Fredi Bobic has suggested that Eintracht Frankfurt could be ready to ‘release’ Filip Kostic this summer, with Crystal Palace keen on the jet-heeled wide man, in quotes reported by Goal.
The speedy Serbian is like a footballer from another era altogether.
In a world full of inverted ‘wide forwards’, Kostic is a winger very much in the throwback category.
The Frankfurt talisman is left footed and plays on the left too, racing down the touchline before whipping crosses into the box at full pelt.
With 12 goals and 18 assists to his name across a remarkable 2019/20 campaign, he is pretty good at it too.
So imagine the impact Kostic could have at a tenacious if somewhat toothless Crystal Palace side, with the Sun (February 23, page 63) reporting that the former Stuttgart flyer is seen at Selhurst Park as a potential replacement for Wilfried Zaha.
In an ideal world, Frankfurt would love to keep hold of their £19 million assist-machine. But with clubs all over Europe under pressure to raise funds this summer, Kostic could be available for the right price.
“Filip is happy here. He feels very comfortable with us, but it may also be that we are ready to release him,” said Frankfurt’s highly-rated sporting director Bobic.
“That depends not only on us, but also on the player. But I can imagine that he will play here next season: fans happy, players happy, me happy.”
“We have to look at the books to see what is possible. It won’t be an easy time. We already have a few players we would like to sign but if the money is not there, you cannot buy.”
Frankfurt have a history when it comes to selling star players with one of European football’s most fearsome strikeforces being broken up last summer.
Ante Rebic joined Milan, Sebastian Haller headed to West Ham while Real Madrid snapped up Luka Jovic.
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