Bayern Munich’s Joshua Zirkzee to Eintracht Frankfurt?

With the departure of Bas Dost to Club Brugge, Eintracht Frankfurt has been looking for a replacement at center-forward and have reportedly set their sights on Bayern’s Joshua Zirkzee. Whether it’s for a short-term loan or a more permanent move is unclear.

It seems like not that long ago when Zirkzee’s value was increasing at an astronomical rate. In Spring of 2019, he was fresh off of scoring eight goals in nine games for the Netherlands U-19 team and had earned a place in Bayern II all before his 19th birthday. Now, some of that luster appears to have faded somewhat, through no fault of his own.

Zirkzee has been on the bench with the senior team for the majority of the first half of the season, but has chipped in two assists in three matches during his appearances with Bayern Munich II. However, the virus-that-shall-not-be-named has caused him to miss a few games due to quarantine and a foot injury also sidelined him for another spell. Thus, it’s been rather difficult for him to get into his groove for the season.

Frankfurt have been looking for another big bodied center forward since cashing on the sale of Luka Jovic to Real Madrid and Sebastien Haller to West Ham United. Ironically enough, Zidane has given his blessing for Jovic to seek out a loan deal BACK to Frankfurt, so this might all be moot.

From Bayern’s side, this move would make sense. They have a very talented teenage striker who needs playing time at the top level in Germany and isn’t getting it. This is due to in no small part due to Bayern’s OTHER very talented teenaged striker (Jamal Musiala) emerging in a big way. If the writing truly is on the wall for Zirkzee, a loan to Frankfurt would make sense for his career development and would benefit all parties. Still, a lot of moving parts need to fall in place for this to work, so stay tuned.

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