On Wednesday they received a prominent visit from Eintracht Frankfurt. Jürgen Klopp did the honors. After the new national coach had visited Bayern Munich, VfB Stuttgart and Mainz 05 in the previous days, he now stopped by the Hessians. Klopp watched a training session and spoke to coach Adi Hütter and some players. So he had a lively conversation with Younes Ebnoutalib. Klopp let Frankfurt's shooting star know that he is convinced of his qualities. The 22-year-old could play for both Germany and Morocco.
Klopp's flying visit was captured in pictures. One of them had great symbolic power because it perfectly documented the situation of Eintracht Frankfurt. The national coach can be seen with striker Can Uzun. Both have tensed the muscles of their right upper arm. Klopp's biceps are well defined and stand out much more. He embodies strength – and therefore something that unity has lost.
After the Hessians had played internationally for five years in a row without interruption and even won the Europa League in 2022, they missed qualification for a European Cup for the first time again due to an eighth place in the table in the last Bundesliga season - after a season in which the club did not make headlines with exhilarating football, but with stories off the pitch. An example of this is the open dispute with former coach Albert Riera in the summer, who was hired at the beginning of January and released shortly before the end of the last season.
Board spokesman Axel Hellmann had confirmed to Riera that he was not prepared to “deal with the Bundesliga, this club and the entire environment”. The Spaniard countered sharply. "I won't say your name," he wrote in an Instagram story, "because you are a nobody, unknown and have done nothing. I still don't know why the club is paying you money." He and sports director Markus Krösche were the only people who fought for the club from morning to evening. "No one else!" He didn't mention his record of just four wins, five draws and five defeats.
Anyone who subsequently believed that peace would return after the separation from Riera was disappointed. Even the return of coach Adi Hütter, who worked in Frankfurt from July 2018 to June 2021, only calmed minds to a limited extent. But that is less due to the coach, but rather to a transfer summer in which, as the “Frankfurter Rundschau” wrote recently, sports director Krösche “lost his compass”.
With the sale of Nathaniel Brown, Aurele Amenda and Rasmus Kristensen, who together brought in almost 80 million euros, and the loans of Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Hugo Larsson, who together are worth around 50 million euros in one year through purchase commitments, Krösche has achieved the necessary transfer surplus and the salary volume through further departures of top earners such as Michy Batshuayi and Elye Wahi reduced. There were a total of 38 transfer movements - at a club that employs the most people (545) in the Bundesliga after Bayern and BVB.
However, the departures are offset by additions (including Noel Aseko, Raphael Onyedika, Malik Pimpong, Otavio, Lilian Brassier) who do not completely convince the experts. The fact that a new number one for the goal, Noah Atubolu, was loaned from SC Freiburg at short notice ensures calm in an important position. However, the transfer revealed a misjudgment last summer when Eintracht allowed regular keeper Kevin Trapp to move to Paris. Kaua Santos and Michael Zetterer, who have since moved to Leeds United, were never able to convince after that.
The team only achieved this to a limited extent at the start of the season at Union Berlin. The Hessians led 3-1 until the 79th minute before they conceded two more goals. FC Augsburg will be guests on Sunday (5.30 p.m.).
Julian Jendrossek from sge4ever.de, an independent online magazine and fan blog about Eintracht, said when asked that he currently sees a problem in “the fact that some decisions no longer fit together to form a really coherent overall picture”. The matter-of-factness and clarity, he added, “with which in recent years we have compensated for sporting departures and further developed the squad, while forming a unity in the club with the team and fans” can no longer be seen to the same extent at the moment.
Maybe it helps that those responsible documented unity and cohesion during the week. Following a meeting of the Supervisory Board, the committee expressed its confidence in the 45-year-old Krösche and recognized the difficult work in the complex transfer market. "There is agreement that we want to continue to tackle the tasks ahead of us with great unity," said supervisory board chairman Mathias Beck: "Our focus in the past few weeks has been on creating the best possible conditions for a successful season. The sporting leadership has succeeded in this."
Krösche spoke of a “challenging transfer phase, which was characterized by an exceptional market environment this year”. He made it clear that he was not tired of his job. “I am working with full conviction to achieve our goals.” He confirmed this again in a conversation with WELT AM SONNTAG.
How stable the peace really is remains to be seen, especially since a post for which Krösche was considered a top candidate is still vacant. In mid-June there were reports from Italy that the traditional Italian club AC Milan would like to sign him as technical director and had already negotiated with him. “I’m not one to run away,” replied Krösche. His contract is dated until 2028.
The coming weeks will provide information about whether Eintracht will find its way back to its former strength. If she succeeds, the national coach should also stop by more often. The last time a Frankfurt player was in the German national team squad was Jonathan Burkardt in November 2025.
