Adi Hütter, the new SGE coach, has now definitively ruled out a move for Baum this summer. "He stays here," Hütter stressed after Frankfurt’s 1-0 friendly win at third-tier side Waldhof Mannheim on Saturday. "He is a player from our own academy. And then you also have to give such a young player the chance if he has the right quality - and he has."
After barely getting a look-in at Frankfurt last season, Baum had been linked with several clubs in recent weeks. Hamburger SV are said to have shown sustained interest, and Baum was also apparently a topic in Dortmund. A few days ago, Sky reported that BVB sporting director Ole Book had suggested the 20-year-old as a possible new signing. But after Hütter’s statement, Borussia can now save themselves any concrete efforts for the Frankfurt player.
Back at Eintracht after coaching the club from 2018 to 2021, the Austrian has been completely convinced by what Baum has shown in pre-season so far. "I said from the start that I wanted to form my own picture of him," Hütter stressed, alluding to the youngster’s recently difficult situation with the Hessians.
Elias Baum: Strong loan spell at Elversberg followed by disillusionment in Frankfurt
Baum came through the SGE academy and had hoped for plenty of game time last season after a loan spell at SV Elversberg in 2024/25 had gone very well. Book, who moved from Elversberg to Dortmund in March, also knows Baum very well from their time together in Saarland. For the then second-tier club, who sensationally secured promotion to the Bundesliga in May, the Frankfurt-born player consistently impressed, with Baum recording three goals and eight assists in a total of 37 appearances for Elversberg.
Yet back at Eintracht, things went badly wrong last season because neither Dino Toppmöller nor his successor Albert Riera relied on him. Injury problems held him back further, and he ultimately managed just 71 minutes of action across five competitive matches.
Getty ImagesNow, under Hütter, Baum could finally take on the important role he had hoped for. In the friendlies so far, the Germany Under-21 international has always started as the right-sided part of a back four, with Hütter valuing above all his dynamism and directness. There is a good chance Baum will also be named in Frankfurt’s starting line-up for the competitive opener on 21 August in the DFB Cup at Oberliga side SC St. Tönis, as well as for the Bundesliga opener at Union Berlin eight days later.
If he continues his rise in Frankfurt: Is Elias Baum one for Jürgen Klopp?
With his contract running until 2028, the defender feels very comfortable in the back-four system preferred by Hütter. "I can work the flank, going forward and backward. That’s exactly what I love, that’s my style of play and it suits me," he recently explained on the club’s own YouTube channel. He underlined those qualities in Mannheim on Saturday when he provided the assist for Frankfurt’s winner scored by Jonathan Burkardt.
That possible upturn at Eintracht could also put Baum in line for a return to the Under-21 national team, with whom he wants to play at the European Championship in Albania and Serbia next summer. So far he has won four Under-21 caps, but he has not been nominated since September last year.
Beyond that, Baum is also regarded as a potential candidate for the rebuilding of the senior national team under new head coach Jürgen Klopp. At his introductory press conference, Klopp explicitly opened the door to newcomers. With his intense style of play, Baum would fit Klopp’s football well, and Germany currently are not exactly blessed with an abundance of top-class right-backs.