Wolverhampton Wanderers have announced that Sasa Kalajdzic has signed for Eintracht Frankfurt on loan.
When Fabio Silva linked up with Rangers on a similar arrangement at the turn of the year, the expectation was that Kalajdzic would remain at Molineux to compete with Wolves' other attacking players.
However, at the same time as Silva's departure, reports emerged that Kalajdzic was eager to earn first-team football ahead of potentially representing Austria at Euro 2024.
Earlier this week, Gary O'Neil played down suggestions that the 26-year-old could move elsewhere, but it was claimed before Friday's FA Cup tie at Brentford that a loan deal had already been agreed with Frankfurt.
While Kalajdzic still featured in the squad versus the Bees, he remained as an unused substitute, and O'Neil confirmed after that fixture that a temporary transfer was in place.
On Sunday morning, Wolves announced that Kalajdzic had completed his return to the Bundesliga, where he played for Stuttgart before his £15m transfer in August 2022.
Speaking to the club's official website, sporting director Matt Hobbs said: "Sasa has been incredibly unlucky. He got injured on his debut having come back from a bad injury. He worked hard to get back fit, but the form of our forwards has meant his gametime has been limited.
"After the best part of two years out injured, the best thing for Sasa and us long-term is for him to go and get lots of football, in a league he knows well and one which is similar to the Premier League in terms of physicality and style of play.
He added: "The human side comes into it because Sasa's wife is due to give birth later this month, so if he was going to go out, it felt the right thing to do, to not delay and let them get settled with housing and hospitals, for example, ready for the birth of their child.
"He's a great guy around the place. He's frustrated, but he trains hard every day with a smile of his face. When that happens, and Sasa has the Euros and the baby coming up, delaying while we look for a replacement wouldn't have been fair."
Kalajdzic departs Wolves having made three starts and 10 substitute outings in all competitions during 2023-24, with the last of those coming back on December 9, and scoring two Premier League goals.
He joins a Frankfurt side that currently sit in sixth position in the Bundesliga standings, albeit nine points adrift of the top four, and are in the Europa Conference League last 32.
Wolves did not allow for an option to buy to be included in the deal. body check tags ::
