Noel Futkeu moved to Eintracht Frankfurt instead of his parent club Rot-Weiss Essen. In the regional league, he recommended himself for the professionals.
When Eintracht Frankfurt started training on Tuesday, coach Dino Toppmöller also welcomed some talents. Noel Futkeu was also on the pitch. The 20-year-old attacker, under contract with the Hessians since this season, had recently scored seven goals in six Regionalliga games. Futkeu received his reward in the form of an invitation to professional training.
This development should also attract attention at Rot-Weiss Essen. After all, Futkeu played his first senior games for the traditional club from Hafenstraße. In January 2020, the offensive player made his debut in the Regionalliga team a few weeks after his 17th birthday.
He then moved to 1. FC Köln II at the beginning of 2021. In the cathedral city, however, the Essen native was rarely able to show what he is capable of. Futkeu scored one goal in a competitive match in the Cologne jersey. In the end, the talent didn’t work out at all. First, Futkeu was out for weeks due to a muscle injury. Then the Cologne team suspended the player without giving any reason.
For Futkeu, it was back to his hometown – to Oberliga club Schwarz-Weiß Essen. There, the attacker scored 30 goals and again recommended himself for higher tasks.
RWE squad planner Steegmann spoke about Futkeu
His ex-club was also interested in the player. In April 2023, RWE squad planner Marcus Steegmann spoke at length about the personnel matter: “I already try to make the best decisions for Rot-Weiss Essen from a sporting and factual point of view. I know that this is not always easy. Of course, the public and emotions play a role here. But it must be our claim that we approach squad planning objectively.”
He explained that “there will always be decisions for and against a player”. Steegmann: “That is part of the game. There can also be unpopular decisions. We have limited squad places, every place is valuable. It’s also a question of not having too large a squad and then not being able to do justice to every player. We have to weigh each position and evaluate what makes sense for the whole squad.”
Ultimately, Futkeu opted for a move to Eintracht Frankfurt – and impressed straight away. Most recently, he scored three goals in a 6-1 win against FSV Mainz 05 II. The club celebrated the player on Instragram.
Mentioned in the article on Kolo Muani
The Frankfurter Rundschau also listed the player in an article entitled “Can Eintracht solve the striker vacuum internally after Kolo Muani’s departure?”. In the text, the writer was precise about Futkeu. He does not see the player or his 18-year-old teammate Nacho Ferri as successors to the 95-million-euro player.
However, the editor concludes: “Both have at least the potential for wild card appearances in the Bundesliga”.