Alexander Rosen: "Niklas is staying!"

Does a Bundesliga director of football ever get time for a summer holiday?

Alexander Rosen: There is always something on my desk, but it’s not any better or worse than it is for my colleagues. For us, it is about working on the profile of our team and the squad structure as well as implementing our plans for next season. Eventually your family has to come to the fore though and you need to recharge your batteries. It isn’t a burden though, in fact I am enjoying that we are planning for a ninth consecutive year in the Bundesliga.

Even though you only had the security to plan late on in the season, you have already been able to sign two new players, Benjamin Hübner from FC Ingolstadt and Marco Terrazzino from Bochum. Furthermore, you have tied Andrej Kramaric down from English champions Leicester on a deal that will run until 2020. Are you happy with how the transfer window has gone so far?

Rosen: Everything is going to plan at the moment. In Benjamin Hübner and Marco Terrazzino, we have got two players early who will fit into our team very well. It was very important to get Andrej to put pen to paper and we are extremely happy it has happened. He is an outstanding player who played a large part in our great second half to the season that allowed us to secure safety. Andrej integrated himself quickly into the team on and off the pitch and quickly became a fan favourite. All in all, things are looking good but we will continue to work intensively on the squad. I am sure that more things will be happening.

TSG have said goodbye to Kevin Kuranyi, Jens Grahl, Robi Strobl, Kai Herdling as well as Kevin Volland – are they not big losses?

Rosen: It was clear to everyone that the time had come for us to let Kevin go. Kevin has played amazingly here and perhaps stayed longer than many people expected him to. However, just as the case was with Roberto Firmino, his transfer was one of the biggest in the Bundesliga’s history. We have to accept that there are clubs out there that can give give players a different perspective on the game both financially and from a sporting point of view. All the fans, who are interested and sympathise with TSG, must understand that TSG’s strategy is to develop players before one day selling them on for a fee, to keep the business side of the club running at a good level.

More TSG players are attracting interest from other clubs – above all Niklas Süle. He has been currently linked with Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen or Liverpool. Could you give us a glimpse behind the scenes – what will happen with Niklas in the summer?

Rosen: Obviously, a number of top clubs will be attracted to players who are such a high quality at his age. Niklas will quite probably want to accept one of these offers when the time is right. However, that time hasn’t come yet. Niklas has made it clear that he would like to still be playing for Hoffenheim next season and we definitely don’t want to let him go. As the signals are very clear from both sides, I can tell the fans this with confidence: Niklas is staying!