Does he stay? Is he going? It’s the two most important questions that will determine Eintracht’s fortunes this summer. For days there has been speculation that Randal Kolo Muani is turning his back on Frankfurt at the end of this transfer period after his strong debut season. Paris St. Germain is said to have already verbally agreed with the stormy Frenchman that the outstanding Frankfurt soccer professional will soon be lacing up the shoes for the financially strong club in the French capital.
But that is not certain. And on Saturday, when Eintracht completed their dress rehearsal against Nottingham Forest as part of the season opening party and did not get more than 0-0 against the English Premier League club, those responsible in Frankfurt did not let themselves be lured out of their reserve. There was a lot of verbal tactics, and sports director Markus Krösche was right in his basic assessment: “The closer the day comes, the wilder the game gets.”
There is a deadline for the million dollar game about Kolo Muani: September 1, 6 p.m. Until then, it is possible for the German Bundesliga clubs to make transfers. Players can come and go – even at Eintracht. For example, it is probably only a matter of time before the two attackers, Rafael Borré and Faride Alidou – a loan deal is planned for him – will join other employers. There is a basic agreement with them that they can leave Eintracht.
100 million transfer fee is speculated
The case of Kolo Muani is different. Sports director Krösche said in the catacombs of the Frankfurt Arena: “There is no new status.” Based on the winged Niko Kovac statement “Status now”, the same applies to Kolo Muani at the moment. As of now, he is a Eintracht professional. “He’s our player, he feels comfortable with us,” said Krösche, evading the question of whether there was already a verbal agreement between the top scorer and PSG, and added: “The speculation is getting wilder and more aggressive.”
As if they had agreed: Timmo Hardung also verbally hit the same notch as Krösche. The new sports director of Eintracht, on the edge of the zero number against Nottingham interview guest on the broadcasting television channel Sky, said about the cause of Kolo Muani and the transfer fee of around 100 million euros: “It’s all rumors and speculation. We have spoken extensively on the subject in recent weeks. There is no new stand,” said the 33-year-old in the well-attended arena.
31,000 spectators came to get a live impression of the new Eintracht. After coach Dino Toppmöller’s team lost twice in friendlies to fourth-rate opponents Steinbach Haiger and Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz, and after all played 1-1 against Dutch Premier League representative Arnheim at the end of the training camp in Windischgarsten, that left them 0-0 against the brave Englishmen still plenty of room for improvement.
Not every shot is a direct hit: Randal Kolo Muani fails at Nottingham goalkeeper George Shelvey. : Image: Huebner
Although not everything ran as smoothly as the Eintracht managers had imagined, there was later great satisfaction. “I saw a very active team,” said Toppmöller in his analysis. “Everyone did very well and the new players brought new energy.” In the 66th minute, the Eintracht coach replaced all ten field players with new staff. Only goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was on the pitch for 90 minutes and had little to do against harmless Englishmen. And when the national keeper was outwitted once, something was foul in the game. Header Scott McKenna supported himself illegally in the 85th minute.
When Kolo Muani had the chance to open the scoring for Frankfurt (56th), everything was normal. Played well by Jesper Lindström, who received a superb cross from Makoto Hasebe, the Frenchman failed from close range. Nottingham keeper George Shelvey refused to be defeated by Kolo Muani.
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It was Eintracht’s best opportunity to score, and they then appeared dangerously again in front of the English goal. Omar Marmoush and Jessic Ngankam were unlucky in the follow-up shot that only hit the post (66′). “Everyone saw today that Kolo started with us, that he played a very decent game,” said Hardung, to do the same as sporting director Krösche. “The status quo is unchanged, we’re glad it’s here. He’s our player.” As of now.