Eintracht Frankfurt have earned a sterling reputation for developing players from the promising bracket to top-class and selling them on for significant profit in recent years, particularly in attacking positions. The German club made around €208 million (£181m/$242m) by transferring Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller and Randal Kolo Muani to AC Milan, West Ham and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, and boosted that total by another €170m (£148/$198) last season when two more talismanic performers caught the eye of Europe’s elite.
Omar Marmoush was next through the exits in the January window as Manchester City snapped up the Egyptian forward for €75m (£65m/$87m) after seeing him register 24 goal involvements in 17 Bundesliga appearances for Eintracht in the first half of the 2024-25 campaign. Hugo Ekitike then followed Marmoush to the Premier League in the summer, with Liverpool investing €95m (£83m/$111m) in the towering Frenchman, who hit 22 goals across all competitions in his first full year at Deutsche Bank Park, having previously failed to make the grade at PSG.
Eintracht can count Willian Pacho as another huge success story, with PSG having prised the Ecuadorian defender away from Frankfurt in a €40m (£37m/$47m) deal in the summer of 2024. They have been better at finding bargains, creating superstars, and making huge money on them than any other club in Europe over the last six years or so.
Indeed, Marmoush and Kolo Muani were both initially signed on free transfers, and Eintracht only paid €16m for Ekitike. The question is: how on earth do they keep hitting the jackpot? According to Eintracht CEO Axel Hellmann, the answer is a simple but effective three-pronged formula.
“We have one of the best coaching teams in the Bundesliga,” Hellman said in a recent interview with The Athletic. “That’s really important, because we sign young players and the process of educating them, which is what is making us famous at the moment, involves a lot. We are open with our strategy when we talk to the players and to other clubs. That’s the reason why we are well connected to other clubs, because they know we take that work seriously. We are an international club. We have the airport just around the corner. Frankfurt is an international city with 147 different nationalities. It doesn’t matter if you come from South America or Africa, you have your community here.”
In other words, the setup at Deutsche Bank Park is designed for any player to thrive, and Eintracht can promise swift career advancement with the help of an extensive contacts list, making them the ultimate stepping stone club for ambitious youngsters. On the eve of their Champions League clash with Premier League champions Liverpool, GOAL runs through the six players who could be next in line for dream transfers away from Eintracht in 2026 and beyond…