Mainz 05: Jonathan Burkardt celebrates his Bundesliga comeback after a year

Mainz homegrown

When Jonathan Burkardt hugged his girlfriend and family in the guest curve, a few tears were shed. The 23-year-old striker made a moving comeback on Sunday in FSV Mainz 05’s 1-1 draw with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – after a year out due to injury. “It was amazing. Standing here again with the team. It’s been such a long road. And I’m just happy that I was able to be there again,” he said with moist eyes in the DAZN interview.

The FSV fans celebrated their Jonny Burkardt in the Sinsheim stadium with loud chants. The former captain of the German U21 team had two operations on his left knee due to bone marrow edema and was sorely missed by Mainz for a long time. Burkardt played his last game in the Bundesliga to date on November 13, 2022 in the derby against Eintracht Frankfurt.

He admitted that he had doubts at times as to whether he would make it back into the professional business: “When you’re away for so long, you think about where it’s going to lead.” Over the last few months, Burkardt’s market value has fallen from its original level 17 to 7 million euros, making him the second most valuable homegrown product from Mainz behind Leandro Barreiro (23).

The attacker made a lively impression during his comeback and played a part in the “Zero Fives” pushing for the winning goal in the final phase. “My feeling was that he would get a cross pass today and decide it. Of course that would have been a complete affair,” said Mainz interim coach Jan Siewert, who replaced Burkardt after a good 70 minutes, in the press conference. Sports director Martin Schmidt was also very happy about the talent’s return: “You could see that the boy can kick and gamble really well.”

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