Eintracht Frankfurt's Coaching Search: The Return of Jaissle and Hütter
Eintracht Frankfurt’s search for a new head coach has circled back to a familiar name and an old regret.
At the centre of it all stands Markus Krösche, the sporting director who openly admits he lost his way this season.
Krösche’s Red Bull connection – and the one that got away
Krösche and Matthias Jaissle know each other from the same football laboratory. Krösche helped shape RB Leipzig’s rise; Jaissle cut his teeth in the Red Bull system at RB Salzburg. Their paths never quite crossed at club level, but the idea has been alive for a while.
Twice, Krösche tried to bring Jaissle to Frankfurt. First in the summer of 2023, when Oliver Glasner walked away after leading Eintracht to a European title. Then again during the winter break, when the season already felt like it was slipping. Both times the move fell through.
The consequence was a gamble. With Dino Toppmöller gone, Eintracht turned to Albert Riera.
The Riera misstep
Riera arrived with a reputation for strong ideas and strong personality. Inside the club, he quickly picked up a different label: “difficult to manage.” He clashed with key players. He clashed with the media. The results never came to paper over the cracks.
Four wins from 14 matches. That was it.
Krösche did not hide behind the numbers. At the end-of-season press conference, he called the appointment “my mistake. My misjudgement.” He admitted he had placed Riera in a situation where the Spaniard “had little chance of success” and accepted the blame for missing out on European qualification.
The most striking part? He confessed he had ignored his own rulebook.
“The key rule I brushed aside is simple: if you have to replace a manager mid-season, don’t bring in someone who doesn’t know the league or have top-flight experience.” He did it anyway. Why? Because of a feeling. A conviction so strong he overrode his own caution.
Eintracht paid the price.
A different landscape, a familiar target
Now the season is winding down and the picture looks different. This is not a panicked winter rescue job. This is a reset.
Jaissle, this time, fits the timing and the profile. He knows the Bundesliga, at least from his playing days at TSG Hoffenheim. More importantly, he fits the template Eintracht have quietly drawn up for their next coach.
According to Sport1, Frankfurt want a German-speaking manager who can restore the high-intensity football that once made the Waldstadion a cauldron. Someone who can get the crowd on its feet again, not just with results, but with the way the team plays. Jaissle, with his Red Bull schooling and aggressive style, ticks that box.
He also arrives with fresh success. At Al-Ahli, he has just lifted the Asian Champions League for the second time and remains under contract until 2027. That normally means a heavy compensation fee, a stumbling block for many Bundesliga clubs.
Yet Jaissle has signalled a willingness to bend. Reports say he is prepared to accept a significant pay cut from his current 15 million euros salary if an ambitious Bundesliga or Premier League club comes calling. For a coach in his position, that is a clear message: the project matters more than the pay packet.
Eintracht have already made contact.
Hütter in the frame again
Jaissle is not the only serious candidate. Adi Hütter’s name has returned to the conversation in Frankfurt, and not just out of nostalgia.
Hütter knows the club, the stadium, the expectations. Under him, Eintracht played with a ferocious blend of pressing, counter-attacking and controlled possession that carried them into Europe and lit up Thursday nights. That memory still lingers among supporters and decision-makers alike.
He also fits the current brief. Krösche has laid it out clearly: the new coach must have a “clear vision” of “how he wants to play football.” Eintracht, he insists, must rediscover “a certain intensity” – a mix of fast transitions and structured possession – because only by mastering both can they regularly compete for European places.
Hütter knows that balance. And unlike Jaissle, he would not cost a cent in compensation. The Austrian has been out of work since leaving AS Monaco in October last year, which makes any deal cleaner and quicker to close.
Decision time in Frankfurt
Krösche has not tried to hide the urgency. “We are in talks. We want to find a solution soon,” he said recently when asked about the coaching search.
According to Bild, Eintracht Frankfurt want the matter settled as early as next week. That timeline underlines the club’s determination not to drift into another summer of uncertainty.
This time, Krösche cannot afford to ignore his own rules. The next appointment will define whether Eintracht return to the European stage or slide into the Bundesliga’s crowded middle. And with Jaissle and Hütter on the shortlist, the question is no longer whether the right profile exists.
It is which vision of Eintracht’s future Krösche dares to back.
