Could Leipzig Beat Out Top Clubs And Land The Gladbach Star?

It would be typical of RB Leipzig to turn an outgoing transfer into a net win. This week Leipzig has been heavily linked with Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Manu Koné. A transfer, however, is not shoo-in as the 21-year-old is also desired by the likes of Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, and Chelsea.

Although an up-and-coming club, Leipzig is not yet on the level with some of the teams mentioned. But Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl has the ultimate card up his sleeve. The 49-year-old knows all the details of the Koné contract as he signed the Frenchman while he was the sporting director in Gladbach.

Koné, in fact, has said that Eberl was one of the big reasons for joining Gladbach from Toulouse in a deal worth €9 million ($9.7 million) in the summer of 2021. “I knew for a long time that Gladbach wanted me,” Koné said last year (cited by Transfermarkt). “They had me in their notebooks when I was just a youth player in Toulouse.”

Eberl’s persistence in wanting the player ultimately paid off. “Gladbach was desperate to get me, and at some point, I could not say no. They tried everything, and that impressed me.” Koné described Gladbach as the perfect club to make the next step in his career.

Could that next step be a move to Leipzig? Eberl can certainly be persistent, and the Red Bulls are a mainstay in the Champions League, offering Koné a perfect pace to showcase his skills. The club also has a strong record of moving on players to financially stronger clubs—the latest example is Christopher Nkunku, who will join Chelsea in the summer.

Koné, who has scored one goal and one assist in 14 Bundesliga games this season, would also be guaranteed playing time as Leipzig will lose Austrian midfielder Konrad Leimar to Bayern Munich. Comparing the players on Wyscout over the last calendar year—as Laimer has struggled for playing time this year—highlights that Koné and the Austrian are not carbon copies of one another.

Whereas Laimer plays more long passes per 90 minutes (3.63 vs 2.02), Koné is more creative and accurate in the final third. The Gladbach midfielder completed 77.46% of his forward passes—Laimer managed just 59.04%—and Koné has managed more passes per 90 minutes into the final third (5.87 vs 5.00).

In general, Koné appears more tidy on the ball than Laimer. Whereas Laimer completed 81.06% of all his passes over the last calendar year, the 21-year-old Frenchman managed to complete 87.8% of his passes. One could attribute this to Leipzig’s more chaotic playing style, but Koné played under Adi Hütter last season and the Austrian head coach too was a firm believer of the chaos theory in the middle third.

Those numbers in fact indicate that Koné could provide a significant upgrade to Laimer. The Frenchman is more dynamic, creative and forward thinking than Bayern’s future Austrian midfielder. Unfortunately for Leipzig other clubs know this too and with a market value of €25 million ($27 million) according to Transfermarkt, Koné will be expensive. But Eberl knows the player and industry sources are persistent that if the Red Bulls sporting director wants the player he will get him.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth