The Carinthian announced his retirement from professional football last week, and Glasner says he was in contact with Hinteregger before and after the announcement. “I think it’s a shame, but I found him relatively relieved afterwards,” said the coach. Glasner showed understanding for the approach of the ex-ÖFB team player. “One is sporty, the other is the person. And if Martin Hinteregger is better off as a person with this decision, then that’s the right decision.”
Glasner paid tribute to Hinteregger’s services to the club. “He helped shape the rise of Eintracht, as a player, as a guy. It’s a shame that we lose someone like that in sport. But if he’s doing better with it, that’s one hundred percent okay,” emphasized the Upper Austrian. Hinteregger is always welcome in Frankfurt. “So welcome that he stopped by again today,” said Glasner.
Prominent reinforcement
Among other things, Hinteregger got to see the Frankfurt newcomer Mario Götze. Glasner is looking forward to working with Germany’s 2014 World Cup final winning scorer, but doesn’t want to give him a special role. “As with any player, it is important to integrate his qualities into our team structure. His experience was also an important part that we were looking for in attack.”
In addition to Götze, striker Lucas Alario from Bayer Leverkusen is the most prominent player among the nine signings so far. “We have a functioning team that won the Europa League. We want to integrate the new players with our ideas,” said Glasner. “We see great potential in them that needs to be unleashed. And we need them to get going.” It is still unclear whether key players such as Filip Kostic, Daichi Kamada or Evan Ndicka will stay in view of Frankfurt’s enticing Champions League premiere.
“We have a great season ahead of us,” predicts Glasner. Eintracht’s first competitive game is the first-round match in the DFB Cup on August 1st at second division promoted 1. FC Magdeburg. Four days later, Frankfurt will play the Bundesliga opening game against Bayern Munich and on August 10th they will face David Alabas Real Madrid in the Supercup in Helsinki.
Source: Nachrichten
