Eintracht Frankfurt beat out Wolfsburg in race to sign 2. Bundesliga leading scorer Younes Ebnoutalib | OneFootball

Sport Bild reports Eintracht Frankfurt are on the verge of signing SV Elversberg striker Younes Ebnoutalib. The 22-year-old – who has scored 12 2. Bundesliga goals this season – is headed to the RheinMain metropolis for a base-transfer-fee of €8m. An additional €2m in bonuses have been agreed upon. The German tabloid reports that Ebnoutalib is due in Frankfurt for a medical over the next few days. 

Eintracht and VfL Wolfsburg – also in dire in need of attacking assistance – have been locked in a battle for Ebnoutalib over the past week. Kicker reports that Wolfsburg also tendered a €10m offer, but Ebnoutalib fancied his sporting prospects in Frankfurt better. Moreover, the German-Moroccan attacker is originally from Frankfurt and once trained at the SV Wehen Wiesbaden and Rot-Weiß Frankfurt academies. 

Who is Younes Ebnoutalib?

Prior to this season, a complete unknown. Ebnoutalib only just moved to Elversberg less than a year ago from FC Gießen for a reported transfer fee of €50,000. After moving to the Saarland club in January 2025, Ebnoutalib mostly featured with the SVE reserves in the Regionalliga Südwest. He made only four exceedingly brief 2. Bundesliga relief appearances under current Werder Bremen head coach Horst Steffen last spring. 

Steffen selected Ebnoutalib for the promotion-relegation playoffs against Heidenheim, but again he only featured as a last-minute time-killing sub in both playoff legs. Ebnoutalib only entered both matches in the 90th minute. This year, he suddenly burst upon the scene with an incredible three consecutive braces for Elversberg on matchdays four, five, and six. 

Ebnoutalib has also scored a hat trick for Elversberg this year en route to becoming the 2. Bundesliga’s leading scorer and pumping up his estimated market value from €150,000 to €6m in just four months. Whether or not the late-bloomer is ready to make the jump to the German top flight so soon is anything but a certainty. Frankfurt nevertheless appear prepared to bet that he is. 

GGFN | Peter Weis