Eintracht Frankfurt backs Krösche amid transfer chaos

The rumours came thick and fast. The knives, it seemed, were being sharpened. But inside Eintracht Frankfurt, the message over Markus Krösche is clear: he stays.

According to research by specialist magazine kicker, based on multiple background talks with figures from Eintracht’s top tier, neither the club nor Krösche are working on a separation this summer. Quite the opposite – the 43-year-old is said to enjoy “full backing” from the SGE supervisory board.

That picture clashes sharply with what Bild had pushed just days earlier. The tabloid claimed that the supervisory board meeting on 2 September would deal with how to usher Krösche out of the club ahead of schedule.

Supervisory board chairman and Eintracht president Mathias Beck has now shot that down.

“The supervisory board meeting on Wednesday is a regularly scheduled meeting that has been planned for a long time. Naturally, it will cover all the topics of the summer, including sporting matters. I will not comment publicly on reports about Markus Krösche. The fact is, he has a current contract (until 2028), declared himself clearly committed to Eintracht Frankfurt two months ago and, with his team, is in the final straight of the transfer window. There is therefore no reason to speculate about the future of Markus Krösche,” Beck is quoted as saying by kicker.

Inside Eintracht: surprise, suspicion – and “stink bombs”

Behind the scenes, kicker encountered something else: genuine astonishment. Across several conversations, the impression emerged that people within the club were repeatedly “surprised” by the talk of a split. It did not feel orchestrated.

Instead, in this highly charged situation, the magazine describes what could be deliberate “stink bombs” – attempts “to stir up unrest”, fuelled by the “vanities” of certain individuals. Who exactly is lighting the fuse remains “mysterious”. But one thing is clear: not everyone at Eintracht seems to be pulling in the same direction right now.

On Sunday evening, Lothar Matthäus struck a similar chord on Sky90. “Something is being played behind the scenes here against Markus Krösche because perhaps some people are jealous of him,” the record Germany international speculated.

Bild had also painted a picture of a rift between Krösche, the sporting director at the centre of a turbulent and sluggish transfer summer, and coach Adi Hütter. Kicker contradicts that. According to its information, there has been no falling-out of the scale suggested. Hütter is certainly not thrilled that key decisions dragged on right up to the start of the season, but talk of a major bust-up is wide of the mark. The Austrian has, after all, received two of his preferred targets: goalkeeper Noah Atubolu and centre-back Lilian Brassier.

Transfer window turmoil: big sales, late moves, and a looming exit

The sporting noise around Frankfurt is loud enough without boardroom intrigue. Eintracht opened the Bundesliga campaign by throwing away a 3-1 lead at Union Berlin, conceding late and leaving the capital with only a point. The window is still open, and the squad could look very different by the time it closes.

Up front, SGE are still working on another familiar face. With Arnau Kalimuendo, who scored six times in 19 games on loan from Nottingham in the second half of last season, there is still hope of securing him again on another loan, kicker reports.

• On the sales side, the figures are hefty. A move for Hugo Larsson to the Premier League could bring in up to €25 million. The midfielder was recently in London with the club’s permission to negotiate with two teams, one of them Crystal Palace.
• Jean-Matteo Bahoya was also expected to swell the coffers. His proposed transfer to Hull City was set to bring in almost €20 million, but according to Sport1 the player himself turned the deal down.
• Another departure, originally not on the agenda, is suddenly on the table. Multiple media outlets report that Al-Ittihad are pushing hard for Ritsu Doan. A move to Saudi Arabia for around €18 million is now even considered likely.

Add it all up, and Eintracht could yet bank more than €60 million in player sales before the deadline. Right in the middle of this murky, high-stakes transfer tangle came the reports that Krösche himself might be on the way out.

Only a few weeks earlier, AC Milan had tried and failed to lure the 45-year-old away. In June, Krösche delivered a final rejection to the Rossoneri and, according to kicker, turned down a personally extremely lucrative offer in the process. Milan are said to have put €40 million over four years on the table.

Riera gamble backfires – and Krösche’s aura takes a hit

Up to last season, Krösche’s standing in Frankfurt bordered on untouchable. His reputation was built on shrewd squad building and a series of top-value sales. Then came Albert Riera.

After Dino Toppmöller’s dismissal, Krösche was the driving force behind appointing the Spaniard. The move blew up in his face. Riera failed spectacularly in Frankfurt, alienated fans and players alike and was gone again after just 14 matches. Eintracht limped to eighth place.

The consequences are brutal: for the first time since Krösche took over in 2021, Eintracht Frankfurt will not be playing in Europe this season. His margin for error has shrunk. The debate around him has grown.

Krösche himself wanted no part of the exit rumours when asked on Saturday after the draw in Berlin. “We’re talking about football,” he said shortly after the final whistle. Even when pressed again, he simply asked to “leave it at that”.

So the sporting director stays in the firing line, backed by the board, targeted – at least in the media – from the shadows. The transfer clock is ticking. The question now is not who wants Krösche out, but whether his next wave of decisions can drag Eintracht back to where he once had them: on Europe’s stage, and out of the storm.