Bulinews Player of the Season Awards: Eintracht Frankfurt's Player of the Season | OneFootball

The soaring eagle of the Hessen state – Entracht Frankfurt took flight at the start of the season and never looked back. Dino Toppmöller and his squad even lost one of their most talented players in the winter transfer window and still never looked like easing off the pace. Die Adler made sure of their best-ever Bundesliga finish since their promotion in 2011-12 to ensure a Champions League return.

One man tasked with goal contributions and filling the boots of the outgoing Omar Marmoush beyond January was Hugo Ekitiké. The French attacker’s loan was made permanent in summer, and he proved himself to be worth every euro invested. At a height of 1.90m, his athleticism is outrageously deceptive. From his powerful dribbling and explosive speed bursts to quick feet in tight spaces and clinical finishing – Ekitiké has all the minerals needed to lead the line.

At just 22 years of age, Ekitiké enjoyed the best goal-scoring season of his career to date with 15 goals and 8 assists in 33 appearances. It’s worth noting that his assists reflect his ability to split defences and an unselfish nature which resulted in him being one of the most creative strikers of the Bundesliga campaign. A true team player.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE:

It’s hard to pick a finer afternoon’s work from the Frenchman than his involvement in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 7-2 destruction of Bochum on Matchday 9. Ekitiké opened the scoring in the 9th-minute when he received a Marmoush pass to dummy inside Passlack and curl it beyond Drewes.

The onslaught continued as Marmoush, Knauff, Brown, Dahoud and Uzun etched their names on the scoreboard. However, Ekitiké put the seal on Die Adler’s goal bonanza with a seventh on 69 minutes – Mo Dahoud recovered possession to thread the pass to the French marksman. Catching the Bochum shot-stopper Drewes race off his line, Ekitiké carefully prodded the ball through his legs to wheel away to his adoring fans.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

This is perhaps the strangest honourable mention ever in these articles considering the player no longer represents Frankfurt, but it would be remiss to ignore Omar Marmoush’s scintillating half-season at the Hessen club. Three worthy votes from our writers credit the 15 goals and 9 assists he supplied in 17 Bundesliga games before his €75million switch to Manchester City in January where he still continues to perform at the top.