Defending has been a problem for Frankfurt in the early stages of the season, and it has been reported that they are interested in bringing in a central defender as well as a midfielder and striker in the winter window. 

Former 1.FC Köln defender Bisseck is said to be an option. Frankfurt had been interested in the 24-year-old before he moved to Inter in 2023. Die Adler have not lost contact with Bisseck and are now weighing up a move for him in the winter as the German has lost his place in the Inter 11. 

There have yet to be concrete talks over a move, and SGE are monitoring the situation before deciding to make a move for him in the winter. 

Frankfurt’s defensive problems:

Just before the international break, die Adler lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich. This means in their last four games in all competitions, they have conceded 16 goals, which is four goals per game. This type of defending is a lot closer to a relegation candidate than a team competing for European football. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan

Getting the 25-year-old central defender to extend his deal, which runs out next summer, is a top priority for Dortmund. However, with the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Liverpool keeping tabs on the German international, BVB are also preparing for the worst-case scenario. 

Premier League Replacement

BVB have identified Chelsea’s Axel Disasi as a potential replacement should Schlotterbeck leave next summer. 

The 27-year-old is surplus to requires at Chelsea and isn’t even training with the first team as it stands. Although Chelsea paid €45m for the Frenchman in 2023, he’ll be available for much less given the lack of playing time. What’s more, his €5m yearly salary is well within Dortmund’s financial range. 

Disasi has previously played under current BVB head coach Niko Kovač during his time at AS Monaco. Now, a reunion could be on the cards should Schlotterbeck leave, or even if Niklas Süle leaves the club when his deal also runs out in the summer of 2026. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen

There has been an onslaught of talk surrounding Wirtz following his slow start to his career at the Premier League champions following his €125m move from Bayer Leverkusen. 

Klopp on Liverpool’s summer signing:

Everyone continues to give their thoughts on the 22-year-old’s start to his time in England, from Julian Nagelsmann to Rudi Völler. Now, former Liverpool manager Klopp has weighed in on the current hot topic: 

“I don’t have to worry about Florian Wirtz because his quality is so outstanding. Of course, everything is fine, and everyone knows that. The discussion is certainly being blown out of proportion. Liverpool have just lost three games in a row – it’s unusual for something like that to happen after such a long time. But it’s also normal in life. That’s why these things are discussed. I’ve been in the middle of such discussions long enough now, and I can tell you: Nothing could interest people less than the public discussions that are taking place there. So it doesn’t matter, and everything will be fine. (Wirtz is) a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he’ll show that in every game again, as he did at Leverkusen. (He has) a stable environment at Liverpool, and the club is great in moments like these. If anyone’s worried—you don’t have to! You can stop.”

Wirtz’s slow Liverpool start:

The reason there is so much discussion surrounding Wirtz is because of the fact that he has yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League or Champions League. On top of Liverpool’s recent poor run of form, the 22-year-old has been used as a scapegoat for their problems, even though most of the Premier League champions’ problems are coming from other players in the team. 

Everyone familiar with Wirtz’s style of play knows that once it clicks, he will be fine. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan

Peretz’s comments when speaking to Israeli channel Sport 5 are actually rather curious as it was clearly stated that Peretz was meant to compete with regular HSV starter Daniel Heuer Fernandes. Peretz delivered an especially poor training camp with HSV and, as a result, was not tapped to even earn a start in Hamburg’s opening round cup fixture. 

“It’s obvious that I’m disappointed that I’m not playing in Hamburg,” Peretz told the Israeli broadcaster. “I didn’t expect not to be playing. It was actually clear that I would be playing. But the things that are happening right now are no longer under my control. I am responsible for my own behavior and conduct. Maybe there will be a change in January, because I really want to play.”

HSV sporting director Claus Costa has already responded to Peretz’s comments in an interview with transfermarkt.de. Costa reiterated that Peretz simply lost the training camp battler against Daniel Heuer Fernandes and denied that any specific promises had been made. 

“We offered him some prospects, but it was also completely clear that we already have an absolute top man in ‘Ferro’ [Heuer Fernades],” Costa said. “Up until the very end [of training camp], it was a really close race between the goalkeepers. The outcome is not satisfactory for him and his disappointment is understandable. Anything else would have surprised me.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Kicker reports on the absence of Schade and Atubolu. The former was called up to replace Leweling, but will still not receive a chance to earn his first cap in nearly a year. Atubolu’s playing prospects as the fourth choice keeper behind Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann, Stuttgart’s Alexander Nübel, and Augsburg’s Finn Dahmen were always slim. 

