Ansgar Knauff (born 10 January 2002) is a German footballer who plays as a right winger for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt.[2]
Knauff playing for Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022
| |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ansgar Knauff | ||
| Date of birth | (2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 22) | ||
| Place of birth | Göttingen, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Eintracht Frankfurt | ||
| Number | 36 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2015 | SVG Göttingen | ||
| 2015–2016 | Hannover 96 | ||
| 2016–2020 | Borussia Dortmund | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020 | Borussia Dortmund II | 36 | (10) |
| 2020–2023 | Borussia Dortmund | 9 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | → Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 36 | (2) |
| 2023– | Eintracht Frankfurt | 31 | (7) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2020 | Germany U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2021– | Germany U20 | 3 | (0) |
| 2021– | Germany U21 | 16 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:19, 21 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:31, 26 March 2024 (UTC) | |||
Knauff was born in Göttingen to a German mother and Ghanaian father, but raised by his single mother.[3][4]
He began his youth career at hometown club SVG Göttingen, before joining Hannover 96's youth academy in 2015.[5] A year later, he joined the Borussia Dortmund youth team, in which he played in the 2019–20 UEFA Youth League. In September 2020, he made his debut for Borussia Dortmund II in the fourth division of German football. During the 2020–21 Regionalliga West season, he appeared in 28 games for Dortmund II, scoring 9 goals.[6]
Knauff signed his first professional contract with Borussia Dortmund on 25 November 2020, lasting until 2023.[7] He made his first team debut on 8 December, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute for Thorgan Hazard in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League match against Zenit Saint Petersburg.[8] The away match finished as a 2–1 win for Dortmund.[9] On 20 March 2021, he made his first appearance in the Bundesliga, coming on for Thomas Meunier in the 80th minute and providing the assist for a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw against Köln.[10] He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 10 April, scoring the winning goal in a 3–2 victory against VfB Stuttgart.[11]
On 20 January 2022, Knauff joined Eintracht Frankfurt on an eighteen-month loan deal.[12] Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund's head of playing department, explained the move by stating that "He approached us to state his wish to get more playing time on loan. We would like to offer him this chance to continue his development at a high level."[13] Knauff scored his first goal for Eintracht on 5 March in a 4–1 victory against Hertha BSC.[14] In the knockout phase of the Europa League campaign, he was an undisputed starter, did not miss a single minute of playing time, and scored important goals against FC Barcelona in the quarter-final and West Ham in the semifinal.[6] On 18 May 2022, he appeared as a starting player in the 2022 UEFA Europa League Final against Rangers and won the Europa League trophy with his club after the penalty shoot-out.[15] For his performance during the 2021–22 Europa League season, Knauff was awarded the Young Player of the Season award by UEFA.[16] On 9 June 2023, he permanently moved to Frankfurt.[17]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Borussia Dortmund II | 2020–21 | Regionalliga West | 28 | 9 | — | — | — | 28 | 9 | |||
| 2021–22 | 3. Liga | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 36 | 10 | — | — | — | 36 | 10 | |||||
| Borussia Dortmund | 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 4 | 1 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2021–22 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 12 | 1 | — | 7[b] | 2 | — | 19 | 3 | ||
| 2022–23 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6[a] | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 2023–24 | 31 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 8[d] | 0 | — | 40 | 8 | ||
| Total | 67 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 92 | 12 | ||
| Career total | 112 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 144 | 23 | ||
Borussia Dortmund
Eintracht Frankfurt
Individual
