Kostic, the Barça killer that Inter liked: in the summer he can leave Eintracht

A long, very long way to go. Filip Kostic, however, never got scared and, step by step, he reached the goal. Starting from the third Serbian series (with Radnički Kragujevac, with whom he played from 12 to 20 years) he came to conquer the Camp Nou, the sacred temple of Barcelona, ​​with a brace. He didn’t do it with a great world football player, but with Eintracht Frankfurt: Kostic represents the working class in all respects. As if he were the protagonist of one of Raymond Carver’s short stories, Kostic in Barcelona lived the sharpness of his career, made of sacrifice. To reach these levels, in fact, Kostic has struggled for a long time, covering kilometers and kilometers, in every game played. In the past Kostic, especially in recent months, has tried to leave Eintracht to get to great football using some shortcuts. Last summer Lazio and Inter wanted him (the Nerazzurri gave us another thought before joining Gosens), but in the end he stayed in Frankfurt. Because shortcuts do not suit the heroes of the working class. Kostic arrives at great football with Eintracht, with which for the second time in three years, he reached the semifinal of the Europa League.

History

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Kostic had the perfect night on Thursday evening. In front of 25 thousand Eintracht fans who managed to enter the Camp Nou, he knocked out Barcelona with a brace, allowing his him to win 3-2. The spotlight was all on him, the Eintracht fans shouted his name out loud. And to think that in the summer the relations between the parties were at a minimum. Kostic had tried to force the transfer to Lazio by striking and deserting the team’s trip to Bielefeld. The company fined him (for 50 thousand euros), did not agree to sell him off to Lazio who tried to take advantage of the opportunity, and kept him by continuing to bet on him. “I promised the fans that I would come back even stronger and more motivated – explained Kostic once back in the team – regardless of everything. I have to do the best for the club. I keep my word. I don’t want to go back to what happened in the past,” let’s look ahead. I am also very grateful to Mr. Glasner: he is very busy in his work. We talked, he showed understanding for what happened and I thank him for this. ” To make up for it, Kostic offered a dinner to the whole team, and the usual leader is back on the pitch. Fate didn’t allow him to go to more ambitious clubs like Lazio and Inter, and so Kostic put himself back in the shoes of the working class hero and reached those same milestones with a smaller club. Which can only gratify him more.

Inter faded

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Piero Ausilio has had a soft spot for Kostic for years. He follows him closely, he would have brought him to Inter in the past. In the summer there was a contact, but the negotiations did not take off. In January, the Nerazzurri gave us another thought, but the Gosens track suddenly opened, which is why the club decided to turn to the German. Also due to some physical problems, however, for the moment Gosens has had little impact with Inter, unlike Kostic who continues to drag Eintracht. Even on the pitch of one of the best clubs in the world. And that intuition of Ausilio, which has never become concrete, on evenings like those of Thursday, becomes a regret. Also because in the summer, even in the event of Perisic’s departure, and considering the purchase of Gosens in January, such an important investment in that role is not planned.

Past and future

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Having arrived in the first team at the age of 17, Kostic began his career in the Serbian third division with Radnički Kragujevac with whom he won two promotions in two years. At 19 he took him to Groningen, in the Netherlands, where he stayed for two seasons. There they began to compare him to Robben for speed and physical strength that also help him in the defensive phase, in which he stands out for his skill in tackling. In 2014, at the age of 21, he moved to Germany, where he initially struggled to establish himself: he relegated both with Stuttgart and with Hamburg, before moving to Eintracht with which he finally exploded. After last summer’s strike, he returned to play in the league match against Stuttgart. That day he entered the match in progress, with the stadium giving him a standing ovation. Many of the fans present wore his shirt, to show him trust and affection despite the tensions that had existed in the previous days. He, just as promised, is back and has made available to the team the desire to win and ambition, going to get another standing-ovation, as well as the qualification for the semifinal of the Europa League, in one of the most fascinating stadiums in the world. The Camp Nou was at his feet, as rarely happens to a representative of the working class. In 2023 his contract will expire, which is why it is likely that he will be sold in the summer. In the meantime, Inter have taken Gosens, relations between Lazio and Eintracht, precisely because of what happened last summer, are not relaxed. He will try again to move to a more ambitious club than Eintracht. Without shortcuts, because Kostic reached great football by taking the longest route. He came to it as a working class hero.