With 15 goals, Noel Futkeu is the second-best goalscorer in Bundesliga 2 and SpVgg Greuther Fürth’s most important player. The 23-year-old will return to Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer. The Hesse club will activate a buy-back clause for the striker, who moved to the cloverleaf in the summer of 2024.
On Sunday, Noel Futkeu once again impressively demonstrated the immense value he has for SpVgg Greuther Fürth. In the home game against promotion contenders SV Darmstadt 98 (3:2), the 23-year-old scored a treble to secure the next important points for the cloverleaf, who without his now 15 goals – only Magdeburg’s Mateusz Zukowski scored more often in the lower house – might have long since been relegated from the Bundesliga 2. However, with four matchdays to go, Fürth are currently just above the bottom line with 33 points.
Notwithstanding their survival in the league, Fürth will have to do without their “life insurance” from the summer. On Tuesday, Eintracht Frankfurt announced that they would activate the buy-back clause in the striker’s contract. Futkeu, who moved from Frankfurt to the Middle Franconians for a few hundred thousand euros in the summer of 2024, will return to the Main on July 1 and is worth 1.3 million euros to Eintracht.
“Noel has developed strongly in Fürth,” said Frankfurt’s sporting director Markus Krösche, explaining the reason for the move. “The regular match practice in the 2nd division has visibly done him good – both athletically and personally. We are delighted that he will be returning to us after the season.”
Fürth would be involved in a resale
The summer will show whether Futkeu’s future actually lies in Frankfurt. What is clear is that, in view of his recent performances (26 goals in 64 second division games), Frankfurt can expect to receive a much higher sum than they are now paying Fürth. The cloverleaf, who had offers for Futkeu in the winter but did not want to go into the second half of the season without their most important player, will receive a percentage share in the event of a resale.
“The contract provides for a buy-back option, which Eintracht exercised some time ago,” reports Stephan Fürstner. “Noel has made great progress with us. Of course, we’re losing our top striker in him, but he’s come into focus and we’re delighted for him.” However, the Fürth sporting director is certain that Futkeu “will leave his heart for the cloverleaf and our team on the pitch in the final sprint of the season”.
Futkeu himself also underlines this intention: “We still have an important job to do here with the team, the whole club and our fans.” While he and Fürther are fighting to avoid relegation against Bochum (A), Nuremberg (H), Hertha (A) and Düsseldorf (H), Eintracht must fear for their participation in European competition after their defeat against Leipzig on Saturday evening.