Klaus wrote:
Have Frankfurt done any good business this summer with all the cash they must be sitting on now, Jones? They signed Kostic permanently, didn't they? Is the plan that Rebic will step up next season with Jovic and Haller gone?
Yeah Kostic was signed permanently for 5m in June. There was apparently a bid over 44m EUR but the club categorically rejected any bids which is pretty incredible given that the whole transfer budget in 2017 was 2.7m EUR.
The club is incredibly well run, Bobic and especially Ben Manga have done so well that even with Hallers departure I'm not worried. There have been some rumours but nothing concrete, although the rumours usually only pop up shortly before the deals done.
We have signed a Jovic regen called Dejan Joveljic for just 5m, from Red Star too. Doesn't seem like he could help immediately but then no one thought that about the Serb he replaces. Rebic is still linked with moves to Inter or Atletico but hopefully will stay put. If someone is expected to step up it's Paciencia who will now get a lot more minutes, barely got a look in in comparison because of how well the trio were doing but still popped up with a couple goals including a very important one in Lisbon. Most of the Jovic money went into strengthening the weakest part of the team midfield, two players in Kohr and Sow for 10m each look like that issue has been solved although the latter got injured in training and misses two months right away.
At least one more striker will come in though, apparently for around 15m-20m according to local media. Rest of the money will fund new infrastructure and pay for the loanees who have returned to their respective clubs (Hinteregger for 12m, Trapp 8m, Rode 3m).
