Isn’t it strange how a player can struggle to win over a fanbase at one club – take Championship leaders Leeds United for instance – before quickly becoming a fans’ favourite in his next home?
Well, that certainly seems to be the case with a man who struggled to live up to expectations during what is likely to be his one and only season in the Leeds United XI.
Rasmus Kristensen, a £10 million signing from Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2022, was supposed to pick up the baton from Luke Ayling at Elland Road.
In hindsight, perhaps this was part of the problem.
Ayling, something of a modern day Leeds icon, was always going to take some replacing, both from an emotional and quality standpoint.
And Kristensen, finding it difficult to adapt as Leeds plummeted towards the relegation zone and went through no fewer than three head coaches managers in the space of only a few months, would become, almost like Brenden Aaronson, an unfortunate posterboy for the bungled, post-Marcelo Bielsa succession plan and the unpopular Jesse Marsch era.
Leeds United misfit Rasmus Kristensen a big hit at Eintracht Frankfurt
Now, the all-action American’s remarkable revival – Jermaine Beckford lauded Aaronson’s work-rate after his winner at Derby County – is proof that even the most belligerent of doubters can be won over with goals and assists.
Whether Kristensen, on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt but with a £12.5 million option-to-buy clause in his contract, is given the same chance to rebuild those bridges remains to be seen.
Frankfurt sporting director Timmo Hardung insisted no decision had been made on Kristensen’s future when quizzed on the prospect of a permanent switch to Germany before Christmas.
But while not everyone in Frankfurt may have been convinced of the Denmark international’s qualities just yet, the local media certainly appear to have bought their way into the Kristensen fanclub.
The Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper rank Kristensen as one of Frankfurt’s top performers so far in 2024/25, Dino Toppmoller’s side heading into 2025 sitting third in the Bundesliga table.
And while the former Roma loanee might not have convinced the masses in West Yorkshire, his heart-on-the-sleeve, mud, blood and thunder approach has earned this Danish dynamo plenty of admirers across the Channel.
Elland Road loanee ‘an absolute hit’ in the Bundesliga
“[Kristensen] celebrates a sliding tackle as if his team had won the Champions League!” the newspaper writes. “He’s a tough guy. A Viking-type Dane. He fears neither death nor the devil, and puts his head on the line even with a cut and a bandage.
“Not the best footballer, and there’s room for improvement in defensive tackles too. Nevertheless; a good guy, important for the team, a real leader. Doesn’t take any nonsense.”
The Frankfurter Rundschau go on to label Kristensen an ‘absolute hit’ of a signing, crediting the ‘winning mentality’ a three-time Austrian league champion has brought to the Commerzbank Arena.
Speaking of full-backs, Leeds’ current go-to right-sider limped off during the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on New Years Day. Considering the form he has been in – Jayden Bogle striking up a wonderful partnership with Dan James – this was certainly not a welcome sight.
But, speaking ahead of Leeds’ trip to Hull City on Saturday, Daniel Farke confirms that Bogle was only suffering a ‘dead leg’ rather than anything more serious.
He may yet be in contention to start on Humberside.
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