Captain at the U21 -European

While others make the big headlines, Eric Martel pulls the threads rather inconspicuously: the U21 captain convinces with duel strength, mileage and leadership qualities – not only at the European Championship, but also in Cologne.

Eric Martel still has the best memories of how today’s national coach Julian Nagelsmann helped him to make a professional debut. “He looks back and says: Eric, come on, get ready,” says Martel in an interview with the ARD afternoon magazine about Nagelsmann, then coach of RB Leipzig. That was in 2020, Martel was substituted in the DFB Cup-just 18-year-old. “I still had a long pants, but I didn’t get them out because they were so tight. Then I torn my pants on the bottom and quickly got out.”

For Martel, the substitution was an “incredible experience” at the time, even if he only played for two minutes. Today, almost five years later, Martel experiences completely different: As U21 captain, he leads a previously convincing team through the European Championship in Slovakia. In addition, Martel is in the 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga climbed. At the age of 23, Martel has experienced the best phase of his career so far.

U21: Martel in the shadow of the strong offensive

While the headlines are determined by others these days – especially striker Nick Woltemade draws the threads with his goals and the striking style of play – Martel pulls the threads in the middle of the DFB team. Martel has already played 26 games for the U21, no other in the squad can have more missions. Coach Antonio di Salvo relies on the 1.88-meter man like hardly anyone.

“We know his leader skills on the pitch and know that he is a player who gives everything. It is important to have players who are hungry and that the team can also pass on,” di Salvo said in March about Martel. “For me, he is an important contact person who connects team parts.”

Words that show what Martel distinguishes: will to win, duel strength and team spirit. Of course, the native of Straubinger knows how to convince football. But Martel is not one who dances out in turn, with surgical precision à la Toni Kroos distributed the balls or makes the spectators murmur with fine ball assumptions. “He is a leader, so he is also captain,” says DFB sports director Rudi Völler simply and aptly.

Martel’s outstanding statistics at 1. FC Köln

Martel also impressively demonstrated his duel and running strength last season at the 1st FC Köln. Martel won the second most duels, with an average of 58 % direct duels won an excellent quota with an average of 58 %. In addition, Martel ran most kilometers for the Cologne, only eleven players ran throughout the second division.

On the other hand, Martel is rarely noticeable on the offensive. In 31 second division games, the central midfielder only scored three times and could not prepare a single goal. Clear: As a “six”, it is not Martel’s primary task to play out or even use goal finishes, and yet Martel has potential for improvement here. At the “promotion final” against Kaiserslautern, Martel demonstrated that he knows where the gate is standing when he scored the eminently important leadership. Martel also recently moved into the penalty area in the 4: 2 of the U21 against the Czech Republic and scored dryly for the meantime 4: 0.

Does the FC threaten Martels from the FC?

Whether goals or not – it is clear that the Cologne residents would like to keep their top performer. However, Martel goes into his last contract year – a scenario in which the talent leaves FC free of charge, those responsible for sports director Thomas Kessler urgently want to avoid. And then there is also a consultant Michael Reschke, who avoids a clear commitment to FC. “We will definitely sit down with the Cologne team when the U21 European Championship is over,” Reschke told Sky in the run-up to the tournament. There are “no concrete exchange intentions”, but you just want to “wait and see what the next few weeks will bring.”

So if he plays into the shop window at the U21 and make financially strong clubs aware of, it seems that you are not fundamentally averse to dealing with the offers in the Martel warehouse. Martel’s negotiation position improves the fact that Martel and his team already had the quarter -finals after two clear victories.

“I am very proud of the team that we achieved this early,” said Martel at Ran after the victory over the Czech Republic. “I think we can celebrate a little now.” Celebrate? Even before the final group game against England (Wednesday, 9 p.m. in the Sportschau-Live ticker)? “No, it wasn’t meant that way, maybe a little bit. We don’t open a beer now. Not yet,” Colored Martel grinning.

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