Wolves have this morning announced that Sasa Kalajdzic has joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan – and the Bundesliga outfit have apparently waited ‘years’ to sign a player with his attributes and skillset.
The 26-year-old has left Molineux temporarily, and will spend the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign back in the German top-flight.
Gary O’Neil was unwilling to give the star regular minutes, with Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan proving pretty much undroppable.
Kalajdzic might well have played more, as there have been instances of Wolves chasing games and needing a goal.
But the manager did not seem to rate him, and now the decision to loan him out has been made, with sporting director Matt Hobbs saying ‘the human side’ played a part in the swiftness of it.
Eintracht are particularly pleased to get him, because apparently they’ve longed for someone like him for a long time…
Why Eintracht Frankfurt are delighted to sign Sasa Kalajdzic from Wolves
As Wolves fans know, Kalajdzic is a player who is fairly unique.
The star is 6ft 7in tall and that obviously makes him a very big aerial threat and someone very hard to contain. He is not high-octane like Cunha and Hwang, and is more someone who holds the ball up and brings others into play.
According to Bild, Eintracht have waited ‘years’ to sign a player like him. The club have struggled to replace Sebastien Haller, who left the club back in 2019 to join West Ham United, and Bas Dost.
The Frenchman, 6ft 3in, and Dutchman Dost, 6ft 5in, brought similar qualities to Kalajdzic and the German side have missed playing with a big man up top.
Bild say that Eintracht are currently ‘the weakest team in the league’ when it comes to crosses. They have only put in 110 so far, with only two goals being scored from them. In the post-Haller era, Eintracht have apparently played differently for the likes of ex-players Rafael Santos Borré and Randall Kolo Muani, and current striker Omar Marmoush, all of whom are better with their feet.
Good luck, Sasa
It is very interesting to read how much Eintracht wanted Kalajdzic.
Clearly, they see the £35,000-a-week star as someone who can bring different qualities to their team and perhaps now they will try and play in a different way.
Hopefully, this move will be a success for Kalajdzic, who has not had a very enjoyable past 18 months with his injury nightmare.
Euro 2024 is coming up this summer and it’s important for him to be playing regularly going into that tournament. It is the right move for him to leave as O’Neil seemed reluctant to use him and hopefully he can score some goals now, in a division he obviously knows well having played for Stuttgart.