Evan Ndicka and Dino Toppmöller would have had no problems communicating with each other. The 42-year-old Toppmöller, who will become the new Eintracht coach, speaks fluent French in addition to English. But Toppmöller will not be Ndicka’s contact person in the new Bundesliga season because the Frenchman is leaving Frankfurt after his contract expires.
The 23-year-old centre-back, whose elegance impresses when he is at his best, declined the Hessen offer to extend the partnership beyond 30 June. “We would have liked to see Evan at Eintracht Frankfurt in the future, so it’s a shame” that Ndicka is changing clubs, said sports director Markus Krösche about the upcoming separation. The Frenchman is the second free transfer departure as a regular after Daichi Kamada. Ndicka had once not agreed to a conceivable sale in order to generate at least a transfer fee as an employer. This should not have met with goodwill from Eintracht at the time.
For a long time, the future Conference League participant had tried to get Ndicka to stay. Eintracht underpinned their desire with a financially lucrative offer for his next professional phase in Frankfurt. However, the defender turned the matter into a stalemate, which was not in the interest of his employer.
AS Roma as the most promising candidate
Ndicka’s advisors sounded out the chances of an economically very rewarding employment relationship for their protégé at top European clubs. They are said to have been very demanding and not very sensitive in dealing with them. Accordingly, some clubs – we are talking about Barcelona, Liverpool and Inter Milan – apparently withdrew from the negotiations. Currently, AS Roma is probably the most promising candidate for a commitment from Ndicka. The great interest of coach José Mourinho is deposited. According to Italian media reports, the Romans are said to have offered the defender a five-year contract.
Ndicka has been with Eintracht for five years. Shortly before his 19th birthday, he came to Germany in the summer of 2018. At the time, Frankfurt paid between five and six million euros to his training club AJ Auxerre. After Sebastien Haller, the former youth international ranked as the second most expensive transfer from Hessen. Ndicka joined Eintracht after 14 appearances in France’s Ligue 2. According to transfermarkt.de, its market value today is 32 million euros. The 1.92 meter tall professional became a regular player straight away. In total, he completed 183 competitive games for Frankfurt with a playing time of 15,820 minutes. In the left footer’s personal record there are twelve goals and ten assists. The lost cup final against Leipzig (0:2), in which Ndicka played the full distance, was his farewell game for Eintracht. With his goal to make it 1-1 in the semifinals against Stuttgart, he heralded Frankfurt’s race to catch up with VfB – the final score was 3-2.
In the past round, the Frenchman was not missing a minute in the eight Champions League matches. Only goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and midfielder Djibril Sow managed the full workload. Ndicka made 30 appearances in the Bundesliga and five in the DFB Cup. His duels won 55 percent made him the best duel in Frankfurt.
Nevertheless, the past season was not his best in the Eintracht jersey. Ndicka played a much weaker second half of the season, he was no longer as confident as we were used to from him. He was probably distracted by his unclear future and the associated open questions. His concentration seemed to suffer, which made itself felt in him with unusual mistakes and insecurities.
Ndicka will remember last season’s Europa League victory as his biggest success in Frankfurt. With Randal Kolo Muani and Erin Junior Dina Ebimbe there are now two French players in the squad. Dino Toppmöller will be able to exchange ideas with them in their mother tongue without any problems.
