Eintracht Frankfurt have a plan to sell Nnamdi Collins this summer, to fund a move for Nottingham Forest’s Arnaud Kalimuendo.
That’s according to SportBILD. The German newspaper cover the situation today and Frankfurt’s plans for both players.
First up, there is Kalimuendo. He is currently on loan from Nottingham Forest after joining in the January transfer window.
That loan deal includes a €27m purchase clause. Paying such a figure would make him the most expensive transfer in the German club’s history.
That’s an issue as Eintracht Frankfurt’s finances are currently stretched to the limit. There is an increased likelihood that they will close the financial year with a loss for the second year in a row.
Kalimuendo plans
In order to sign Kalimuendo permanently from Nottingham Forest, they need to offload players urgently. Nathaniel Brown is seen as an almost certain sale at this point, but Collins is the next candidate who could bring in ‘significant cash’.
Eintracht are demanding €30-40m for the defender, who has established himself under Albert Riera in recent weeks. He’s also setting himself up for a transfer in future as well.
He recently signed with star agent Moussa Sissoko. He has particularly strong connections in England. And the Premier League is Collins’s ultimate goal.
Newcastle United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have been monitoring the 22-year-old for some time.
Indeed, Collins is well aware of the noise. Sport Witness covered quotes from the defender this week admitting he was quite surprised by links to Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Asking price issue
The question is whether any of those sides want to pay what Frankfurt are asking for. Collins is currently valued at €18m, so the German side are demanding almost double that for a deal this summer.
Liverpool would make sense given their issues in central defence, but they’ve already spent big on Jeremy Jacquet. Newcastle and Liverpool don’t desperately need central defender’s either.
Eintracht clearly want a sale so they can buy Kalimuendo from Nottingham Forest, though. And that perhaps sets up an opportunity for movement on their asking price.
