Krösche rules out loan move for Matanovic, compares him to Gyökeres and Guirassy | OneFootball

Igor Matanovic will not go out on loan this month in search of more game time, Eintracht Frankfurt board member for sport Markus Krösche has confirmed.

Matanovic has often had to settle for a place on the bench this season, with Hugo Ekitiké and Omar Marmoush the preferred pairing of Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller, but as Krösche points out, Matanovic offers something different to the other two.

"Igor will stay with us. He has no intention of going out on loan. And we're very happy to have him because he has different qualities to Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitiké. You don't often find his profile in Europe," Krösche told Kicker.

"Despite his size, he has a certain mobility and, with 34 km/h, good speed. You need a real number nine in your squad. Whether you need one in every game is debatable," he added.

Krösche went on to compare Matanovic to late-blooming strikers such as Sporting CP's Viktor Gyökeres and Borussia Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy.

“Powerful strikers sometimes just need a bit of time. You can see that when you look at the development of Sporting's Viktor Gyökeres or Serhou Guirassy,” he pointed out.

“Another good example is Alexander Sørloth, who didn't work out so well at Leipzig and is now scoring a lot of goals for Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league.”