Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart have agreed on the immediate transfer of Jens Grahl. The goalkeeper’s contract with the fellow Bundesliga club was due to run until 2022, but the 32-year-old has now signed a contract at Frankfurt until 2024.
For Grahl, the move to the Europa League participants is his first switch of clubs since 2016. The Stuttgart native has spent the last five seasons with his hometown club, where he also spent time as a youngster. In the first year after his return, he celebrated the 2017 Bundesliga 2 title and promotion back to the top flight.
I know all about Jens’ footballing and personal qualities from first-hand experience.
Board member Markus Krösche
Grahl took his first steps in professional football at SpVgg Greuther Fürth, where in 2007 he was called up to the first team from the U23s. A move to TSG Hoffenheim followed in 2009, where he stayed – interrupted by a one-year loan to SC Paderborn in the 2011/12 campaign – until 2016. The 1.92-metre tall shot-stopper made 12 Bundesliga appearances for TSG, including both meetings with Eintracht in the 2013/14 season.
Eintracht board member Markus Krösche, who played with Grahl for a year, said: “I know all about Jens’ footballing and personal qualities from first-hand experience. It’s not just at Paderborn that he’s proven that he will always dedicate himself to the team and will be an important factor in the continual development of the overall structure. I’m sure that our many talented youngsters in particular will benefit from that.”
