One of Leeds United’s five loanees this season has been heaped in praise by his club’s sporting director.
Having had well into double figures for players out on loan in the 2023/24 campaign, Leeds opted to take a different route in the summer when it came to departures.
With Paraag Marathe’s claim in June about Leeds being in control over loan clauses providing correct, only two senior players were allowed to leave temporarily again – Jack Harrison and Rasmus Kristensen.
Darko Gyabi, Sam Greenwood and Sonny Perkins were the other three to depart on loan, though theirs is for the opportunity to play regular senior football.
Other returning loanees Brenden Aaronson, Max Wober, Marc Roca and Diego Llorente were either kept or sold on a permanent deal.
Frankfurt director praises Leeds player Rasmus Kristensen
It would be fair to say it has been a struggle for the majority of the five players currently out on loan from Elland Road, with the exception of Kristensen.
Harrison is part of an Everton side who have lost all four league matches, while Gyabi and Greenwood are both in struggling Championship teams.
Perkins, meanwhile, has found it tough to force his way into Leyton Orient’s starting XI after his complete failure of a loan spell at Oxford United.
However, Kristensen has had no such issues. The 27-year-old has played every minute of Eintracht Frankfurt’s first three league games, helping them pick up six points in their last two.
Kristensen has operated as more of a wing-back in those two victories after playing in a back four in their opening day defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
And speaking in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, sporting director Timmo Hardung was full of praise for the versatility Kristensen has brought to his new club.
He said: “The whole team has to work. But with Kristensen and Theate we have two players who can play as central defenders or full-backs at a high quality level. This makes it easier to change the formation.”
Kristensen has had ‘two unfortunate moments’ already
Despite praise from Hardung, it has not all been positive for Kristensen in Germany so far, as per that same report.
It is said Kristensen has actually already had ‘two unfortunate moments’ in the build up to the concession of their four goals this season.
Ultimately, that means the Leeds loanee has effectively been at fault for 50 per cent of the goals they have shipped so far, which is not great.
However, clearly their director has been able to look beyond that and so hopefully he continues to make an impact with his versatility.
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