Leeds United will be praying Rasmus Kristensen does enough during his loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt to ensure he joins them permanently.
Kristensen made the temporary switch to the German side back in July. It is the second successive season he has left on loan since Leeds‘ relegation, having been at AS Roma for the 2023/24 campaign.
However, Kristensen’s struggles in the Italian capital meant he returned to Elland Road in the summer with a decision to make. Unlike Brenden Aaronson and Max Wober, he wanted to leave again.
From his perspective, that is a decision which is paying off. Kristensen has played every minute of Frankfurt’s league campaign so far, drawing praise from sporting director Timmo Hardung.
Hardung’s comments will be music to the ears of Leeds chiefs, with his decision to leave on loan again ending any chance of a potential career at Elland Road in the future.
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Frankfurt eyeing new talks with Leeds over Kristensen
Leeds and Frankfurt were successfully able to negotiate a future purchase option for Kristensen for 2025. Some reports suggested Leeds agreed as high as £15 million.
However, for a full-back who would have just 12 months left on his deal at Leeds next summer, that figure may be too high. As such, Frankfurt want to renegotiate.
According to Fussball.news, Frankfurt are keen to lower the originally agreed price with Leeds ‘a little more’. That report states the current option is less than £15 million, but actually around £10.8 million.
Clearly Frankfurt would be happy to keep Kristensen long-term, but only on their terms. That certainly puts Leeds in an interesting position, given he has not future at the club.
Having said that, it would be wise for Leeds to just get him off the books. The 49ers were happy to sell both Marc Roca and Diego Llorente to Real Betis for lower fees, and Kristensen is in a similar position.
Frankfurt manager Dino Toppmöller delighted with Leeds loanee Kristensen
Fresh on the back of helping Frankfurt to a clean sheet and 2-0 win over Wober’s former side Borussia Monchengladbach, Kristensen was praised by his manager Dino Toppmöller.
Toppmöller was also actually asked about the prospect of signing Kristensen permanently, he suggested it was something the club is already looking at.
He said: “Markus Krösche has already recognized this. He’s already there and doesn’t need my expertise. He also sees that Rasmus is a very important factor for us.
“He bit through despite stomach problems and played very solidly. With his energy and power, Rasmus is very important to us.”
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