EOne of the most important protagonists for the rise of Frankfurt Eintracht from Bundesliga relegation candidates to European Cup participants is leaving the club. Professional football director Ben Manga and Eintracht have agreed to part ways. Sports broadcaster Sport 1 and Sky both report that Manga will soon join an English club to serve as sporting director.
Even if this change does not take place, the Manga/Eintracht relationship has no future, although his contract was only extended by five years in March 2021 by the head of the supervisory board, Philip Holzer. At that time, the new sports director Markus Krösche was not yet in office and the successor to coach Adi Hütter had not yet been found. That’s why Eintracht was happy that the chief scout and squad planner didn’t leave the club at the time of the upheaval.
A new title, expanded skills and a significantly higher salary made the offer attractive to Manga, so he turned down his friend Fredi Bobic, with whom he had come to Eintracht in 2016, to follow him to Hertha BSC. For a few weeks, the former professional soccer player, who was born in Equatorial Africa, ran the sporting business with CFO Oliver Frankenbach in Frankfurt, without creating a fait accompli on the transfer market. The decisions should be reserved for the future sports director Markus Krösche. With the arrival of the 42-year-old Westphalian, who had come from RB Leipzig, the influence of manga on the team’s sporting development largely ended.
For whatever reason: the two did not find a trusting working relationship. Krösche exchanges information on transfer issues with licensed player manager Timmo Hardung, whom he brought to the Main from RB Leipzig. Manga has an exceptional reputation as a talent scout in the industry and among fans. Sebastien Haller, Luka Jovic, Ante Rebic, Jesus Vallejo and Omar Mascarell were professionals who resold Eintracht at a great profit. The 48-year-old had also discovered the chain of defense of the victorious Europa League final against Glasgow Rangers with Touré, Tuta and Ndicka for Eintracht.
The latest transfers Manga was involved in were Randal Kolo Muani, who had been in contact for two years, and Rafael Borré. Otherwise, the development of the squad bears Krösche’s signature with the outstanding new signings Mario Götze, Jesper Lindström and Ansgar Knauff, but also a few less effective acquisitions.
Manga’s merits for Eintracht are undisputed within the club leadership. That’s why his wish for change was accepted in principle after the hope of fruitful cooperation between the sports director and the director of professional football no longer existed. A change will be completed in a few weeks at the latest. There should be various interested parties for the internationally well-connected talent scout.
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