Loan Watch: The Frankfurt seven | OneFootball

Promotion races, European qualification, relegation battles and debuts: a round-up of how Eintracht’s seven loanees fared this season.

Elias Baum (SV Elversberg)

An outstanding season for Elias Baum and SV Elversberg ended in dramatic fashion in literally the last second, with Leonardo Scienza’s stoppage-time winner for Heidenheim in the relegation play-off robbing the Saarland club of the chance of promotion to the Bundesliga.

“Elias has undergone a fantastic development,” said sporting director Timmo Hardung of the Frankfurt boy, who featured in 35 of a possible 36 league games for Elversberg plus two matches in the DFB Cup. “His minutes clearly show the important role he had at Elversberg and also how steady his performances were over the season.  In total the right-back posted three goals and eight assists in 3,260 minutes on the pitch – an impressive development that earned Baum a place in kicker magazine’s Team of the Season.

Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht)

It was also a successful season for Paxten Aaronson. After a loan spell at Vitesse Arnhem from February to June 2024, the 21-year-old American returned to the Netherlands last summer and joined FC Utrecht, who qualified for European football thanks to an impressive fourth-place finish.

“Even though it was a difficult time at Vitesse with relegation, he personally developed well and he’s now continued that trend impressively at Utrecht,” praised Hardung. “He was Utrecht’s top scorer, which is remarkable at his young age – especially as he’s a central midfielder, not a striker.”

The numbers: 38 appearances in all competitions, nine goals and six assists.

Nacho Ferri (KV Kortrijk)

Striker Nacho Ferri has been wearing the shirt of Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk, whose season ended in relegation from the Belgian Pro League. The 20-year-old Spaniard registered eight goals and two assists in 34 games in the league and cup.

“If you just take Nacho Ferri’s situation, it’s certainly been an exciting and interesting season for him in his first year of senior football outside Eintracht Frankfurt,” described Hardung. “Obviously he and his team-mates would’ve liked to have won more often, but he was given a lot of game time in an exciting Belgian league with great challenges and was involved in several goals, which is always important for a striker.”

Aurélio Buta (Stade de Reims)

Still fighting relegation with Stade de Reims is Aurélio Buta, who’s made 30 appearances (one assist) in the French Ligue 1 so far as well as three in the Coupe de France.

Talking of the cup, Reims went all the way to the final, where they lost 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday. Now, on Thursday 29 May, they face the decisive match against Metz in the relegation play-off after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. “Aurélio, who’s obviously already an experienced player, has taken steps forward,” summarised Hardung. “He’s already seen a bit on the European stage, has been able to contribute his experience and has produced consistent performances.”

Hrvoje Smolcic (LASK)

Hrvoje Smolcic was also involved in the relegation round in the Austrian Admiral Bundesliga with LASK. They comfortably survived in the end, though, finishing it in first place. “It’s been a turbulent year due to the environment and several changes of coach,” said Eintracht’s sporting director. “In spite of all that, he has been a regular starter, which speaks for his quality. Despite his solid performances it’s not been the easiest year, but still a period which has taken him forward in his personal development.”

The 24-year-old has played 22 league matches (three goals, one assist), three in the ÖFB-Cup along with six in Europe (UEFA Europa League qualifying and UEFA Conference League), and the season isn’t over yet. The Croatian and his colleagues have two matches against Rapid Wien coming up on 29 May and 1 June for a place in the Conference League play-offs.

Jessic Ngankam (Hannover 96)

“He continually developed throughout the year, became an important player in the dressing room and showed what he can do,” said Hardung about striker Jessic Ngankam, who scored four goals in 27 Bundesliga 2 appearances for Hannover 96. “He’s still young and not at the end of his development, so the time at Hannover has done him good. Of course, aside from the awful injury at the end of the season. It’s a difficult period, in which we’re now obviously coming to his aid.” The 24-year-old suffered a tibia and fibula fracture in April.

Simon Simoni (1. FC Kaiserslautern)

Loaned to third-division side FC Ingolstadt for the first half of the campaign, goalkeeper Simon Simoni moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in January until the end of next season. He made his Bundesliga 2 debut on 15 March against Paderborn and also started between the posts in the following games against Fortuna Düsseldorf and Magdeburg.

On the development of the 20-year-old Albanian, Hardung said: “Kaiserslautern is a good environment, with pressure, decent crowds and a big presence in their region. Simon feels at home there, is training well, getting positive feedback from the coaches and settled into the team well. After his first six months, we hope he’ll get his chance in pre-season and be able to show what a good goalkeeper he is.”