Top clubs from both Germany and abroad are vying for Hertha’s top talent, Kennet Eichhorn. Most recently, a deal involving Man City and a loan to Bayer 04 Leverkusen was floated. But the Leverkusen-based club continues to aim for an outright signing of the 16-year-old.
It is perhaps the transfer that has fans of Germany’s top clubs most excited. Who will win the race for Hertha’s Kennet Eichhorn? Which club will the 16-year-old top talent choose? All doors are open for the midfielder. Sooner or later, all of Germany’s top clubs have set their sights on the Berlin native. But who will get the nod?
It is well known that Dortmund’s new sporting director, Ole Book, is pushing hard to sign Eichhorn, who can move to a Champions League participant via an exit clause for a transfer fee of around twelve million euros. It is also well known that there are differing opinions in Munich regarding a transfer of this exceptional talent. Yet Munich, like RB Leipzig, remains interested.
Most recently, however, a transfer structure was floated in which Manchester City would sign Eichhorn as part of a partnership and then loan him to Bayer 04. A scenario that would make sense from the English club’s perspective, as Leverkusen has long proven itself as a springboard for top young talents.
In the case of a deal with ManCity, the question of its practicality arose
After all, players such as Julian Brandt, Jonathan Tah, Benjamin Henrichs, Kai Havertz, and most recently Florian Wirtz took their first steps toward becoming Bundesliga professionals as teenagers—many of them before reaching the age of majority—under the Bayer crest and launched their major careers there. With Ibrahim Maza, who joined from Hertha BSC this summer, the next highly talented player is currently embarking on this journey.
However, it seems questionable whether this arrangement with ManCity and Bayer 04 would be legally feasible, as Premier League clubs have been prohibited from signing U-18 players from abroad for their teams since Brexit. And regardless of whether ManCity could implement a similar model with a club—as Bayern Munich apparently did in the case of Serge Gnabry in 2016—the question remains as to whether this makes sense for Bayer 04.
Could Bayer’s goal be to develop a top talent for ManCity?
In 2016, current Bayern striker Gnabry was sold by Arsenal to Werder Bremen at the age of 21, though Munich apparently secured a right of first refusal for the current national team player for a moderate additional fee. After Gnabry then moved to Munich in 2017, he was initially loaned to TSG Hoffenheim for one season.
But can it really be the goal for Bayer 04, the 2024 double winners, to develop a top German talent for Manchester City? And then, after one or two years—when Eichhorn will be 19—to sell him off again for a transfer fee that is no longer appropriate because it is too low? Even if one believed the teenager was capable of making an immediate impact in the Bundesliga?
Bayer wants to sign Eichhorn directly
Accordingly, reports from Leverkusen indicate that Bayer 04 remains committed to signing Eichhorn directly. And that the club still believes it has a good chance of securing the deal, so that the top talent will play in Leverkusen next season. Without any help or involvement from Manchester City.
