Who comes, who goes, who stays?

Above all: Does anyone have to leave Eintracht at all?

In the middle of the week, it was again the names of the usual suspects who made the rounds and who are always mentioned when long-term ties could be broken due to economic constraints.

Ralph Weitbrecht

sports editor.

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Markus Krösche, the sports director of the Frankfurt Bundesliga club, spoke plainly in a media round on Wednesday and took a position on allegedly courted professionals such as Martin Hinteregger, Filip Kostic, Daichi Kamada, Evan Ndicka and Djibril Sow.

"There is no player who cannot be sold," said Krösche in one of the conference rooms in the Eintracht professional camp.

In other words: there are no unsaleable players.

Since Krösche has been working for Eintracht in the summer, his work has been a balancing act.

What is sportingly desirable, what is economically feasible?

In the middle of this year, as CEO Axel Hellmann said in an interview with the FAZ in early April, Eintracht will “report an operating loss of over 70 million euros” when the balance sheet is presented.

Figures that also influence Krösche's work, "because transfer proceeds are part of our business, part of our philosophy."

Come hell or high water, however, there should be no departures.

“There is no internal list.

We don't put players on the market.

We value our players.”

Ripening organically, step by step.

"We want to grow every year," said Krösche in the "Benfica Lisbon" conference room, knowing full well that "West Ham United" would have been more appropriate.

But there isn't.

But the very real semi-finals in the Europa League and first the first leg on April 28 in London's Olympic Stadium, home of the United professionals known as "Hammers".

Krösche spoke highly of West Ham, speaking of a "brutally strong team", "physical, assertive" and with a "very good coach".

The fact that Eintracht's dream trip through Europe after the "game of the century" against Barcelona actually and deservedly continues makes Krösche's pulse beat faster.

But the prudent manager knows: "We must at least come close to the performance of the game in Barcelona." Only then is a lot possible in this "fifty-fifty game."

Then anything can happen.” Could it still happen that Eintracht, currently in tenth place in the Bundesliga, makes the jump to the places that entitle them to play games in Europe again in the coming season?

The gap to fifth place in the Europa League, where the DFB Cup finalist SC Freiburg is currently on 51 points, can no longer be made up for by Eintracht (39 points, clearly worse goal difference).

In order to make it to sixth place in the conference league, which Union Berlin (47 points) occupies, everything has to fit.

“We want to get the maximum number of points,” Krösche encouraged.

But he also did not hide the fact that “we are not at all satisfied with the Bundesliga season.

Above all, we didn’t win enough home games.”

Maybe Eintracht will win the penultimate one this Saturday against Hoffenheim (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky).

The Kraichgauer are two places ahead of Eintracht, but also have six points more on the account.

"There are just so many construction sites that we have to work on," said Krösche, looking at the core business.

"The Bundesliga is our base." Despite all the enthusiasm for the spectacle in the Europa League: "We mustn't lose focus on the Bundesliga.

The aim must always be to achieve the best possible placement.

Europe is addition.”

Final sprint in the league and in the European Cup.

Eintracht will end the 2021/2022 football season in a month.

Oliver Glasner wants to achieve everything that is still possible with his team.

The coach has gathered his players around him for the first time after the away defeat at Union Berlin and two days off in the middle of the week.

Sow, Christopher Lenz and Stefan Ilsanker trained individually, and goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who was unable to play last time, is back in the team circle. "I'm assuming that Kevin will play against Hoffenheim," said Krösche.

Ndicka and Kristijan Jakic will definitely do it.

Unlike in the semi-final first leg at West Ham, they are not suspended against TSG.

Meanwhile, fans have applied electronically for one of the 3,000 tickets Eintracht will receive for the game at United.

30

000 fans like last time in Barcelona?

That won't happen in London.

At least not in the stadium.