Every time he takes to the pitch, a permanent departure from Elland Road looks increasingly inevitable for the Leeds United loanee.
Because while Leeds’ current crop of full-backs are not doing too badly in West Yorkshire – Jayden Bogle stood out again in the Burnley stalemate on Monday night while Daniel Farke has lauded Sam Byram and Junior Firpo’s contribution to the cause – a right-back who left the club on a temporary basis last summer is also arguably in the form of his life.
Or, at least, certainly playing the best football since he joined Leeds United from Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2020.
While Rasmus Kristensen struggled to make his mark in England, suffering by comparisons to fan favourite Luke Ayling while part of the Leeds team relegated under Jesse Marsch, the all-action Denmark international has had few problems winning over the Eintracht Frankfurt faithful.
Frankfurt teammates will be praying Leeds United loanee Rasmus Kristensen stays
Rasmus Kristensen has been ‘an absolute hit’ at Frankfurt, to quote the local press. Not only with his lung-busting charges down the flank, but also with the sort of full-blooded tackles that are usually the way to the fans’ hearts.
It is not just on the Commerzbank Arena terraces where Kristensen’s popularity continues to sky rocket, however, but in the dressing room too.
Despite Manchester City signing their top scorer Omar Marmoush in a £60 million deal this month, Frankfurt have won twice and drawn once since losing the 20-goal Egyptian. The Leeds-owned Kristensen assisted Hugo Ekitike’s opener in the 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund and that new-found partnership delivered the goods once again a week later.
Another Kristensen burst down the right, another clever Ekitike finish.
A £14 million signing from Paris Saint-Germain, the silky French forward is under huge pressure to step into Marmoush’s shoes. With goals in successive Bundesliga matches, both provided by Kristensen, Ekitike has certainly made a strong start to life without his erstwhile sparring partner.
“When Omar was still here, we had to share the space on the field. That worked well,” Ekitike tells the Frankfurter Rundschau following Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim. But now I’m a little more challenged on my own.”
Fortunately for the one-time Newcastle United target, he has Kristensen providing a steady stream of chances. The rampaging right-back now has three assists in a Frankfurt shirt and two-thirds of that tally arrived over the course of the last week.
“I love him,” Ekitike smiles, understandably keen to see Frankfurt secure Kristensen’s services on a full-time basis. “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.
“Hopefully we’ll do that more often.”
Kristensen earns admiration of Bundesliga icon Lothar Matthaus
According to reports, Eintracht Frankfurt have the option of signing Kristensen permanently for £12.5 million. An option they will surely take up presuming the powerhouse 27-year-old can maintain his stellar start to 2025.
Germany legend and 1990 Ballon D’Or winner Lothar Matheus, meanwhile, sees Kristensen as another example of Frankfurt’s almost unrivalled success in the transfer market.
This is, after all, a club who signed Marmoush, Randal Kolo Muani, Luka Jovic, Sebastian Haller, Andre Silva, William Pacho and Jesper Lindstrom for around £47 million and sold them all for a combined £315 million.
“Frankfurt can work in peace,” Matthaus says. “I can imagine that Eintracht will establish itself among the top four if the squad stays the same and [sporting director Markus] Krosche continues to find these pearls on the transfer market.
“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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