Before the members of the Eintracht Frankfurt first team headed off on their summer holidays – or, in some cases, to their national teams – it was time for certain Eagles players to say their goodbyes. Among them was Almamy Toure, who has been with the club longer than the majority of his colleagues after joining from AS Monaco at the end of January 2019.
At his best, Toure’s physicality and pace made him more than a match for any opponent. The 27-year-old Guinean is not a bad finisher either, as evidenced by his volley in a 2-0 victory over Leipzig in 2019/20. Unfortunately, however, he was often let down by his own body, with injuries restricting him to just 81 competitive appearances across all competitions. During his time at Eintracht, Toure was deployed as a right-back in a back four, a right midfielder and a central defender.
From 12th man to first-choice
As fate would have it, Toure returned from a three-month spell on the sidelines in last season’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against none other than Barcelona. Following Tuta’s dismissal for a second bookable offence, Toure helped his side secure a 1-1 draw on home soil after replacing the more attack-minded Daichi Kamada.
The defender went on to play a major role in Eintracht’s sensational 3-2 victory in the return leg. Evan Ndicka saw red on this occasion, but by that point there was no doubt who would replace the Frenchman for the semi-final against West Ham United. Operating on the left side of a back three, Toure once again played the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 triumph in London, before entering the fray after only seven minutes in the second leg following a season-ending injury to Martin Hinteregger, which set the stage for Toure’s finest hour.
Or should it be ‘finest hours’? In temperatures of 40 degrees, the number 18 was the only defender to play the entire 131 minutes of the final at Seville’s Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, throwing his body on the line from beginning to end against Rangers despite suffering from cramp towards the end of the contest.
Toure’s Eintracht Frankfurt contract expires at the end of this season. “It was not the end we’d hoped for, but thank you once again for your incredible support and energy,” Eintracht’s ‘Last Man Standing’ tweeted on Saturday evening after collecting his DFB Cup runners-up medal.
All that’s left to say is merci beaucoup, Almamy Toure!
