Sport Bild Report: Frankfurt hopeful of offloading trio in January
Germany's main sporting tabloid reports that Eintracht Frankfurt will actively attempt to offload a trio of players in the coming January transfer window.
With 36 professionals on the payroll, Eintracht Frankfurt's roster remains by far the largest of any German club contesting the country's top footballing flight. Priority one for chief personnel executive Markus Krösche in the coming January transfer window will be reducing the roster; particularly in light of the fact that the SGE wishes to bring in reinforcements in the attack.
Speaking to the local "Frankfurter Rundschau" newspaper recently, Krösche emphasized the need to retain a "core group" of players enthusiastic about representing the RheinMain Adler over the long-term run of the next "two to three years". Germany's "Sport Bild" tabloid claims to know of three players who do not meet this standard and will be openly shopped for sales and loans over the next few weeks.
According to the paper, Krösche wishes to offload a pair of players he once paid significant money to sign permanently. Croatian midfielder Kristijan Jakic (signed from Dinamo Zagreb for a reported €3.5 million in the summer of 2022) and Norwegian attacker Jens Petter Hauge (a pricey acquisition who hasn't exactly worked out for the club) are an obvious pair of candidates.
Hauge's so-called "second chance" under the new coaching regime of Dino Toppmoller has seen him make 11 appearances across all competitions this year. After the 24-year-old registered three assists in the opening round of the Pokal, however, he hasn't managed to record a single scorer point. Jakic - like Hauge - seems to have no future in Toppmöller's system.
Jakic hasn't gotten his name on the scoresheet in five appearances across all competitions. The 26-year-old maintains an estimated market worth of €7 million whilst Hauge is assessed to be worth around €2.5 million in the latest transfermarkt listings. Both players remain under contract with Eintracht through 2026.
A third actor - unsurprisingly enough - is listed by "Sport Bild" as a definite expendable for Krösche and his staff. Recently considered to be a potential candidate to help the team in attack, Lucas Alario has instead proven to be unnecessary after all. The Argentine striker - thanks to the rise of Omar Marmoush and young striker Ignacio Ferri Julia - still hasn't made an appearance this season.
Alario maintains and estimated market with of €2.5 million and is under contract with the club through 2025. Krösche - having just secured a positive transfer balance of nearly €90 million in the summer window - will presumably have no qualms about ridding himself of the trio for very low amounts of money.