Atubolu earned a late call up due to the fact that Baumann was struggling with injury. Baumann nevertheless recovered in time to feature for the full 90 minutes in Friday night’s 4-0 win over Luxembourg in the Sinsheim-based stadium of his Bundesliga club. Schade did not make Julian Nagelsmann’s matchday selection. 

Nagelsmann’s team to Belfast on Sunday accompanied by the Germany U21s, who will also be contesting qualifying fixture for the 2027 U21 European Championship at the Belfast Oval on Tuesday. Antonio Di Salvo’s DFB Juniors weren’t as successful as Nagelsmann’s crew on Friday night, dropping their qualifying match against the Greek U21s.

GGFN | Peter Weis

While there theoretically remains plenty of time for the two sides to come to terms, Upamecano’s contract status leaves him free to negotiate a free transfer to another club as soon as the January transfer window opens in less than three months’ time. Bayern will have to begin contemplating a January sale of the centre-back in order to avoid losing him on a free.

Upamecano has started seven of eight competitive fixtures thus far this year for the German record champions. The 26-year-old – presently valued at €50m – has also started and gone the full 90 minutes for the French national team in his country’s last three World Cup Qualifying fixtures. 

Given that Bayern possess a qualified central defensive duo in the form of Kim-min Jae and Jonathan Tah (plus the injured Hiroki Ito) a January sale may be contemplated. Plettenberg reports that Premier League Champions Liverpool remain very interested in Upamecano’s services. 

The defeat constituted the first loss for the German U21s in a qualifying match in nearly four years. Way back at the beginning of Di Salvo’s tenure, the U21s fell 0-4 to Poland at the WirMachenDruck Arena in Aspach on November 11th, 2021. Since then, despite a disappointing 2023 Euros and some defeats in friendlies, Di Salvo’s youngsters went 16 qualifying fixtures without a defeat.

The search for answers was on following the Friday loss. The fact that Di Salvo’s selection remains injury-ridden certainly didn’t help. In addition to the four players who have officially departed DFB camp, Southampton centre-back Joshua Quarshie (a regular starter) was unable to play on Friday. Two players Di Salvo called up late – Eintracht Frankfurt’s Elias Baum and Dynamo Dresden’s Julian Pauli – have also had to leave camp injured. 

Bayern Munich midfielder Tom Bischof – another eagerly anticipated U21 debutant – was given the captain’s armband and did register an assist on Tom Rothe’s 2-2 equalizer. The rising FCB midfield talent nevertheless lamented the team’s sloppy start when conducting his post-match interview with ProSieben MAXX. Di Salvo, too, referenced errors in his own interview. 

“We have to be present from the very first minute onward and have enough balls to play forward,” Bischof told the German broadcaster. “We were simply afraid to play the ball forward. The spaces were too big. We should have closed down the field more. If we had done that, it would have been a better game more like the victory we envisioned.”

“I warned them [the team] about the Greeks,” Di Salvo added. “We made too many simple mistakes. Then the mistakes pile up because your confidence drops. We cannot afford any more mistakes or slip ups.“

Seimen’s goalkeeping error was emblematic of the entire error-strewn first half that simply didn’t work. Poor marking off a free-kick in the 13th enabled Konstantinos Kostoulas to score the opening goal. Less than a minute later Seimen fumbled a back-pass in front of the onrushing Stefanos Tzimas. The former Nürnberg striker collected the ball and then proceeded to out-deke Seimen for the 14th-minute 0-2. 

The clearly rattled German hosts made several more embarrassing amateurish errors before the half was out. Seimen recovered a bit to make some quality saves, but was himself spared further blushes by some lucky bounces and tight offside decisions. Seimen and the rest of the DFB defensive ranks looked out-of-sorts on Dimitris Rallis’ match-winning 2-3 in the 81st minute.

The 19-year-old Seimen certainly didn’t look like someone capable of challenging Werder Bremen keeper Mio Backhaus’ hold on the Germany U21 No. 1 slot. The current SC Paderborn loanee also almost certainly didn’t look like the net-minder his parent club VfB Stuttgart have earmarked to replace No. 1 Alexander Nübel next season.

“Of course, I’m extremely aggravated about it,” Seimen said of his mistake in the mixed zone on Friday night. “But it’s happened now and I have to put it behind me. I just thought I could kick the ball away. I’m pretty disappointed, but life goes on.“

“He knows full well that he made a mistake and there’s no escaping that,” Di Salvo added at the post-match press conference. “Logically, he had to clear the ball [out into touch], but I’m annoyed at how it came to that back pass. We simply played back unnecessarily.

