Wolves recently sanctioned the exit of Sasa Kalajdzic – and the striker made his debut on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt yesterday.
After struggling for minutes under Gary O’Neil, Molineux officials decided to permit the Austria international a temporary exit.
Matt Hobbs stated that ‘the human side’ played a part in the decision, and supporters are now hoping that a replacement will come in later in the window.
Kalajdzic recently said that he realised after the 3-0 defeat to West Ham United that he needed to leave Molineux, with Euro 2024 taking place later this year.
He’s now begun his new chapter – and yesterday he made his debut for Eintracht…
How Sasa Kalajdzic fared on his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt
Kalajdzic was actually selected to start by Eintracht manager Dino Toppmöller against RB Leipzig, which was something of a surprise given how little the 26-year-old has played for Wolves recently.
That said, he was missing Omar Marmoush, Ellyes Skhiri, and Fares Chaibi to the Africa Cup of Nations, so both Kalajdzic and fellow loanee Donny van de Beek were both required.
It is reported by Buli News that both players ‘performed admirably despite a relatively short acclimatisation period’.
According to the German publication: “Kalajdzic involved himself in some worthwhile combos and nearly helped Niels Nkounkou and Mario Götze double the SGE advantage after Ansgar Knauff’s early opening goal.
“In Kalajdzic’s case, the former Stuttgart striker could only go so far on the mend from multiple injuries suffered during his tenure at Wolverhampton Wanderers.”
Kalajdzic, who played for 62 minutes, is quoted as telling Sky Germany: “I tried to hold oupas long as I could today. At half-time they asked me: ‘How long can you play?’ Five minutes later, my hamstrings suddenly signalled that it was time. You can tell that I haven’t played for a while.”
Eintracht ran out 1-0 winners in what was a surprise result against the fourth-placed Leipzig.
Sofascore data indicates that Kalajdzic didn’t have any shots on target and completed 11/13 passes (85%).
A positive start for Kalajdzic
It sounds as though Kalajdzic gave a decent account of himself on his debut, with Bundesliga commentator Kevin Hatchard also stating that he and van de Beek were ‘perfectly fine on their debuts, but nothing special’.
For Kalajdzic to put in a special performance straight away was never really going to happen.
The man has barely kicked a ball over the last two months or so, and it will take him some time to start being properly impactful.
Him playing for around an hour is encouraging though, and it does look as though he’s going to get some decent minutes under Toppmöller.
Hopefully this can be a productive spell for Kalajdzic, who is reported to be keen to play in the Premier League again next season.