At the end of last season, the 24-year-old turned down a contract extension that SC Freiburg had been pushing and publicly declared his desire to leave.
But when concrete offers from Premier League clubs, where Atubolu had reportedly been on the shortlist, failed to materialise, and SC had already signed Mio Backhaus from Werder Bremen as his successor, the 22-cap Germany Under-21 international suddenly faced the prospect of the stands.
Throughout pre-season, Atubolu stayed in Freiburg and trained individually away from the team. Shortly before the transfer window closed, talks with Eintracht finally became more concrete. As Frankfurt apparently could not afford the fee for a permanent transfer this summer, the scenario became a loan with an option to buy and a possible obligation to buy.
"It happened so quickly that I couldn't even think. To be honest: I had waited a very long time for this moment. Many weeks had passed and I am very happy now to do what I love: namely to be out on the pitch and play football for Eintracht Frankfurt," the keeper explained at a press conference.
Now he says he is hugely relieved and happy to have found a way out of his tricky situation at SGE. "It's a great club that I like a lot. Maybe, in terms of the snapshot of last season, not where they should be. But I'm really excited to be here."
Getty ImagesNoah Atubolu speaks about summer transfer drama
The 24-year-old also stressed that some things had happened in the now closed transfer window that he personally did not agree with at all. Atubolu did not go into detail, but his frustration at promises and agreements not being kept could be heard between the lines.
"A lot happened after the Europa League final. Before the game against Union, I hadn't played for eight weeks. It's no secret that the things that happened over the summer were not enjoyable," said Atobolu. "I made the best of it. Not everything was always great and it wasn't an easy time either. Things happened that are not acceptable. That's one way to describe it."
Last weekend, he made his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt in the 3-3 draw with Union Berlin. For the coming season, he is set to be the clear No 1 in coach Adi Hütter's team.