As in the previous summer, board member Fredi Bobic, sporting director Bruno Hübner and head coach Niko Kovac carried out a major overhaul of the squad. Loanees Jesus Vallejo (Real Madrid), Michael Hector (Chelsea), Guillermo Varela (Manchester United) and Shani Tarashaj (Everton) returned to their parent clubs, while the likes of Haris Seferovic (Benfica), Heinz Lindner (Grasshoppers) and Furkan Zorba (VfL Osnabrück) also left. The most significant departure, though, was that of left-back Bastian Oczipka, who moved to Schalke 04 after five years at Eintracht.
12 players join new-look squad
The eight departures were countered by no fewer than 12 new signings: Danny Da Costa (Bayer Leverkusen), Simon Falette (Metz), Gelson Fernandes (Rennes), Jonathan de Guzman (Napoli), Sébastien Haller (Utrecht), Luka Jovic (Benfica), Daichi Kamada (Sagan Tosu), Carlos Salcedo (on loan from Guadalajara), Jetro Willems (PSV Eindhoven) and goalkeeper Jan Zimmermann (1860 Munich) all arrived in Frankfurt. At the end of August, SGE snapped up two further additions to the squad. Ante Rebic returned on loan from Fiorentina, and the club pulled off a real coup with the signing of Kevin-Prince Boateng from Las Palmas.
US tour and South Tirol training camp
A particular pre-season highlight was the Eagles’ trip to the USA for the first of two training camps. The squad visited Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, San José and Columbus, playing three friendlies against MLS sides Seattle Sounders (1-1), San José Earthquakes (1-4) and Columbus Crew (0-1) and gearing up for the long Bundesliga season with several gruelling training sessions. The second training camp in Gais, South Tyrol, followed at the end of July.
Cup run begins
After Eintracht comfortably beat regional league side TuS Erndtebrück 3-0 in the first round of the DFB Cup, the Bundesliga season got under way with a trip to Freiburg. Niko Kovac’s charges were the better side for 90 minutes and also had the better chances, but in the end had to settle for a goalless draw. One week later, the Eagles were again the dominant team at home to Wolfsburg but this time suffered a 1-0 defeat through Daniel Didavi’s goal.
Impressive on the road, unlucky at home
Eintracht’s first league win of the campaign arrived on Matchday 3 with a 1-0 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Boateng scoring the only goal of the game on his full debut. The next two matches – a 2-1 defeat at home to Augsburg and a 1-0 win at Cologne – typified the first half of the 2017/18 season. The Eagles often lacked a bit of fortune in front of their own fans but away from home they racked up the wins. In fact, their 2-1 loss at RB Leipzig on Matchday 6 was their only defeat on the road during the whole first half of the campaign. On Matchday 7, Eintracht finally registered their first home success as a stunning last-minute scissor kick from Haller earned them a 2-1 win against Stuttgart.
