ADaichi Kamada doesn’t travel many kilometers this time. The Eintracht professional, currently the most conspicuous player in coach Oliver Glasner’s squad, is part of the squad for the Japanese national team. But with the support of Fortuna Düsseldorf, she has currently opened her domicile in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital.
There she will play two friendlies: this Friday (2:25 p.m.) against the United States and on September 27 (1:55 p.m.) against Ecuador. “For the many Japanese fellow citizens who live in our city and for us as Fortuna, this is a great sign,” said CEO Alexander Jobst. One of the largest Japanese communities in Europe is located in Düsseldorf.
Benfica change imminent
Apparently not much would have been missing, and Kamada would have had a much longer journey to choose from. Because in the summer, the 26-year-old had already agreed with Benfica Lisbon about a move to Portugal. The Frankfurt sports director Markus Krösche is said to have been open to a transfer of the noble technician; For Kamada, whose current market value on the specialist portal “transfermarkt.de” is given as 22 million euros, a handsome transfer fee would have been due because his contract in Frankfurt runs until July 1, 2023. Kamada has not yet been able to muster the willingness to extend the cooperation in writing in the long term.
Glasner, who vehemently urged the Japanese to stay, did not play along in the economically lucrative deal with Lisbon for Frankfurt and Kamada. In a personal conversation, the football teacher was able to convince Kamada to continue his career on Main.
Only replacement?
The Japanese was afraid that he might only be a candidate for the substitute bench, as he is currently in his final year of contract in Frankfurt. Glasner took this worry away from his protégé. The coach is absolutely right, because Kamada has risen to become the player who decides the games; Across all competitions, the Japanese has scored six goals and three assists in ten games.
Whether as a playmaker in the sixth position or in one of the offensive half positions – Kamada does a great job for Eintracht on the pitch. From game day to game day, the Japanese, who is one of the most valuable players in Frankfurt, is currently increasing his market value. This complicates Eintracht’s contract negotiations with Kamada, who are in the process of earning valuable offers from other clubs.
But Frankfurt has an important advocate: Kamada’s compatriot Makoto Hasebe advises his teammate to continue sportingly “just like that” and then to “extend” his contract with Eintracht.
