Dino Toppmöller moves to RC Lens and signs contract until 2028

At Frankfurt he still had a contract valid until summer 2028, but had been dismissed there in January after two and a half years in charge. "Toppmöller war im Januar beim Fußball-Bundesligisten Eintracht Frankfurt nach zwei erfolgreichen Jahren, aber einer schwachen Hinrunde, entlassen worden", the statement said. During his time in Frankfurt he racked up 122 games and an average of 1.55 points per match.

Sporting director Jean-Louis Leca praised the new arrival in an official statement: "Dino hat genau das Profil, das wir gesucht haben. Er ist ein Trainer, der 45 Europapokalspiele geleitet hat, die Champions League kennt, mehrere Sprachen einschließlich Französisch spricht und den Ruf genießt, junge Spieler besser zu machen". Club director Benjamin Parrot was also complimentary: "Wir freuen uns sehr, die Verpflichtung von Dino Toppmöller bekannt zu geben – einer im europäischen Fußball hoch angesehenen Persönlichkeit, die taktisches Fachwissen, Erfahrung in europäischen Wettbewerben und herausragende persönliche Qualitäten vereint."

Praise from the club side

Parrot added that the cooperation stands "für das Zusammentreffen zweier Aufwärtsbewegungen – zweier Herausforderer, die eine gemeinsame Sprache sprechen: Intensität". "Im Hinblick auf die bevorstehende Saison, in der der Verein in die Champions League zurückkehrt, ist die Zusammenarbeit mit einem Trainer, der die Anforderungen eines solch anspruchsvollen Spielplans versteht, ein enormer Gewinn", Parrot continued. It is also said of Toppmöller: "Als erster deutscher Trainer in der Geschichte von Racing passt Dino perfekt zu unserem laufenden Projekt – sowohl durch seine Fußballphilosophie als auch durch seine Fähigkeit, junge Spieler zu fördern."

Toppmöller speaks fluent French and already knew parts of the Ligue 1 business from his time in Belgium and Luxembourg. Before his move to Frankfurt in 2023, he worked as head coach and head of the football academy at F91 Dudelange, where he won a total of eight titles in three years, including three Luxembourgish league championships. Prior to that, he was player-coach at Hamm Benfica (2014 to 2016) and spent half a year at Belgian Walloon club Royal Excelsior Virton.

Stations of a coaching career

In his second season in Frankfurt, Toppmöller had guided the Hessians to third place in the Bundesliga, the club's best league result since 1992/93. These sporting successes, however, could not prevent those responsible at the club on the Main from releasing him in January in the wake of a disappointing first half of the season. "Toppmöller soll der Wunschkandidat der Franzosen gewesen sein", the club from the north of France reported.

At RC Lens, who most recently finished second in the league behind Paris Saint-Germain, Toppmöller meets a squad of 29 players with a total market value of €234.60 million. The club, who won the French Cup (Coupe de France) for the first time last season, will take part in the Champions League for the fourth time overall next season. The squad also includes Austrian national defender Samson Baidoo, who had missed the World Cup due to, among other things, persistent thigh problems.

Squad and the premier competition

In Amadou Haidara, who already knows Toppmöller from his time as assistant coach at RB Leipzig in the 2020/21 season, there is a familiar face in the team. Toppmöller's designated successor on the Frankfurt bench, who initially stepped in on an interim basis following the dismissal in January, can look forward to a settled coach who has made his mark in the Bundesliga and is now seeking a new challenge abroad.

The fact that Toppmöller still had a contract at Frankfurt until 2028 and no exit clause is unlikely to have made the move any easier. However, the club wanted to set itself up anew after the separation anyway – running in parallel are talks to allow sporting director Markus Krösche to move to AC Milan, who, according to transfer expert Matteo Moretto, is said to have already reached a verbal agreement. Beck contradicted this portrayal: "Von Seiten des AC Mailand gab es niemanden, der wegen Markus Krösche auf uns zugekommen ist". "Wir als Hauptausschuss von Eintracht Frankfurt haben nach Rücksprache mit Markus Krösche auch keinen Hinweis darauf, dass er die Eintracht vor Ende seiner Vertragslaufzeit 2028 verlassen möchte."

Open personnel matters in Frankfurt

At FC Bayern Munich, meanwhile, Nathaniel Brown, a still-serving Frankfurt player, is on the verge of a move. The 22-year-old had contributed a goal and an assist in the 7:1 thrashing of the DFB team against outsider Curaçao: "Bereitete er in der ersten Hälfte mit einer Ecke noch das zwischenzeitliche 2:1 von Nico Schlotterbeck vor, traf er kurz vor seiner Auswechslung in der 72. Minute auch noch selbst." "Es ist unbeschreiblich, gleich beim ersten WM-Spiel zu treffen. Meine Familie ist da - einfach unglaublich", Brown said after the game. It was his first goal in his sixth international for Germany. The move to FC Bayern is said to cost around €55 million.

Other Frankfurt players are also in demand internationally. Noah Fenyö left the Hessians permanently for Hungarian top-flight club Ujpest FC, where he had already been on loan for half a year; Eintracht secured a buy-back option for the 20-year-old. Junior Dina Ebimbe, most recently loaned out to Stade Brest, has, according to hr-Sport information, "am Main wohl keine Zukunft mehr"; Schalke 04 had, according to Bild, held talks with Eintracht, but can only pay around one million euros in compensation, while the Frankfurt side were demanding around four million.

Frankfurt players in action internationally

Meanwhile, the World Cup matches with Frankfurt involvement continue. In Belgium's 1-1 opening game against Egypt in Group G, Arthur Theate did not feature. The Eintracht Frankfurt defender sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes in Seattle. For Theate and Belgium, it continues on Sunday (9 pm) in Los Angeles against Iran. Frankfurt's Ritsu Doan picked up a point with Japan against the Netherlands on Sunday evening. The final score was 2-2. Doan played 75 minutes as captain of the side. The Dutch had taken the lead twice through Virgil van Dijk (50th) and Crysencio Summerville (64th), with Keito Nakamura (57th) and former Frankfurt player Daichi Kamada (89th) securing the draw shortly before the end. Elye Wahi, most recently on loan from Frankfurt, started in Ivory Coast's 1-0 win over Ecuador and had good chances. He was substituted after 56 minutes. The winning goal by Amad came in the 90th minute. On Sunday, the Ivorians meet Germany.

In the other group match, Sweden, with Ellyes Skhiri, thrashed Tunisia 5-1. Egypt, who had taken the lead in the 1-1 draw in Seattle through Emam Ashour in the 66th minute, were able to "nach dem 0:1-Rückstand durch Emam Ashour in der 66. Minute durch ein Eigentor von Mohamed Hany noch ausgleichen".

Meanwhile, the new Lens coach Toppmöller, who will lead the club in the premier competition, is working on his start in northern France. The example of Haidara shows that he will not be meeting only unknown faces there. The 45-year-old and his confidant Timmo Hardung are, according to a report in "Gazzetta dello Sport", in "fortgeschrittenen Verhandlungen" with the Italian top club – this statement, however, concerns Krösche and not Toppmöller. The new Lens coach will instead try at the Stade Bollaert to build on the successes of last season, in which his predecessor Sage secured the runners-up title and the cup victory.

With Allan Saint-Maximin, who is listed as the most recent signing of RC Lens, the club has also brought in notable reinforcement. The combination