Gonco, Sébastien Haller has now left Eintracht for West Ham United. What are your thoughts on his transfer?
"It's a big loss for us. Sébastien's a great player and one of the best strikers I've ever played with. He's not only a great footballer but a special person away from the pitch too. Nevertheless, we still have enough quality in the team and I'm sure we'll strengthen too."
On the flip side of that, do you think it will increase your chances of more regular playing time?
"There's obviously a possibility that I'll get more opportunities to show what I can do. We've lost a striker but there's still competition for places. Dejan [Joveljic]'s a new arrival and we've still got Ante [Rebic]. They're also fantastic players who work hard in order to play. Everyone has to fight out on the pitch and prove their worth in training. Then the coach decides who plays. That's football. My aim now is to keep working hard and showing what I can do."
You now have over two weeks of pre-season training behind you. What do you make of the preparations so far?
"We all feel in great shape. We've done a lot of training and are on the right track. It's not always easy to get back into the swing of things after going on holiday, but we all push each other. We often have two training sessions a day and we've also got an eye on the upcoming Europa League qualifying games."
What sort of match are you expecting in that competition next week?
"We still have to wait and see who we're facing before we can focus on the game. For now, our objective should be to match our performances from last season and raise our game to that level. We have to work in a professional manner in order to make it through the qualifiers. We know what we have to do and are on the right path."
"It's a big loss for us. Sébastien's a great player and one of the best strikers I've ever played with. He's not only a great footballer but a special person away from the pitch too. Nevertheless, we still have enough quality in the team and I'm sure we'll strengthen too."
On the flip side of that, do you think it will increase your chances of more regular playing time?
"There's obviously a possibility that I'll get more opportunities to show what I can do. We've lost a striker but there's still competition for places. Dejan [Joveljic]'s a new arrival and we've still got Ante [Rebic]. They're also fantastic players who work hard in order to play. Everyone has to fight out on the pitch and prove their worth in training. Then the coach decides who plays. That's football. My aim now is to keep working hard and showing what I can do."
You now have over two weeks of pre-season training behind you. What do you make of the preparations so far?
"We all feel in great shape. We've done a lot of training and are on the right track. It's not always easy to get back into the swing of things after going on holiday, but we all push each other. We often have two training sessions a day and we've also got an eye on the upcoming Europa League qualifying games."
What sort of match are you expecting in that competition next week?
"We still have to wait and see who we're facing before we can focus on the game. For now, our objective should be to match our performances from last season and raise our game to that level. We have to work in a professional manner in order to make it through the qualifiers. We know what we have to do and are on the right path."
