankfurt made a signing which may have gone under the radar for many but might have just given themselves a leg up over their rivals - especially since the player who just signed for Die Adler came from a club which finished relatively close to them in the league last season. For a transfer fee of €21 million, Frankfurt have just signed Japanese winger Ritsu Dōan from SC Freiburg.

In this transfer window, by far the biggest story surrounding Frankfurt was the departure of French striker Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool for the eye-popping fee of €95 million. As a result, Frankfurt have plenty of money to work with - especially after combining this with what they received for the mid-season sale of Omar Marmoush to Manchester City.

The arrival of Dōan at Deutsche Bank Park will certainly go some way towards mitigating the effects of Marmoush's and Ekitike's departures. The winger from Hyogo has clearly emerged as Freiburg's best player; bringing him in for just €21 million was a huge win on Frankfurt's part. More than likely, the fact that Frankfurt were able to add Dōan to their roster for a surprisingly low transfer fee had to do with the fact that they will be in the Champions League this season while Freiburg will not.

This does, however, beg the question: what's next for Frankfurt? They're sitting on a huge amount of money generated via two massive player sales but have barely gotten through any of it - even after the signing of Dōan. Especially considering Leverkusen's likely decline, the fact that Frankfurt haven't gone on to capitalize on this and make a few more notable signings says alot. Although Frankfurt are a Champions League club and now one able to make big transfer bids on one or two more players, it has never been more obvious that Frankfurt have never been and likely will never be a "destination" club.

Earlier in this off-season, Frankfurt missed out on Danish midfielder Victor Froholdt after Porto beat them to his signing. The Primeira Liga club beat Frankfurt to Froholdt after they signed him for €20 million, and it should go without saying that this is a really bad look as far as Frankfurt are concerned. A club which should be in contention for second place in the Bundesliga have been beaten to the signing of a 19-year-old Danish midfielder who's not even regarded as an elite young prospect.

If Frankfurt somehow fail to finish the upcoming Bundesliga season in the top four and thus miss out on a Champions League spot, there's no question at all that they will look back on this transfer window and rue the fact that they didn't do more with the newfound wealth at their disposal. Even if Frankfurt couldn't land a bona fide star, they should have brought in at least two or three more starter-level players besides Dōan with the money from the Marmoush and Ekitike sales.

It must, of course, be kept in mind that even after losing Marmoush to City last season, Eintracht Frankfurt were nonetheless able to finish third in the league, and there's a case to be made that Dōan is a better player than Ekitike is. However, one can't help but have the feeling that in this transfer window, Frankfurt have passed up multiple opportunities to strengthen their squad.

The Weekly Take, Issue 359: The Post-Marmoush Drop-Off Never Came

With the 2024-25 Bundesliga season drawing to a close, Eintracht Frankfurt all but clinched a spot in next season’s Champions League after a dominant 4-0 victory against RB Leipzig. Barring a shocking collapse over the final three matchdays, the victory made it almost certain that Frankfurt will finish the season in the top four for the first time in over three decades.

Frankfurt scored the opening goal in the 21st minute via Ansgar Knauff who was set up by Hugo Ekitike. The rest of the first half was a relatively even affair; no further goals were scored. What ended up tipping the balance of the match was actually an early second-half red card issued to Leipzig defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu after a last-man foul on Knauff.

It was after Leipzig were left a player short that Frankfurt took over. Die Adler would score three goals while having the numerical advantage; Knauff scored his and his team’s second just three minutes after Bitshiabu’s red card before Frankfurt added two more in a four-minute span with Ekitike and Robin Koch getting on the scoresheet.

What’s been really notable about Frankfurt’s season to date is the fact that despite losing Omar Marmoush - who had been far and away their best player - in the mid-season transfer window, they haven’t fallen off at all. When Manchester City signed the Egyptian striker for €75 million in January, there were concerns that Marmoush’s departure would end up derailing Frankfurt’s campaign and understandably so; Marmoush’s contributions were the biggest reasons why Frankfurt were in third place in the league at the time of his departure, putting them on track for their best league finish since the 1992-93 season when they also finished third.

Following a short slump during the adjustment period following Marmoush’s departure in which Frankfurt won just one of seven matches, Frankfurt have bounced back strongly with four wins in six and next season will almost certainly feature on the biggest stage of European club football for the first time in four years.

Perhaps more than anything else, the main reason why Frankfurt have been able to hold their position even after Marmoush left for the Etihad Stadium is the emergence of Hugo Ekitike. Ever since City’s signing of Marmoush, Ekitike has taken his play to a new level and at just 22 has already established himself as the new centerpiece of what has become a formidable and often underrated team. Now out of Marmoush’s shadow, Ekitike has been putting the Bundesliga on notice with some seriously impressive performances; the Frenchman once again delivered against Leipzig. It’s astonishing to think that Ekitike has to date never been capped by his country; however, at the rate he’s going, his debut for Les Bleus will surely be a matter of “when”, not “if” - and likely very soon as well.

