A journey to adventure land begins for Eintracht Frankfurt. But the Hessians feel prepared and well positioned.
If you want, you can now also be a European Cup winner. At least a little bit. He or she should come on foot, by bike or by train, but if possible not by car. Because the parking spaces at the Frankfurt Waldstadion might not be enough, especially since the arena is already being prepared for the concert of the mega-seller Coldplay. The rush for this will be immense, following all, the reigning Europa League winner will start on Tuesday, eleven o’clock, sixth place, and for the first time (!) since the beginning of the pandemic, well over two years ago, fans will be admitted once more, who at the first be allowed to watch the public unity of Eintracht. And, see above: If you want, you can also take a souvenir photo with the beautiful trophy between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. If someone doesn’t get a turn because too many want it, no problem, Eintracht will take their best piece with them on their tour of the region. Motto: If you want to touch it, you can.
On Tuesday, Eintracht will start preparing for the new season, which promises a trip to adventure land. She will start in the Champions League for the first time in her history. To get in the mood, there’s the Uefa Supercup on August 10th in Helsinki, with none other than the Champions League winner Real Madrid being the opponent. A game with high attention potential and some radiance. Eintracht certainly doesn’t just want to be there in Finland, it’s not in their DNA, as they impressively showed in the last European Cup season. Wherever she goes, she wants to win.
Of course, some magical nights are waiting for Frankfurt in the premier class. The declared goal is to survive the group phase. Sports director Markus Krösche believes his team is capable of that. The head of sport also made it clear that he expects a significant increase in the Bundesliga: “We want to do significantly better. Even if we don’t have to play in Europe every year, eleventh place is definitely not our aim.”
Many new faces will be there on Tuesday when coach Oliver Glasner invites them to the training ground for the first time, exciting guys, some with prospects, others with experience. Attacker Lucas Alario from Bayer Leverkusen has a good name, Randal Kolo Muani, who moved from Nantes, is considered a great hope of attacking, many top clubs had the 23-year-old on the slip. But one will of course draw everyone’s attention and outshine all the others, the returnee, the World Cup hero, the star player par excellence: Mario Götze. The signing of the 30-year-old has given Eintracht a huge image boost, but it is anything but a marketing campaign. Those responsible have high hopes for the new signing from Eindhoven. “Before the first conversation with his advisor, we weren’t sure whether it was even realistic to get him,” says manager Krösche in an interview with FR. It then worked, on comparatively manageable terms, the transfer fee is three million euros, the contract is heavily performance-related. “Mario is the player we were looking for,” says Krösche. “He has solutions in tight spaces, can play the last or penultimate pass.” Eintracht’s game should become more variable and unpredictable. Because of Götze, Eintracht has refrained from signing Argentine talent Nicolas Castro. Overall, the sports boss is satisfied with the transfer activities: “What we imagined worked. We are very far in terms of the squad.”
Goal scorer Alario, who came from Leverkusen, is also a piece of the puzzle. He’s a smart, fine guy who knows where the goal is. “We wanted to get him last summer, there was no possibility,” says Krösche. “All the better that it worked now. He has international experience and a very good goal quota. He is tall, robust and strong in the air, but also technically good. In the sixteen he is strong with both feet.”
The 29-year-old was determined to stay in the Bundesliga and is hoping for more playing time than with the Werkself. “Eintracht is a big club, a great club. The team has grown constantly,” says the Argentine, who describes himself as a “playful centre-forward”. The prospect of the Champions League has strengthened his desire to change.
In return, midfielder Ajdin Hrustic, who will not be there at the start because he, like the other national players, will receive a week of special leave, might leave the club: “He would like to play more, especially with a view to the World Cup,” reports Krösche. “He told us that’s why he’s looking around. That’s perfectly fine too.” Should the Australian leave, which is not unlikely, “we would be active in the transfer market once more,” says the manager. Basically, he sees the defensive midfield with Sebastian Rode, Djibril Sow and Kristijan Jakic as “well positioned”. Diego Demme from SSC Napoli is therefore not an issue according to FR information.
Nothing has changed for Filip Kostic and Daichi Kamada, who are willing to change. “There is no new stand,” says Krösche. “There are no offers.” Juventus Turin is still very interested in Kostic.
