When it comes to developing and selling star strikers, few clubs in Europe have built a reputation quite like Eintracht Frankfurt. Over the past six years, the Bundesliga side has quietly amassed nearly £300 million in profit from the sales of attacking talents, dazzling the football world with their knack for spotting, nurturing, and ultimately cashing in on forward firepower. But as Liverpool arrive at Deutsche Bank Park for a high-stakes Champions League clash, the spotlight isn’t just on the club’s transfer acumen—it’s on the dynamic new faces leading Frankfurt’s charge and the fascinating web of connections linking the two teams.
Frankfurt’s sporting director Timmo Hardung doesn’t shy away from the attention their strikers draw. “Strikers are always more shiny,” he quipped with a smile, acknowledging the headlines that follow those who find the net. “It’s the toughest part of our sport to score a goal, so obviously they draw a lot of attention.” Yet, as Hardung is quick to point out, it isn’t just the forwards who’ve flourished in Frankfurt’s ranks. The club’s model has produced talents across the pitch—Ecuador international Willian Pacho, for instance, was signed for just under £12 million from Royal Antwerp in July 2023 and flipped a year later to Paris St-Germain for almost £35 million. Still, it’s the strikers who steal the show, and for good reason.
Since Luka Jovic’s move to Real Madrid and Sebastien Haller’s switch to West Ham back in 2019, Frankfurt’s conveyor belt of attacking talent has included Andre Silva (RB Leipzig), Randal Kolo Muani (PSG), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City), and, most recently, Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool). “We try to play offensive football, to create a lot of chances, and I think we’re a good club to just have the opportunity as a striker to score your goals,” Hardung explained. “We try to press high, attack the goal as much as possible and that certainly gives our strikers the opportunity to shine.”
One of the brightest examples of this philosophy in action is Hugo Ekitike. The 23-year-old Frenchman, who struggled for minutes at PSG, arrived at Frankfurt on loan in January 2024 and wasted little time making an impact. His move was made permanent, and he finished the Bundesliga campaign with 15 goals and eight assists—impressive numbers that placed him fourth among players aged 23 or under for goal involvements across Europe’s top five leagues. “We just saw his potential,” Hardung said. “We saw his strengths and we felt like this could fit very well to the style of football we want to play.”
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Ekitike’s shot conversion rate stood at 12.8%, and he underperformed his expected goals tally by 6.6 goals. Still, he led the Bundesliga in chances created from open play, shots taken, and goals from fast breaks among forwards, while ranking fifth in dribbles. Hardung credits the club’s holistic approach for Ekitike’s development: “It was a lot of work from us, but also from him. Obviously he had to do the tough part, the hard work and training, trying to listen to some tough feedback... He was able to work with that feedback to put in a good work ethic, good effort in training. [He] improved every day, gave it his best shot and then the rest was done by his talent.”
Frankfurt’s investment in the “team around the team”—from video analysts to psychologists—aims to maximize every player’s potential. “The further you reach up to your ceiling, the more you have to look for percentages to improve a little bit here, a little bit there,” Hardung explained. For Ekitike, that meant building up his physicality to match Bundesliga intensity and fine-tuning his positioning and movement in the box.
But as quickly as Ekitike rose, he moved on—joining Liverpool and returning to Deutsche Bank Park this week for a reunion on the grandest stage. His departure came just months after Omar Marmoush’s high-profile transfer to Manchester City for £59 million, following a prolific spell in which he scored 37 goals in 18 months. The Premier League’s appetite for Bundesliga talent is no secret, with the top eight most expensive Bundesliga departures this summer—including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Benjamin Sesko, and Nick Woltemade—all heading to England.
Despite these lucrative exits, Hardung insists that Frankfurt’s primary focus isn’t on resale value. “We want to be successful, right? We’re a big club, we’re a traditional club. We’re ambitious. That’s our primary goal, to get a competitive football team.” The club’s recent track record supports that ambition: Europa League champions in 2022, third-place Bundesliga finishers last season (matching a club record), and boasting the division’s youngest average squad.
With Ekitike gone, Frankfurt turned to Jonathan Burkardt, a £18 million summer signing from Mainz, to lead their line. The 25-year-old has hit the ground running, netting four goals in his first six league matches and three in two Champions League outings. Burkardt’s recent form is nothing short of sensational—six goals in his last six games, including a historic Champions League debut in September when he became the first German in over 30 years to score and assist in his maiden appearance. He followed that up with goals against Atletico Madrid and a weekend brace at Freiburg.
Burkardt’s journey hasn’t been without adversity. A knee injury in November 2022, ironically against Frankfurt, sidelined him for 15 months. His resurgence is credited to Bo Henriksen, Mainz’s coach from February 2024, who recognized Burkardt’s desire to play as a central striker and gave him the platform to thrive. “Everything is mentality,” Henriksen told Sky Sports. “I just talked to him... He wanted to play as a No 9, as a clear No 9. His trust was rewarded.” Under Henriksen, Burkardt scored 24 goals in 40 Bundesliga games, helping Mainz avoid relegation and then qualify for Europe.
Now in Frankfurt, Burkardt’s relentless work-rate and knack for running from deep have made him a perfect fit for a team that thrives on transition play, much like Ekitike and Marmoush before him. As Frankfurt prepare to face Liverpool, Burkardt’s form poses a real threat to the English champions.
On the other side, Liverpool manager Arne Slot has hinted at rotating his squad, stating, “We will use a lot of players again tomorrow, as we will on Saturday... We have more than 11 players that can start a game of football for us and that’s why we’ve done that until now multiple times.” Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller, who previously coached Ekitike, expects the Frenchman to start: “With the connection [with Ekitike] it was closer because he was my player for one and a half years and my main striker, so it’s very nice to see how he directly fits perfectly in the squad of Liverpool. He has already scored his goals, and he already has a big impact on the game for them, and I expect him also to start tomorrow.”
Toppmoller isn’t buying into the narrative that Liverpool’s recent form makes them vulnerable, either. “It’s not about a good or a bad time... If you have a closer look, they were in all games the better team. They had bigger chances to score now over the weekend. They were very unlucky in a lot of situations. [Cody] Gakpo, I think, hit the post three times.” Still, Toppmoller is confident that Frankfurt can harness the energy of their home crowd and pose problems for the English giants.
As the Champions League night unfolds in Frankfurt, all eyes will be on the strikers—past, present, and future. Whether it’s the returning Ekitike or the in-form Burkardt, one thing’s certain: Frankfurt’s blueprint for success continues to turn heads across Europe, and tonight’s battle promises more drama in their storied journey.
