Eintracht Frankfurt 2026/27 season preview: Adi Hütter to bring exciting football back to Deutsche Bank Park?
Eintracht Frankfurt enter 2026/27 with a familiar face in charge as Adi Hütter returns for a second head coaching spell. After last season’s disappointing campaign saw the Eagles finish outside of the European places, can the Austrian bring the good times back to Deutsche Bank Park?
Eintracht Frankfurt
2025/26 finish: 8th
Pre-season results: 7-1 win vs. Gießen, 3-0 win vs. Trabzonspor, 1-0 win vs. Waldhof Mannheim, 2-0 win vs. Hull, 5-1 win vs. FSV Frankfurt, 7-0 loss vs. Brentford
First three fixtures: Union Berlin (A), Augsburg (H), Mainz (A)
What to expect?
Anyone who remembers Hütter's first stint at Frankfurt, between 2018 and 2021, will look back fondly at exciting football led by the trio of Sébastien Haller, Luka Jović and Ante Rebić. After Dino Toppmöller’s more pragmatic philosophy, the ex-Monaco boss has been brought back to instil a “more attacking style with greater intensity,” as explained by Markus Krösche upon the 56-year-old’s reappointment.
Even in pre-season, there has been significant progress on that front. While the 7-0 defeat to Brentford certainly stung, there were 18 goals across the other five warm-up fixtures, while Frankfurt registered the biggest victory of the DFB Cup first round with an 11-0 triumph over St. Tönis. No European football should give Hütter more time to implement his ideas, so supporters should expect to be on the edge of their seats watching the Eagles, if nothing else.
Key new signing: Raphael Onyedika
Onyedika’s arrival makes him just the second Nigerian to ever play for Eintracht after the legendary Jay-Jay Okocha. Should the new boy be able to get anywhere near to matching the latter’s impact, fans are in for a treat, although he occupies a different role in the team.
See all Frankfurt's summer comings and goings here
A defensive midfielder, Onyedika was a key player for former team Club Brugge. Last term, he showed his varied qualities, completing 90 percent of his passes while winning 56 percent of his attempted tackles. In a Frankfurt midfield that has, at times, perhaps lacked combativeness, his will be a welcome addition.
Key player: Jonathan Burkardt
Hütter has already made it clear that he will look to Burkardt to lead his offensive charge. “Jonny is simply a guaranteed starter, that's clear. He's just a striker who scores goals,” he said during pre-season. And the centre-forward himself has already expressed happiness with the new style of play. His hat-trick in the DFB Cup win over St. Tönis only underlines that.
Although a calf injury limited Burkardt’s playing time in his first season at the club in 2025/26, he still managed a team-high 13 Bundesliga goals. If he can stay fit for the entire campaign, we could see him and the Eagles reach new heights.
Check out Frankfurt's new jerseys for 2026/27
Talking point
Much like last season, the goalkeeping position at Frankfurt is up in the air. Ahead of Frankfurt’s cup opener, Hütter said, “We'll go into the game with Kauã Santos, and then we'll see what happens”. That saw Michael Zetterer demoted again. Frankfurt have been linked with a move for Freiburg’s Noah Atubolu, with the Black Forest outfit’s head coach Julian Schuster saying “it could be an option” for the Germany U21 goalkeeper to make the switch.
The No.1 spot is part of a wider defensive issue. Only three sides conceded more than Frankfurt’s 65 Bundesliga goals last term, and the departures of Nathaniel Brown and Aurèle Amenda are unlikely to have helped the situation. How much the likes of new defensively-minded arrivals Noel Aseko and Otávio can improve Frankfurt’s solidity could be crucial to any hopes of success.
Follow Frankfurt’s Bundesliga opener at Union Berlin here!