“Mistakes are part of football and it happens,” Di Salvo was then sure to emphasize. “I will talk to him and build him back up, just as Klaus Thomforde [the goalkeeping coach] will. It happened. We will put it behind us. It’s all the more reason to pull together and do better [against Northern Ireland] on Tuesday.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Some 18 months ago, Kimmich returning to the right back role was absolutely not a laughing matter. Nagelsmann – some six months after taking the German national team job – once famously quipped that Kimmich had to “subordinate himself for country“.

Kimmich nevertheless seemed to have no problems talking about his latest right-back deployment when speaking to journalists in the mixed zone after Germany’s 4-0 win over Luxembourg in a Sinsheim-hosted World Cup qualifier. 

Germany’s dire need at the right-back position means that Kimmich must “subordinate” his personal wishes once again. The now 30-year-old at least now knows how to maintain his sense of humor about it. 

“That’s great,” Kimmich responded when a reporter pointed out that his latest move out of the midfield constituted a big topic. “That means you don’t have to ask any questions about it.“

“In goal,” Kimmich answered when the same reporter asked him what his favorite position to play in was. 

Kimmich then needed to wait a few seconds while the laughter among the assembled members died down.

“There’s no need for him [Nagelsmann] to make a [permanent] decision,” Kimmich continued. “If he [Nagelsmann] needs me there for the team or for the [tactical] constellation, he doesn’t have to ask.

“He doesn’t have to make a decision,” Kimmich concluded. “I can play in both positions. He can set it up in accordance with what’s needed against the opponent. Whatever is needed.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

For Nagelsmann, and indeed many football nerds, Wirtz’s performance thus far at the Premier League champions has been severely underrated. Irrespective of which statistics aggregator one turns to, Wirtz still possesses decent expected goals (xG) and expected assist (xA) totals. 

It’s not entirely certain which source Nagelsmann drew upon when speaking on Wirtz last night, but one assumes that the ultra-modern “metric-centric” footballing guru and his coaching staff did their research with regard to Wirtz’s sluggish Premier League start. 

“He is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League,” Nagelsman remarked last night at the post-match press conference. “If the player doesn’t convert the chances, it’s bad for his statistics. But that’s not even one third of the truth.

“Flo is a player who knows what he can do and how things work in football,” Nagelsmann continued. “He had to work hard to get where he is. We know how things work: as soon as he scores three goals, he’ll be the king of all summer transfers. Right now, he’s an expensive addition, but that doesn’t weigh on him.”

Nagelsmann went on to discuss the specifics of Wirtz’s performance last night. Wirtz – like he did against Northern Ireland in September – nearly converted a free-kick. A 62nd-minute dead ball effort from Wirtz struck the post. Fine passes to Leon Goretzka (16th) and Nick Woltemade (33rd) also deserved assists.

“He did well and tried a lot,” Nagelsmann said of Wirtz’s overall game. “He was unlucky in a few situations, but can’t be blamed for that.“

Prior to kick-off in Sinsheim last night, Wirtz was awarded a trophy commemorating his selection as Kicker Magazine’s “Footballer of the Year“. Wirtz edged out Bayern attacking sensation Michael Olise and his fellow new Premier League arrival Woltemade to earn the award. 

GGFN | Peter Weis

The 24-year-old joined Frankfurt in January from Marseille for €26m as a replacement for Omar Marmoush, who joined Manchester City, but Wahi has failed to make an impact, only scoring once in the DFB Pokal earlier this season. 

There has been a turnaround in his recent performances, but a move in the winter cannot be ruled out.

Who else could leave Frankfurt? 

Wahi could not be the only departure in the winter. Michy Batshuyai is attracting interest from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, less than a year after joining. While Swiss defender Aurele Amenda is also a candidate to leave. 

Aurelio Buta and Mahmoud Dahoud will be able to leave Deutsche Bank Park when their contracts expire in the summer. While Mario Götze will have to take a pay cut if he wishes to stay at the club beyond the summer. 

Frankfurt’s winter plans:

The plan for Frankfurt heading into the winter window is to sign a defender, a midfielder, as well as a striker. 

Someone who could replace Wahi, if he were to leave in the winter, is Newcastle striker William Osula. Die Adler tried to sign the Dane right at the end of the summer window, but failed to reach an agreement with the Premier League side over a fee. Various reports have indicated that Frankfurt will try again in the winter. 

While in midfield, Brentford midfielder Vitaly Janelt is a candidate. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan