The expectations are immense.

“This is a player that we haven't had before.” Markus Krösche is full of praise for Kristijan Jakic.

Is everything going to be all right now at unity?

Jakic is one for the defensive.

"He has a good eye," says the Frankfurt sports director Krösche.

In other words: The Croatian should not only be able to stop opposing attacks, but also to set his own creative impulses for building up the game.

Ralf Weitbrecht

Sports editor.

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On Thursday, away from the football field, Kristijan Jakic is half covered.

It is his first public appearance for the club, for which he will pursue his playful work with the shirt number 6 in the future.

The 24-year-old professional footballer does not want to go into detail about the qualities he is said to have said, which mainly relate to his great fighting power and uncompromising attitude.

In the press conference room in the arena catacombs, Paul-Zarko Fischler, an interpreter, sits at his side to translate from Croatian into German.

"I want to find my place in the first eleven," says Jakic and promises: "I'll give everything - until the end." Until I qualify for the Europa League again?

A stepping stone to higher things

The midfielder, who is on loan from Dinamo Zagreb for one season, does not like to look that far into the future. His focus is initially on the upcoming game on Sunday in a week against VfB Stuttgart. “We want to win that. For me it is about the victory of unity. ”Which is not entirely true, because there is more to it than that. It's also about how Jakic is doing on his first post abroad, far from home.

Other Croatians like Luka Modric and Ante Rebic have left the country before to seek their fortune elsewhere in Europe. Jakic has opted for Germany and the Bundesliga, which for him is the “best league in the world”. Whether it really is is an open question. It is definitely the right time for Jakic to give his career a new kick. So far, despite good performances at his home club Dinamo Zagreb, he has not managed to recommend himself for the national team of the World Cup runner-up.

The Eintracht should now serve as a stepping stone to higher things - especially since Jakic completed the past season free of previous injury concerns. Very successful, by the way. Dinamo became champions and cup winners, and Jakic's advance into the quarter-finals of the Europa League also made Jakic interesting for other clubs. "Twenty days ago, those responsible for Eintracht approached me," says Jakic.

A short time later, the Croat made the decision in favor of Germany and the club that can advertise "In the heart of Europe" with a brand new professional camp. "When I arrived in Frankfurt, I was nervous and excited," admits bachelor Jakic, who initially found shelter in a hotel. "Eintracht is the best address for me," says the man, for whom it is a matter of course in the exercise of his profession, "that I do not pull my leg back". So always a full bottle?

Jakic wants to make the big breakthrough. "I come into a good team with very competent specialists," he translates. A team that is currently not, because many regular players have been with their national teams for days. Jakic looks back a little wistfully at the time in Zagreb. “My club opened the door to unity for me.” It is Jakic's turn to step through it powerfully and to leave lasting traces.