Frankfurt to look at Germany and their own academy for new players

Eintracht Frankfurt plan to find new players on the German market and in their own academy in the future to be less dependent on transfer income for foreign players they have developed.

Club president Matthias Beck told the club assembly on Monday night that while they want to continue playing for European berths "the path towards that will have to see adaptations based on economic reason.

"Our focus will be more on the German market and our academy," Beck said.

The change coincide with the departure of board member for sport Markus Krösche, who made a name for himself by bringing talented foreign players to the club and selling them on for big fees during his five years. 

They include Hugo Ekitiké, who went to Liverpool for €100 million ($112.4 million), the €90 million sale of Randal Kolo Muani to Paris Saint-Germain and Omar Marmoush's €75 million move to Manchester City.

During Krösche's tenure Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022 and came third in the Bundesliga in 2025. 

They failed to qualify for Europe in the past season and have also had a slow start into the new campaign.

New CEO Axel Hellmann has said that "the business model we moved in has changed," partly because the rich Premier League has made its latest big transfers mainly on the domestic English market and not abroad.

"The approach of deliberately focusing on developing young players in order to make financial progress no longer works to the same extent as it did in previous years,” Hellmann said.

“We must systematically reduce our financial dependence on transfer fees and make a greater effort to base our financial stability on the revenue generated within this region."

Hellmann said the club intends to “look more closely at the youth academy, look more closely at Germany and look more closely at potential German internationals.”

“This is not a departure from our approach, but rather an adjustment that takes account of the fact that the fundamental conditions of the market have changed.”