Things are only going “stupidly” for Dinkci
Incredible: Heidenheim is very close to the European Cup
May 20, 2024, 7:44 a.m
The remarkable newcomer 1. FC Heidenheim can dream of the European Cup. If Bayer Leverkusen wins the DFB Cup, the village club’s next fairy tale will be perfect. A player, of all people, who denied his new club this chance, played a part in this.
Eren Dinkci had a “laughing eye and a crying eye”. Which was and is all too understandable. With his two goals against 1. FC Köln (4:1), the Bremen native made a significant contribution to ensuring that 1. FC Heidenheim can dream of the Conference League on the last match day. The reality for the best-placed newcomer in six years will arise if champions Bayer Leverkusen, who are still unbeaten this season, win the DFB Cup against second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern. So far, so beautiful.
The 22-year-old Dinkci, however, will not play in Europe next season: He is moving to SC Freiburg, which missed out on eighth place due to its bitter last-minute defeat at Union Berlin (1:2) and behind Heidenheim due to the worse goal difference and Werder Bremen fell back to tenth place. “Well,” said Dinkci, “that just turned out a bit stupid.” For him personally, for Freiburg and also: for Bremen. From there he was loaned to Heidenheim.
The first “star” leaves the club
Dinkci’s departure had been certain for a long time, and the huge celebration that erupted when he was substituted against 1. FC Köln showed the appreciation that he still enjoyed on the Ostalb. Now he is the first “star” to leave, and CEO Holger Sanwald, the architect of this miraculous success together with trainer Frank Schmidt, fears that it won’t stay that way. He admitted that he was “very worried” that other players would also arouse “desire”.
Jan-Niklas Beste, the scorer of the 4-1 win on Saturday, may have aroused interest from other clubs, such as Lennard Maloney (contract until 2025) or center forward Tim Kleindienst (contract until 2027). With a reasonable transfer fee, the Heidenheimers would probably have to become weak and let their top performers go. Since January, Sanwald has also been fighting in vain to extend the expiring contract of Kevin Sessa, goalscorer in the final games against Freiburg (1-1) and Cologne. There are at least good signals from Beste: “I’ll be honest, I haven’t spoken to other clubs yet. I’m not just saying that either. I’m happy to be going on holiday now, and I still have one one year contract.”
“It’s been a year now, it’s crazy”
The man who was called up for the national team for the first time a few weeks ago but had to decline cannot yet understand the little miracle from the Ostalb. “We haven’t really realized that yet, it needs a few days of distance, a few days of rest,” said Beste. “It’s been a year now, it’s crazy.”
The Heidenheimers do not want to deviate from their sporting concept and their economically sound path. They trust in Schmidt’s proven quality to make the almost nameless entrances better, and they also want to invest in stones: in 2026, Sanwald hopes, the club’s own stadium on the Schlossberg will offer 10,000 more seats than before, i.e. 25,000. But first, Beste emphasized, the Heidenheimers will look to Berlin on Saturday. “Maybe it will actually work.”