Last summer saw a mass exodus at Leeds United. After losing the playoff final to Southampton, a lot of players sought a way out of the club.
Those players were not alone, the club decided to let go of some contracts on their books. A whole host of signings from previous eras were let go. Jesse Marsch’s summer window of 2023 and Victor Orta’s youth policy saw the club have two different approaches in the space of five years. Some signings under both eras were let go. That summer window saw 18 departures in total, including Ian Poveda, Cody Drameh, Marc Roca and Luis Sinisterra among others. Rasmus Kristensen was one of the departures last summer. He joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan with an option to buy, with the Bundesliga side triggering the clause during the campaign. Kristensen will officially be a full time Frankfurt player this summer. He arrived at Elland Road as part of Jesse Marsch’s signings. The American coach recruited from Red Bull clubs, where he used to coach. But not all the signings worked out. Kristensen was often on the end of criticism and even found himself on the bench after a poor run of form. When the club was relegated he sought a loan move to Roma, and moved to the Bundesliga on another loan last summer.
After Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League this weekend, the 27-year old has opened up on his time at Elland Road: “This is one of the greatest moments for me. It’s been a long journey to this success. “I wanted to quit football completely last season. I just didn’t feel like it anymore.”
Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoller credits the club’s sporting director for convincing the defender to come to Germany.
“The first compliment for this transfer goes to Markus Krosche. He spoke to him during the European Championship”, Toppmoller said.
“We then had a good phone call. Rasmus actually had similar thoughts.” Sometimes this happens in football, the right player arriving at the club at the wrong side. Kristensen has clearly shown how good he is, and he has had a great season on loan. He will be playing Champions League football next season, a complete turnaround from the player that fell out of the starting lineup under Jesse Marsch.
In other news, Leeds are looking to add a new right back this summer, with West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal on the radar.
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