Kostic will leave Eintracht Frankfurt as a hero, but Oliver Glasner is disappointed that he won’t be with the club.
Kostic was left out of the squad to face Real Madrid in the Super Cup on Wednesday, meaning he is set to play his last game for Frankfurt.
Kostic has started more matches for the club than any other player, and has played more games than anyone else.
His 30 goals trail only two other men, but he’s clear in terms of assists and chances created, with over 400 of them coming from open play.
Kostic has more passes played into the opposition’s box than second-best Daichi Kamada.
Kostic, who has excelled as a wing-back, will be a huge miss, as he explained why he feels the move is bittersweet.
“Today it’s as if I’m laughing and crying,” he said. It’s never nice to lose a player who leaves a mark on the attack.
“It definitely weakens us, but I also have a laugh, thinking about how the season started last year with Filip when he went on strike and didn’t want to play.”
I had a lot of discussions with him about how to play well for the team. I asked him if he wanted to leave as a hero, because he was the player of the year, and he won the Europa League. I’m happy for him but it’s sad that he’s leaving.
Kostic’s move, which has been speculated on for weeks, took place between Frankfurt’s 6-1 defeat to Munich on Saturday and Wednesday’s encounter with Madrid.
He said that the system won’t change for upcoming games, but that it may be open to tweaking in the coming weeks.
On Monday it became more and more clear that he could leave. There won’t be a big system change against Madrid, but it’s possible we change things in the next few months, that’s the job of the coach to find the best system.
I didn’t think it would be so quick. I thought that he would play after the match.
“But every time someone leaves it’s an opportunity and I prefer to see the opportunities not what is missing.” It will be an opportunity for other people. The club is prepared, the transfer window is open, and it’s not like it’s a complete shock.
Kevin Trapp was confident his team-mates had not been affected by Kostic’s departure.
Every year at the beginning of the season, we had the topic of Filip. It’s sad, he did a lot for the club, but he is leaving as a hero.
It’s a part of businesses and football. After the speculation of the last weeks, we know that we have a team that is capable of showing good performances without Filip. It’s a departure that hurts but nothing will shake us.
