Borussia Mönchengladbach's Ko Itakura appears headed to Frankfurt
The Rheinische Post reports Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Ko Itakura's most likely destination will be Eintracht Frankfurt. The Japanese international's lack of a future with his current Bundesliga club has never been in much doubt. RP claims that Eintracht are prepared to engage in a serious pursuit.
The SGE must compensate for the presumed loss of long time defensive stalwart Tuta, who is being heavily linked with an exit. Itakura has been linked with a move to a whole plethora of Bundesliga sides, including Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at one point.
Advertisement
Gladbach remain eager to complete Itakura's sale in order to raise capital and pursue their own summer transfer needs. Though the 28-year-old only maintains an estimated €12m market value, the foals can easily secure several million more for him.
Itakura just completed a highly successful season in which he scored three of his career six Bundesliga goals. A €15-20m price tag seems reasonable.
GGFN | Peter Weis
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Wirtz and Kimmich headline Germany squad for Nations League finals
Germany have released their 26-man squad for the Nations League semi-finals against Portugal next month. Head coach Julian Nagelsmann has handed maiden call-ups to Tom Bischof and Nick Woltemade. Bischof recently concluded an impressive 2024/25 campaign with Hoffenheim, establishing him as one of the promising midfielders in the Bundesliga. Advertisement The 19-year-old is set to join Bayern Munich ahead of the Club World Cup after penning a long-term contract with the German giants in January. Woltemade has turned everyone's attention with his stellar performances for Stuttgart, racking up 16 goals and three assists in all competitions. He is looking to finish the season on a high when Stuttgart face Arminia Bielefeld in the DFB Pokal finals this weekend. Several Bayern players have made the cut, including Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sane, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka. Jamal Musiala is one of the notable absentees due to fitness concerns. The Bayern youngster has been sidelined since suffering a muscle strain during a game against Augsburg last month. Advertisement Bayern also decided not to let Musiala leave for international duty as they want him to recover completely for the Club World Cup. Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz will spearhead the attack, while Niclas Fullkrug has also returned to the squad after a long time. Angelo Stiller, Nadiem Amiri and Pascal Gross add quality and depth to the midfield. The backline misses star names like Antonio Rudiger and Nico Schlotterbeck due to injuries. Nagelsmann will rely on the likes of Jonathan Tah, Yann Aurel Bisseck and Waldemar Anton. Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has returned to the fold after months, having recently recovered from a knee injury. Advertisement Ter Stegen will reclaim his No.1 spot for Die Mannschaft, with Alexander Nubel and Oliver Baumann as his deputies. Germany will face Portugal on June 4th, with the other semi-final played between France and Spain.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Brentford reject €9m Bayer Leverkusen offer for Mark Flekken
Bayer Leverkusen's opening bid for Brentford keeper Mark Flekken has reportedly been rejected. The Athletic currently reports that the 2023/24 Bundesliga champions did not meet the London club's initial asking price of approximately €13m. In point of fact, a lowball bid of approximately €9m was submitted. One tends to assume that a deal will still be reached at some point. The 31-year-old is said to have agreed to personal terms with Germany's red company team. Prior to his move to the Bees, the eight-times-capped Dutch international's entire professional career was spent in Germany. Advertisement An extra €3m amounts to peanuts for Germany's red company team, particularly after completing the sale of Jeremie Frimpong on Friday evening and the mega-blockbuster deal that should see Florian Wirtz move Merseyside for upwards of €130m. Official confirmation may still take time as Brentford will also not allow Flekken to depart before securing a replacement. GGFN | Peter Weis
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Yoshinobu Yamamoto struggles as Giants beat Dodgers to move into tie atop NL West
