Eintracht Frankfurt’s spokesman for the board, Alex Hellman, has thrown some digs at Fulham and Nottingham Forest, insisting it was easy to convince Omar Marmoush to ignore both clubs.
Frankfurter Rundschau cover comments from Hellman today after a busy end to the window for Marmoush.
He was targeted by Nottingham Forest as they sought to sign a striker and grew frustrated with their failed efforts to get Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord.
Fulham were later thrown into the mix, with a report this week also stating that they’d made efforts to convince the Egyptian into a move.
Marmoush ultimately turned down any approaches sent his way, preferring to remain in Germany with Frankfurt, who he joined on a free transfer in July last year.
He’s instead elected to build on what he’s started in Germany and perhaps impress again, which could lead to even bigger offers in the future.
Frankfurt are delighted they’ve convinced him to stay, and Hellman says that was easy to do thanks to the level of clubs that came calling.
“If there had been an adequate offer for him or for us, then we would have thought about it,” he said.
“In plain language, that means: If there had been an attractive club and good earnings, then we wouldn’t have kept it. If Manchester City had said they wanted Marmoush and he could earn four times as much there, then I wouldn’t have been able to tell him: ‘This is the chance of a lifetime. But there’s an eagle beating in your heart, it’s nice to stay here.’
“In this case, a lot of things came together. But if Manchester City had come knocking, then the check to us would probably have been bigger and I would have said that we have to take it with us because we have a responsibility for the club.”
