Frankfurt executives: We are not fortunate to promote market imbalances, and we must turn to younger geniuses in the future

Frankfurt has bought talented young players at low prices in recent years and sold them at high prices after training. This model has achieved great competitive and economic success. But board spokesman Herman admitted that they are now suffering from bad consequences and will adopt the strategy of signing younger geniuses in the future.

Since sports director Crosher took the helm, Frankfurt's transfer model in the past four years is: looking for young geniuses aged 18 to 20. They are the main players in the original team, with the maximum transfer fee of no more than 15 million euros.

The sports director has achieved such success with this model that now makes Frankfurt suffer its own consequences, which is a typical "curse of wisdom". Hermann said in an interview with Bistro: "This is a very good statement."

The most typical example is the failure of the transfer of 19-year-old Froholt this summer: Frankfurt originally wanted to sign the midfield genius from Copenhagen, and they had reached an agreement with the player they liked and offered a quotation of 15 million euros plus a bonus.

But Copenhagen had a tough position and Froholt eventually transferred to Porto for 22 million euros. The midfielder's competitive level is roughly the same as the signing of Hugo Larson (21 years old) in 2023, who spent only 9 million euros at the time.

Hermann explains why the transfer market has changed so drastically and how this has something to do with Frankfurt. He said: "Many people see that this type of player - young and talented, who, although young, has been very successful in their respective clubs - can take the next step quickly in a high-frequency competitive environment like the Bundesliga and in the international arena. This means that their value appreciation potential is very high. Unfortunately, we also contributed to the imbalance of the market."

Consequences: Frankfurt is adjusting its direction and implementing a new transfer strategy immediately. Hermann: "I won't reveal all my thoughts, after all, it's not my duty. But one thing is clear: we have to turn to younger geniuses, such as 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds. This is the result of market changes."

This is also reflected in Frankfurt's early lockout of the transfer of 17-year-old Swedish midfielder Arkhof for 4.6 million euros. Froholt's case has also shown that Croche will not pay too high transfer fees in the future.

Hermann again stressed: "Therefore, the clubs that negotiate with us should not have such expectations: 'You have received a larger check, and now you are willing to pay higher fees.' If I were sitting at the negotiating table with Croshe, it would be better not to have such expectations."