With the clear goal of giving home-grown Ansgar Knauff more match practice, BVB agreed to a 1.5-year loan deal with Eintracht Frankfurt in winter. The first impressions of the offensive talent are very promising, but SGE trainer Oliver Glasner expects even more from his new protégé.
Normally, heading the ball is not one of the strengths of a 1.80 meter tall winger. But the perfect jumping technique that Ansgar Knauff demonstrated in the 17th minute of the Bundesliga game between Hertha BSC and Eintracht Frankfurt should have made even experienced center forwards jealous.
With his remarkable goal after a cross from Filip Kostic, Knauff initiated Eintracht’s convincing 4-1 (1-0) victory in Berlin last Saturday.
The moments after his goal made it clear how much the 20-year-old must have longed for a personal sense of achievement: the junior national player sprinted with outstretched arms and finally slid towards the corner flag with shouts of joy.
“It feels great, it was a great game for the entire team, I’m incredibly happy about my first goal,” he beamed in an interview with “ARD” after the end of the game.
It was a first exclamation point for the highly talented youngster who wants to establish himself in Frankfurt and recommend him for higher tasks. Or rather: For a second chance at Borussia Dortmund.
Knauff is self-critical with a messed-up first series at BVB
Knauff only left BVB in January and joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan. With the Hessians, the speed dribbler hoped for more time at a high level.
In a recent interview, the native of Göttingen revealed why he fell a little behind in the first series in Dortmund.
“It was certainly not the fault of the coach,” Knauff clarified in an interview with the “Frankfurter Rundschau” not to blame Marco Rose: “BVB has a top squad with top players. It’s always difficult in this big, to get a lot of playing time with a broad squad.”
He was only allowed to play five times for Borussia in the Bundesliga before the winter break – always as a joker and never for more than 45 minutes. Not enough for Knauff, who was one of the shooting stars in Dortmund last spring.
When the SGE managers found out about the tricky situation of the talent, they did not hesitate and made a change of air palatable for both the player and his parent club. A rental fee of 400,000 euros was agreed.
All sides were hoping for a win-win-win situation – Knauff for more playing time, Frankfurt for new offensive momentum and BVB for the further development of their unpolished diamond in the rough. Lo and behold: the first few weeks were very promising.
Glasner’s plan at Knauff works
It was initially extremely important to Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner not to raise expectations of the new winter signing too high.
“Of course Ansgar now has one or two things that are different because we play with a back three,” the Austrian warned of possible adjustment problems back in February.
Of course, it has not escaped the trainer since then that Knauff has become bolder from week to week – with the preliminary highlight in Berlin when he worked tirelessly on the right flank.
Ansgar Knauff (left) scored against Hertha for the first time
That’s exactly what Glasner had asked of him. “We want him to use his strengths. His pace, his depth, which he can bring into play. He’s a strong runner and attacks the spaces behind the chain,” the coach listed Knauff’s most striking qualities.
Glasner was apparently spot on with his plan, which envisaged carefully introducing the right foot to the starting XI. Knauff seems to have arrived in Frankfurt and to be able to give new impetus to the team, which has not always been effective recently. A development that is well received in Dortmund.
BVB loan Knauff at Eintracht Frankfurt already bearers of hope
Before the round of 16 first leg in the Europa League on Wednesday evening, Knauff has already become one of Frankfurt’s hopes. Against Betis Sevilla (from 6:45 p.m. in the LIVE ticker and on RTL +) he again beckons a place in the starting line-up.
In any case, Knauff has not regretted his decision to embark on a new adventure. The 20-year-old never saw the move to SGE as a step backwards.
He recently said about possible differences in quality between his old and his new teammates: “I wouldn’t say that Eintracht is the weaker team. The level is top, that doesn’t take much.”
Strong words that prove: Knauff sees Eintracht Frankfurt not only as a career springboard, the U21 national player is really into the club. In this way, the desired win-win-win situation can actually become something.
Heiko Lütkehus