AS Monaco’s Ismail Jakobs ‘not happy’ with his situation

Little playing time in the principality

In the summer of 2021, left-back Ismail Jakobs switched from 1. FC Köln to AS Monaco for 6.5 million euros. In the Principality, the 23-year-old did not get beyond the status of a supplementary player even in his second season. With a view to the World Cup in Qatar, the U21 European champions of 2021 and newly crowned Senegal national players now spoke in a “table football“-Interview about his current situation – and revealed that a return to Germany is “an option” for him with a view to the future.

The defender has made 52 appearances in the Monegasque jersey since moving to French Ligue 1, but Jakobs only made 12 appearances over the full 90 minutes. The native of Cologne had no chance of losing Caio Henrique, who was on the defensive flank. “It’s not easy and I’m not happy about it,” Jakobs told the magazine about his sporting situation, but he doesn’t regret moving to the Monegasques.

“Sometimes you just have to take risks. And Monaco is a prominent club, has a strong team, it was clear from the start that the competition was tough. But the club and the coach are counting on me,” said Jakobs, who was also self-critical in view of the competition with the Brazilian: “Caio is doing really well. I also have to think about the team, understand the coach. I can’t do more than give everything in training – and when I’m playing.”

His working paper at AS runs until 2026, initially he wants to continue to wait patiently for his chance and still has the right to become “the number 1 left-back”. Should Henrique injure himself or change, the professional knows “that the club is behind me, that was also communicated to me. Monaco is a club that develops talent who then take it to the next step. I also play sometimes, it’s rotated.”

After changing federations, Jakobs played his first two international matches for Senegal in September and played through in the 1-1 draw against Iran. Whether national coach Aliou Cissé will consider him in his World Cup squad in November also depends on “how I play in Monaco”, the left-back is aware. When asked whether a return to Germany was under discussion if his situation in France did not improve in the medium term, Jakobs said: “You can never rule that out, it would be an option. It was always a dream to play in the Premier League. It can always happen very quickly – in both directions.”

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