Markus Krosche, sports director at Eintracht Frankfurt, is central in recent years in the center of some of the most impressive transfer agreements, and there is now speculation that his remarkable success could possibly earn a position as a replacement of Max Eberl in Bayern Munich.
The majority of European clubs follow a common strategy where they try to spot and buy young talent at a young age to develop them into valuable assets, and then to sell them for considerable profit to remain competitive and at the same time generate income for the club. However, what the clubs separate is how well they implement that plan.
Looking at the transfer gains in the past decade, no club seems to have implemented that strategy to have a better effect than Eintracht Frankfurt. In the past six years they have completed transfer agreements, including Randall Kolo Muani, Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike, who have brought them no less than € 363 million, making them one of the biggest challengers for the Bayern Munich stronghold on the German Bundesliga.
In the heart of that development you will find Markus Krosche, sports director of Frankfurt, who came to the club of RB Leipzig four years ago.
Under his leadership, the club won the UEFA Europa League in 2022, continued to the Champions League round of 16 and achieved the DFB-Pokal final in 2023, and achieved third place in the Bundesliga last season and earned a return to the European top competition.
Outside the field, Krosche has drawn praise for his recruitment of strategic players. His focus on data -driven scouting, combined with a willingness to allow players to continue when they seem ready to take the next step in their career, has created a succession of attracting talented players who regard Frankfurt as a step to larger clubs.
Even before his arrival, former German international striker Fredi Bobic had taken the first steps to launch the lucrative transfer philosophy of Eintracht Frankfurt with promising results, but Krosche took that development one step further.
A list of the most lucrative deals from Frankfurt in the past eight years:
Hugo Ekitike, signed from PSG (in April 2024) for € 16.5 million, was sold to Liverpool for € 95 million (July 2025)
Omar Marmoush, signed from Wolfsburg (May 2023) on a free transfer, was sold to Manchester City for € 75 million (January 2025)
Randal Kolo Muani, signed at Nantes (March 2022) on a free transfer, was sold to PSG for € 85 million (January 2023)
Willian Pacho, signed from Royal Antwerp (January 2023) for € 13.5 million, was sold to PSG for € 40 million (August 2024)
Jesper Lindstrom, signed from Brondby (July 2021) for € 7 million, was sold to Napoli for € 30 million (August 2023)
Sebastian Haller, signed from Utrecht (January 2017) for € 12 million, was sold to West Ham for € 50 million (July 2019)
Luca Jovic, signed from Benfica (April 2019) for € 22.5 million, was sold to Real Madrid for € 60 million (June 2019)
Jonathan Burkhardt could be Krosche's next transfer coupčtk / image sports photo service / Marc Schueler
Krosche, who founded a lease company on the car to develop his business insight after his active career, in his first season with Frankfurt, the Europa League won with Oliver Glasner as a coach, but there was a problem that threatened to the Horizon with a team that was the oldest in the Bundesliga.
Today Frankfurt has the youngest team in the competition thanks to Krosche's well -developed strategy to spot talent at a young age. Under a team that burst with exciting prospects, 20-year-old Hugo Larsson (signed by Malmo), the 21-year-old rates Chaibi (from Toulouse) and the 25-year-old newly purchased striker Jonathan Burkhardt (from Mainz) could be the next to be loaded to some of Europe's greatest clubs for huge profit.
Krosche has previously explained to Sky Sports that part of the magic in identifying the right players is through scouting data to work a year in advance: “We must be in the market early.
“We have to be better than the rest because we cannot afford mistakes. We have to be faster and more efficient. So by October we will have a clear idea of who we want to sign next summer. This is a big advantage because other clubs are not on the market at that time.”
The German football legend Lothar Matthaus, who works today as a TV expert for Sky Sports Germany, praises Krosche's transactions on the transfer market.
“Markus Krosche is the transfer king!” he said. “And even if the Ekitike sales will first weaken them, I am impressed by the calmness of how those involved around Krosche work. They know exactly what they do. As I know, he has already acted with a foresight with Jonathan Burkardt.
“Despite this many departure and the enormous transfer bows, some of which are reinvested, Frankfurt always makes a nice profit. These are goals and dreams that many Bundesliga clubs do not achieve. Success, transfer and happy spectators: what more do you want?”
While Krosche has worked his magic on Frankfurt, the same can certainly not be said about his colleague in the German giants Bayern Munich, Max Eberl. There is a saying in Germany that “what Bayern wants, Bayern gets”, but based on the lack of success of Eberl in the transfer market, that saying currently has a hollow ring.
Max Eberl is taken a lot
Bayern succeeded in luring the German international Jonathan Tah to Sabener Strasse, but in the summer they missed names such as Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), Nico Williams (Athletic Club) and Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade, making it one of the most disappointing transfifers.
That has now activated speculation in the German media about whether Krosche will probably replace Eberl, which is criticized from all sides in Germany, not least from Matthaus.
“The money they have spent on contract extensions for Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich, plus the way in which Eberl has dealt with the discussions around Florian Wirtz and Thomas Müller. Such mistakes have not occurred in recent years and are not good for a healthy image in the past years, he has also been made of the club.
The question now is as Bayern, on the back of a chaotic transfer window, choosing to give Krosche the chance to stabilize the ship in Munich.