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto steps off the mound after giving up a grand slam to San Francisco's Casey Schmitt during the third inning of the Dodgers' 6-2 loss Friday night at Dodger Stadium. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press) The billing couldn't have been bigger. Dodgers vs. Giants. Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Logan Webb. One of the game's oldest rivalries, pitting what were supposed to be two of the game's top pitchers. On Friday night at Dodger Stadium, however, only one right-handed ace showed up. Advertisement In the first meeting of the season between the Dodgers and Giants, Webb did his thing, giving up just two runs on two hits over seven spectacular innings. Read more: 'He's 1 of 5.' How Ben Casparius worked his way into the Dodgers' starting rotation Opposite him, Yamamoto was no match, floundering in a five-run, 4 ⅔-inning start that sent the Dodgers to a 6-2 defeat — leaving the teams tied atop the National League West with identical 41-29 records at the 70-game mark. The evening was a study in pitching excellence (or, in Yamamoto's case, a lack thereof); serving as a reminder that, for as good as Yamamoto has become in his second major league season, there are tiers to his talent he has still yet to reach. Advertisement Where Webb got soft contact and quick outs, needing just 98 pitches to complete his seventh seven-inning outing of the season, Yamamoto labored through hitters' counts and long at-bats, issuing a career-high five walks while finding the strike zone on just 56 of his 102 pitches. Where Webb limited traffic and escaped rare damage, giving up just two hits while walking only three batters, Yamamoto toiled through self-inflicted trouble; none worse than when he walked the bases loaded in the third, before giving up a tie-breaking grand slam to Casey Schmitt. Most of all, where Webb played the part of a contending team's staff ace, lowering his earned-run average to 2.58 (fifth-best in the National League), Yamamoto faltered in a way that's become uncomfortably familiar of late, his ERA rising to 2.64 despite an almost flawless opening month. In his first seven starts, Yamamoto was 4-2 with a 0.90 ERA, a 0.925 WHIP and only one game in which he gave up even two earned runs. Advertisement 'Right now, he's pitching like the best pitcher in the world,' catcher Will Smith said on May 2, after Yamamoto pitched six shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves. Since then, Yamamoto has been on a different planet — and not a good one. Over his last seven outings, the 26-year-old Japanese star is 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA. In that span, he has more starts of less than five innings (two) than of seven full innings (one). He has given up three or more runs four times. And Friday was the second in which he was scored on five times, tying his MLB career-high. The most consistent problem during that slump: Poor command. Yamamoto has walked 17 batters in his last 38 ⅓ innings. And when he isn't issuing free passes, he is putting himself in bad counts, like when Willy Adames opened the scoring Friday by getting ahead 2-and-0 and hitting a down-the-middle fastball to right for a solo home run. Advertisement Another potential factor in Yamamoto's recent struggles: He has been forced to pitch on less rest between starts. Over his first seven starts, Yamamoto pitched on at least six days of rest — mirroring the once-per-week schedule he had in Japan. Since then, however, each of his outings have come on only five days' rest. Yamamoto has downplayed that factor in the past. And last year, he actually had slightly better numbers on five days of rest (2.97 ERA in 11 starts) than six (3.07 ERA in starts). Still, for a Dodgers staff that has been shorthanded — leaving the club without the luxury of starting Yamamoto only once a week — it has been a marked drop-off, coming at a time when their once three-game lead in a competitive NL West has quickly evaporated amid a grueling stretch of the schedule. Advertisement The Dodgers' lineup, of course, didn't help Yamamoto much, either. After scoring on an Andy Pages sacrifice fly in the second, when a throw home beat Smith but was dropped by Giants catcher Andrew Knizner while trying to apply a tag, the team's only other production against Webb came via Teoscar Hernández, who lined the Dodgers' first hit to right in the fourth before homering for a second-straight game on a solo blast in the seventh. By then, however, Webb had already put the game on ice, becoming the latest starting pitcher this month to handle the Dodgers' star-studded lineup (opposing starters have a 2.43 ERA against the Dodgers in June, and are averaging almost six innings per start). It made Yamamoto's clunker all the more costly, highlighting an extended slide in production that continues to plague the team's only healthy ace. Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
