Robin Koch
Robin Koch (; born 17 July 1996) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Leeds United and the Germany national team. Koch made his first-team debut for 1. FC Kaiserslautern after graduated from the club's youth system and also played in Bundesliga with SC Freiburg. He has previously played for Eintracht Trier II, Eintracht Trier, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SC Freiburg. He also represented Germany at under-21 level before joining the first team in November 2019. In August 2020, he signed for Leeds United ahead of  their Premier League return and in 2021, represented them at UEFA Euro 2020. Club career. Early career. Having played youth football with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, SV Dörbach and Eintracht Trier, Koch started his senior career at Eintracht Trier, where he made his debut on 22 September 2014 in a 0–0 draw with TuS Koblenz. He scored his first senior goal on 22 November 2014 in a 4–2 victory over SpVgg Neckarelz; A low shot in the 25th minute to put Eintracht Trier 1–0 up. He appeared in 23 league matches for Eintracht Trier across the 2014–15 season, scoring two goals , whilst he also appeared 6 times for their reserve side. 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In 2015, Koch moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern, initially joining their reserve side. Koch signed his first professional contract with the club in September 2016, with the contract lasting until the summer of 2019. His debut for Kaiserslautern came on 2 October 2016, starting in a 0–0 draw against Arminia Bielefeld. He made 27 2. Bundesliga appearances in total for his hometown club, whilst he appeared 27 times for the reserve side of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, scoring once. SC Freiburg. On 22 August 2017, Koch moved to  Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. The transfer fee paid to Kaiserslautern was reported as €3.5 million. He made his Bundesliga debut for Freiburg on 22 October 2017 against Hertha Berlin in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal for the club on 13 January 2018 in a 1–1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. Leeds United. On 29 August 2020, Koch joined Leeds United on a four-year deal, for a transfer fee that was reported to be £13 million. Koch made his Premier League debut for Leeds in the first match of the season against Liverpool on 12 September  2020, starting in the 3–4 defeat at Anfield to the reigning champions. Koch was described as having a 'rough debut', having given away the penalty resulting in Liverpool's first goal despite the fact that the ball deflected off his thigh, before failing to mark Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool's second. Koch was substituted in the ninth minute of a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea on 5 December after a recurrence of a knee injury suffered in the opening game of the season, and subsequently underwent knee surgery. He made his return to the first team as a late substitute  against Fulham on 19 March 2021. International career. Youth. Having first been called up to Germany's under-21 squad in October 2018, he was part of the Germany U21's squad who finished runner up at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after losing the final to Spain in June 2019. Senior. Koch was first called up to the Germany national football team in October 2019, and he made his debut on 9 October 2019 in a friendly against Argentina in which he started the game and played the whole match. His competitive debut for Germany came in his next  appearance for the senior national team on 16 November 2019, starting in the 4–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier victory against Belarus. He was called up to the Germany squad on 26 August 2020 for the UEFA Nations League fixtures against Spain and Switzerland. On 19 May 2021, he was selected to the squad for the UEFA Euro 2020. Style of play. Koch plays mainly as a centre-back, but can also play as a defensive midfielder or as a central midfielder. He is described as a ball playing centre back and his style of play has been compared to that  of Javi Martínez. Personal life. He is the son of former professional footballer Harry Koch. Honours. Germany U21