Rasmus Kristensen of Leeds United reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur at Elland…Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Rasmus Kristensen’s Leeds United future takes a twist despite an agreement
As Leeds United look to move on a host of Elland Road misfits, the Championship table-toppers must be wary of, as the great J.R Tolkien wrote, delving ‘too greedily and too deep’.
If reports are to be believed, Eintracht Frankfurt appear to view Leeds United’s asking price for Rasmus Kristensen as a little on the expensive side.
Then again, the Yorkshire giants will rightly argue that these were the terms Dino Toppmoller’s Frankfurt agreed too when the Denmark international moved to the Commerzbank Arena on loan last summer. If anyone is delving too deep and risking the wrath of Durin’s Bane – or Dino’s Bane, in this instance, it is Frankfurt.
The Bundesliga high-flyers rubber-stamped the £12.5 million option-to-buy clause in Kristensen’s contract, after all. That Frankfurt are now looking to barter a lower fee, one in the region of £8.5 million, well, Leeds could be forgiven for asking a club based in Germany’s financial district if they really know how the economics of football works.
Rasmus Kristensen has been ‘an absolute hit’ at Frankfurt, to quote one German publication. A near-ever-present on Dino Toppmoller’s team-sheet, the right-back’s rampaging runs down the flank are a major reason why The Eagles are soaring as high as third in the table heading towards the business end of the campaign.
Rasmus Kristensen of Eintracht Frankfurt controls the ball during the DFB Cup Round of 16 match between RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt at Red …
Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Leeds United’s Rasmus Kristensen deal with Eintracht Frankfurt in ‘doubt’
The Leeds loanee provided an assist in a victory over Borussia Dortmund and then set-up Hugo Ekitike again a week later against Hoffenheim.
Under pressure to replace the goals of Omar Marmoush following his £60 million switch to Manchester City, no wonder former Paris Saint-Germain misfit Ekitike is keen to see Kristensen stay at Frankfurt.
“I love him,” Ekitike smiles, “He’s a good player. Rasmus gave me the perfect pass [against Hoffenheim] and all I had to do was push it over the line.
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“Hopefully we’ll do that more often.”
One suspects Leeds would have few qualms green-lighting a permanent move either. Jayden Bogle has been ‘outstanding’ for Daniel Farke over the last few months, making the right-back spot his own following Kristensen’s temporary exit.
Yet, Leeds are not desperate enough for cash that they will simply bow down to Frankfurt’s demands and knock £4 million off the former Red Bull Salzburg flyer’s price-tag.
According to BILD, an agreement between Frankfurt and Leeds is now in ‘doubt’, the latter side not exactly happy with the former’s attempts to shift the goalposts.
Germany icon Lothar Matthaus sees Kristensen as example of Frankfurt’s success
“Of course, we would like to continue working with him,” Markus Krosche, the Commerzbank Arena’s extremely highly-regarded sporting director, said recently. “Our goal is a long-term collaboration with Rasmus.
“We are very happy with him. He gives us so much, both on and off the field.”
Frankfurt’s recent success – Europa League winners in 2022 and well-placed to seal Champions League qualification in 2025 – owes much to Krosche’s supreme work in the transfer market; Whether through selling prized assets for huge fees, see Randal Kolo Muani, Luka Jovic and Marmoush, or via snapping up reinforcements at bargain sums.
“I can imagine that Eintracht will establish itself among the top four if the squad stays the same and Krosche continues to find these pearls on the transfer market,” Germany legend and former Ballon D’Or winner Lothar Matthaus predicted recently, albeit before Marmoush’s exit to the Etihad.
“Not only Marmoush, Arthur Theate and Rasmus Kristensen were also top transfers. Ansgar Knauff and Nnamdi Collins came from Dortmund, and Mario Gotze, a former BVB star, blossomed in Frankfurt.”
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