Milan, Krösche and Hardung, how the director and sporting director they like work

Teamwork. Which starts from a very well-established couple. Markus Krösche and Timmo Hardung are preparing to leave Eintracht Frankfurt and join AC Milan. Together they made the German club great (winning the 2022 Europa League), together they would obviously like to relaunch the Rossoneri. They met in Leipzig, where Krösche was the sporting director and Hardung was a sort of team manager. They then moved together to Eintracht where Markus immediately held roles of great responsibility, while Hardung took two years to move from team manager to sporting director. From that moment on, however, he found himself at the head of a group of 70 people. “Timmo is very important for planning our future – said Krösche, in September, on the day of Hardung’s contract renewal -. Since we arrived in Frankfurt we have been further improving our working method. For the economic and sporting strategies of this club he is very important”.

Collaboration

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The dominant between the two is Krösche, 45 years old (46 in September), who never managed to make the big leap as a footballer: the best result he achieved was promotion to the Bundesliga with Paderborn (2013-14). As a manager he even started in the sixth national category, as coach of Paderborn’s second team. In 2015 he moved to Leverkusen, in the Bundesliga, as Roger Schmidt’s assistant, replacing Glasner in the role. With Schmidt’s dismissal in March 2017, Krösche also decided to leave the club. He then returns to Paderborn, as technical manager. In two years two promotions arrived, which took Paderborn from the third to the first national division. His work attracted the attention of Leipzig who took him on as sporting director as Rangnick’s replacement. He has always given a lot of importance to teamwork, but he has never gotten along as well with a collaborator as with Hardung. With the two of them, the team controlled by Red Bull finished third in the championship, only being eliminated in the Champions League semi-final by PSG. In the summer of 2020, Heinrichs, Szoboszlai and Gvardiol arrived at excellent prices.

the head

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The mentality of the two is very evident, and fits perfectly into that of Milan: Krösche always has his eye on the future and so does his disciple. In January 2025 they achieved one of the largest capital gains of their career. However, the sale of Omar Marmoush from Eintracht to City for 75 million euros (plus bonuses) was just yet another masterstroke. Its market philosophy is very simple in concept, more complex in practice. It always sells. However, having immediately had substitutes available.

The shots

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As soon as he arrived in Frankfurt in 2021, Krösche sold former Milan player André Silva to Leipzig for 23 million euros. In his place he signed the unknown Rafael Borre from River Plate on a free transfer. It was he who, in 2022, scored the decisive goal in the Europa League final. One of his first strikes was Jesper Lindström (from Bröndby), who he then sold to Napoli two years later for 30 million euros. Kostic also sold to Juventus for 14.7 million, Krösche took Kolo Muani (from Nantes) on a free transfer, then selling him to PSG for 95 million euros. He also sold Willian Pacho (taken for 13.65 million from Royal Antwerpen) to the Parisians for 40 million. He doesn’t care much about the players, the aim is always for the club to get the most out of their sales. The discussion with Hardung has always been proactive and constructive. Players evaluate them together, as well as their possible contribution to the game system.

working method

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For Krösche, the work team is fundamental. He creates it wherever he goes, blindly trusting his men. He controls everything and has the final say, but he has men scattered all over the world. Axel Hellmann, a member of the Eintracht board of directors, describes him this way: “One of his great strengths is that he recognizes the abilities of others, otherwise things wouldn’t work so well.” Krösche himself described himself very clearly: “With us each staff member has his own clearly defined area of ​​movement. Everyone has responsibilities and decisions to make. I don’t believe in large discussion groups in which decisions that arise within sports management are addressed again at a higher level.” This is also one of the reasons why he rejected offers from Liverpool and Tottenham in the past: in England the manager often has more power than the management.

model

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Krösche has shown that he is not afraid of even some sensational rejections. In 2022, after his Eintracht had won the Europa League, Cristiano Ronaldo knocked on his door, wanting to relaunch himself following the negative experience at Manchester United. It was he who revealed the background: “Ronaldo’s agents presented us with a business plan, but I didn’t even read it – he stated -. We immediately understood that it didn’t make sense for us. I spoke about it with Fabio Paratici who explained to me how much Ronaldo changes a club. There is so much media attention around him that you have to book different hotels to try to isolate yourself. Ronaldo would have been too much for us”. He spoke in the plural, because the last word was his, but the decision belonged to everyone, including Hardung. In recent months, Lothar Matthäus has even taken the corporate structure of Eintracht as an example even more than that of Bayern Munich: “Working in Bavaria is difficult – he explained -. Many people interfere. When I think of Markus Krösche, I don’t think he is the only one who makes decisions, but he manages everything calmly. Eberl on the other hand always has the guidelines provided by Uli Hoeness, Jan-Christian Dreesen and perhaps also by Vincent Kompany. Sports director Christoph Freund is also involved.”

hardung

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However, Hardung’s career is also significant. At 33 he was already sporting director of an important and high-level club like Eintracht. “I’ve never had problems being recognized in my role by players, agents or managers of other teams – he explained -. In fact, I’ve been in football for many years, I grew up before I got to cover a role like this.” They describe him as humble and calm, capable of convincing clubs and players. “The important thing is to hit the right buttons. We need to show opportunities and prospects. Both to the companies that sell and to the players that we intend to buy.” He didn’t expect Krösche’s call to Eintracht (“For me it was an exceptional opportunity, in a historic club”), but he earned every position with work. Now, the move as a couple to Milan seems almost obvious. “Timmo has an excellent network of contacts both within Germany and beyond, he knows the world of football from many perspectives,” Krösche described him just a few months ago. For the two it is important to always convey the meaning of the club they represent: “Working for Eintracht is not like being at Hoffenheim – anyone who represents this club must know the history and meaning of this crest.” And with Milan they would take another step forward…