After a player still on Leeds United’s roster received an unexpected call-up to his country for Euro 2024—his last cap was from 2021—Pascal Struijk has responded.
Despite Victor Orta’s inclusion of stipulations that permitted several stars to depart on loan without Leeds being able to refuse it, Leeds still has a number of senior players on the books but not in the Elland Road building.
Max Wober, Robin Koch, Brenden Aaronson, and Rasmus Kristensen moved to Germany, while Diego Llorente and Max Wober went to Roma. Luis Sinisterra and Jack Harrison were able to rejoin the Premier League.
Since those loans were arranged last summer, Marc Roca returned to Spain with Real Betis, and Koch and Sinisterra have agreed to permanent deals to their respective loan sides in Frankfurt and Bournemouth.
With 41 games played and goals scored for Frankfurt, Koch has been in incredible form both in Germany and in Europe. Despite just being on loan, the defender has even led Frankfurt on three occasions as captain.
An statement involving the central defender was made on Tuesday. He has decided to go permanently until the summer of 2028, when his contract at Elland Road expires.
Germany includes Robin Koch The national squad for the 2024 European Championship
Even though Koch was not utilized against The Netherlands or France in March, reports in Germany had verified that he would be included in Germany’s Euro 2024 roster.
Koch received his final cap in 2021 while playing for Leeds, however he was demoted due to a lack of play and injuries. But Koch is back in the Germany team following an outstanding season at Frankfurt.
Germany has revealed on Koch’s Instagram that Manuel Neuer, Jonathan Tah, and Max Mittelstadt will be in the team. The defender himself then expressed his happiness on Instagram.
“Huge anticipation and incredibly proud to be in the squad at our home European Championship!” was the caption he posted. I’ll give it my all! Let’s get started!
Numbers from Koch’s three years at Leeds and Struijk’s response
After Marcelo Bielsa led The Whites to promotion from The Championship and a 16-year wait for Premier League football at Elland Road, Koch left Freiburg to join Leeds for £11.5 million in the summer.
However, he only made 77 appearances for Leeds over the course of three seasons, with just 17 coming in his rookie year because of hip surgery. In his second season, he only made 21 appearances due to more injury concerns.
His greatest season was the year Leeds were relegated; he played 39 times, more than in any of his first two seasons at Leeds. In an Instagram post, Pascal Struijk congratulated Koch on his call-up.