It’s worth mentioning that three of Frankfurt’s four goals came by way of a set piece. Set-piece play has been one of Frankfurt’s primary strengths this season - and this was once again made obvious in this match as Leipzig simply had no answer for their opponents when playing from the dead ball. It’s been an advantage they’ve often relied on this season to much effect.

One other aspect of this Frankfurt team which has sometimes been overlooked is its balance and depth. In addition to Ekitike, Frankfurt’s usual starting 11 contains players such as Rasmus Kristensen, Koch, Tuta, Kevin Trapp, and Arthur Theate - all of whom are undoubtedly at the level needed for a team like Frankfurt to make a serious push for the top four. Most of Frankfurt’s core players are also relatively young; as such, for as long as they can hang on to them before they get picked up by a bigger club, Frankfurt will likely be challenging for Champions League berths.

Based on everything they’ve shown this season, there’s no reason why Eintracht Frankfurt wouldn’t be able to pick up where they left off at the beginning of next season and match their accomplishments from this one. In fact, a deep run in next season’s Champions League isn’t out of the question by any means. There’s absolutely no doubt that the future at Deutsche Bank Park is very bright indeed.

The Weekly Take, Issue 48: Meet the Most Slept-on Team in the Bundesliga

This past matchday, a team that has been overlooked by almost everyone produced perhaps the most impressive result of the week.

Though this team has gone unnoticed by many, when one takes a closer look, it should become obvious that not only is this team better than they’re given credit for, but they should arguably be doing even better than they are right now.

The club I am speaking about is Eintracht Frankfurt.

Frankfurt held Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw. Luka Jović’s 36th-minute goal cancelled out Dortmund icon Marco Reus’s opener. The equaliser was the Serbian’s 14th goal in the Bundesliga this season.

For those who have been paying close attention, Frankfurt’s solid season thus far will not have come as a surprise. In fact, it could easily be argued that they should be doing better in the league. Die Adler are currently fifth in the Bundesliga, five points off a Champions League spot. However, where Frankfurt have truly shone this season has been in the Europa League. They won all six games in a tough group that included Marseille and Lazio. Frankfurt will play against Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 32, and they should have no trouble in knocking the Ukrainian club out of the tournament.

Although Frankfurt do not have any superstars on their roster, what they do have is a collection of very solid contributors who are mostly underrated to some degree. Players such as Kevin Trapp, Makoto Hasebe, Gelson Fernandes, Jonathan de Guzmán, Filip Kostić, Jović, and Sébastien Haller have all played major roles in Frankfurt’s season thus far. As is the case with many teams who achieve success without a star player, this is an instance of all the pieces fitting together perfectly.

This may not be the case for much longer, though. This also brings up another important point.

When I say that “this may not be the case for much longer”, I don’t mean that the players will no longer be a good fit for the team.

I mean that Frankfurt have a budding star among them in Jović. At just 21 years old, Jović is having a breakout season. The Benfica loanee is currently the Bundesliga’s leading goalscorer. If he remains in this position at the end of the season, he will become the youngest player to ever lead the Bundesliga in goals scored. What makes this even more impressive is the fact that if he were to do so, he would eclipse the legendary Gerd Müller for the honour. Jović would also become the youngest player to be the top scorer of a major European league since Ronaldo in 1997.

No one could have foreseen Jović’s becoming one of the most exciting young prospects in world football. At the beginning of this season, he had only played in 84 career league games, scoring 24 goals. Reduce the criteria to just matches played in a major league, and the numbers fall to 22 and eight respectively.

Although it is likely that Jović will eventually sign for a bigger club at some point in the future, Frankfurt should definitely build the team around him while he is still at the Commerzbank-Arena.

However, there is one area in which Frankfurt clearly have significant room for improvement: their defense.

Frankfurt have already conceded 27 goals after just 20 league games this season, and their backline consisting of the likes of Evan N’Dicka, David Abraham, and Danny da Costa is nowhere near the quality required to take the club to the next level.

That being said, Frankfurt did sign three defenders during the recent transfer window – Martin Hinteregger, Tuta, and Almamy Touré – though their impact on the team remains to be seen. Nevertheless, Hinteregger is better than any of the other defenders on Frankfurt’s roster and should therefore be able to help turn things around at the back.

As has been mentioned, this team is certainly underrated. They are currently on pace to have their best Bundesliga campaign since 1994. What’s more, if they finish the season in the top four, they will be in the Champions League for the first time since 1960 and the first time in the modern era.

Evidently, Eintracht Frankfurt cannot and should not be overlooked anymore.