Elversberg’s high flyers
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When it came to signing Younes Ebnoutalib (22), SV Elversberg had a golden touch with sports director Nils-Ole Book. Numerous Bundesliga clubs are now said to be interested in the young striker, who played regional league football last season. With his hat trick on Sunday in the 6-0 win against Fürth, the Frankfurt native increased his goal percentage to a value that only two players in the history of the second division could surpass at that time.
Thanks to a stable defense with only six goals conceded, coupled with the best offense in the league, the SVE worked its way to the top of the 2nd Bundesliga table in the first quarter of the season. The face of the success rate in front of the opponent’s goal – the Elversbergers have already taken shots 22 times – is that of Ebnoutalib. With nine goals after the first nine matchdays, he scored more than 40 percent of all the Saarlanders’ goals.
In the history of the single-track 2nd Bundesliga (from 1981/82) at this point in the season, only two other players had scored more often than Ebnoutalib; Manfred Burgsmüller scored his tenth goal for Oberhausen on the 9th matchday of the 1984/85 season, and Simon Terodde had already scored eleven goals after nine matchdays at FC Schalke in 2021/22, and previously at 1. FC Köln in 2018/19, even twelve goals by this point (for statistics: top scorer by matchday).
When the 2nd Bundesliga was still divided into North and South tiers, Emanuel Günther (Karlsruher SC, 10 goals), Horst Neumann (Darmstadt, 10), Dieter Schatzschneider (Hannover, 11), Frank Mill (RW Essen, 12) also scored ten or more goals on the first nine match days. In 1977/78, Horst Hrubesch even scored the historic high of 16 goals in the lower house in the Essen jersey on matchday 9. Should Ebnoutalib also score on the tenth matchday, he would be one of only seven players in the history of the single-track 2nd Bundesliga to have already scored a double-digit number of goals at that point.
Elversberg coach Wagner wanted Ebnoutlalib for Hoffenheim
“He stands where a nine should stand,” SVE coach Vincent Wagner recently commented on the strong performances of Ebnoutalib, who the Elversbergers brought from FC Gießen in January for just 100,000 euros and who was able to contribute a brace twice and now a hat-trick this season. In the October update almost two weeks ago, its market value had increased by 900 percent to 1.5 million euros. According to the “Bild” newspaper, “half the Bundesliga” should be concerned with the striker. His club would already have a price tag of 6 million euros in mind. Ebnoutalib’s contract with SVE is valid until 2028.
“He came here very humble and down-to-earth,” sports boss Book was quoted as saying about Ebnoutalib by “Kicker”. “Sure, up to that point in his career he hadn’t had the big clubs, nor the glorious stations, and his Italy project didn’t go well either, that was a really tough school for him.” Ebnoutalib, who had previously played in Rot-Weiss Frankfurt’s youth ranks, moved to AC Perugia in 2022. He was unable to assert himself there among the professionals. He went to Giessen.
“We were there very early on in his first appearances in the regional league for Giessen and watched him in almost every game,” explained Book. Meanwhile, SVE coach Wagner said that Ebnoutalib’s path could have also led to TSG Hoffenheim. “We played with Hoffenheim II against Giessen,” said the former TSG youth coach, “and we actually wanted to get him.”
Instead, SV Elversberg can look forward to Ebnoutalib’s breakthrough. “He has a very rare mix of physical and football skills,” summarized official Book. “He’s very tall, very fast, can run a lot, but can also dribble and finish at the same time, that’s just a very rare combination that makes him extremely attractive.”