| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robin Leon Koch[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1996-07-17)17 July 1996 (age 28) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kaiserslautern, Germany | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[2] | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back,defensive midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Eintracht Frankfurt | |||||||||||||
| Number | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2009 | SV Dörbach | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2014 | Eintracht Trier | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Eintracht Trier II | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Eintracht Trier | 23 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern II | 27 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 27 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | SC Freiburg | 82 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | Leeds United | 73 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | →Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 31 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2024– | Eintracht Frankfurt | 22 | (1) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Germany U21 | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2019– | Germany | 12 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:53, 16 March 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:05, 21 November 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Robin Leon Koch (German pronunciation:[ˈʁɔbɪnˈkɔx];[3][4] born 17 July 1996) is a German professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back ordefensive midfielder forBundesliga clubEintracht Frankfurt and theGermany national team.[5]
Koch made his first-team debut for1. FC Kaiserslautern after graduated from the club's youth system and also played inBundesliga withSC Freiburg. He has previously played forEintracht Trier II,Eintracht Trier,1. FC Kaiserslautern II, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SC Freiburg. He was included in theGermany U21 team before joining the first-team in November 2019. In August 2020, he signed forLeeds United ahead of theirPremier League return and in 2021,represented Germany atUEFA Euro 2020.
Koch was born inKaiserslautern and joined1. FC Kaiserslautern's academy at the age of five, but switched to SV Dörbach when his family moved toSalmtal.[6] He joinedEintracht Trier's academy in 2009,[7] and despite the fact that "he was never seen as a superstar talent" according to his childhood best friend, he was invited to regional trials by theGerman Football Association in 2011.[6] He was promoted to Trier's first team in 2014,[8] and made his debut on 22 September 2014 in a 0–0 draw withTuS Koblenz.[5] He scored his first senior goal on 22 November 2014 in a 4–2 victory overSpVgg Neckarelz; A low shot in the 25th minute to put Eintracht Trier 1–0 up.[5][9] He appeared in 23 league matches for Eintracht Trier across the 2014–15 season, scoring two goals,[10] whilst he also appeared 6 times for their reserve side.
In 2015, Koch moved to1. FC Kaiserslautern, initially joining theirreserve side.[11] Though he was the son of Kaiserslautern legendHarry Koch, he "tried hard not to live on his father's reputation", living an "unglamorous lifestyle" and "staying off the grid" at Kaiserslautern.[8] He scored once in 26 appearances for Kaiserslautern's reserves in the 2015–16 season.[12] Koch signed his first professional contract with the club in September 2016, with the contract lasting until the summer of 2019.[13] His debut for Kaiserslautern came on 2 October 2016, starting in a 0–0 draw againstArminia Bielefeld in the2. Bundesliga.[14][15] He made 24 appearances for Kaiserslautern during the 2016–17 season,[16] and attracted the interest of multiple Bundesliga clubs according to his father Harry.[17]
On 22 August 2017, Koch moved toBundesliga sideSC Freiburg. The transfer fee paid to Kaiserslautern was reported as €3.5 million.[18] He made his Bundesliga debut for Freiburg on 22 October 2017 againstHertha Berlin in a 1–1 draw.[5] He scored his first goal for the club on 13 January 2018 in a 1–1 draw againstEintracht Frankfurt.[19]
On 29 August 2020, Koch joined newly-promotedPremier League clubLeeds United on a four-year deal,[20][21] for a transfer fee that was reported to be £13 million.[22] He was signed as a replacement for former loaneeBen White, who was deemed to be too expensive to sign permanently.[8] Koch made hisPremier League debut for Leeds in the first match of the season againstLiverpool on 12 September 2020, starting in the 3–4 defeat atAnfield to the reigning champions.[23][24] Koch was described as having a 'rough debut',[23] having given away the penalty resulting in Liverpool's first goal despite the fact that the ball deflected off his thigh, before failing to markVirgil van Dijk for Liverpool's second.[24] Koch was substituted in the ninth minute of a 3–1 defeat toChelsea on 5 December after a recurrence of a knee injury suffered in the opening game of the season, and subsequently underwent knee surgery.[25][26] He made his return to the first team as a late substitute againstFulham on 19 March 2021.[27] Following the appointment ofJesse Marsch as manager at Leeds, and a switch to zonal marking,[28] Koch appeared to take a step up in his game and became a regular starter in central defence towards the end of the 2021–22 season and into 2022–23.
On 6 July 2023, Koch joinedEintracht Frankfurt on loan for the2023–24 season.[29] Later that year, on 21 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 victory overAberdeen in theConference League.[30] On 9 January 2024, Koch agreed to join Eintracht Frankfurt on a permanent contract at the end of his loan spell, signing a contract until June 2027.[31]
Having been called up toGermany's under-21 squad in October 2018,[32] Koch was part of theGermany U21's squad who finished runner up at the2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after losing the final to Spain in June 2019.[33]
Koch received his first call-up to theGerman senior squad in October 2019.[34] He debuted the same year on 9 October in afriendly match againstArgentina, playing the whole match.[35] His competitive debut occurred on 16 November, starting in the 4–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier victory againstBelarus.[36]
Koch was called up to theGermany squad on 26 August 2020 for theUEFA Nations League fixtures againstSpain andSwitzerland.[37] On 19 May 2021, he was selected to the squad for theUEFA Euro 2020.[38] On 7 June 2024, he was named in Germany's squad forUEFA Euro 2024.[39]
Koch plays mainly as acentre-back, but can also play as adefensive midfielder or as acentral midfielder.[40][41] He is described as a ball playing centre-back and his style of play has been compared to that ofJavi Martínez.[42]
He is the son of former professional footballerHarry Koch.[18] His younger brother Louis plays forSV Alsenborn.[8]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Eintracht Trier | 2014–15[43] | Regionalliga Südwest | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 2 | ||
| Eintracht Trier II | 2014–15 | Rheinlandliga | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 2015–16[43] | 2. Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17[43] | 2. Bundesliga | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18[43] | 2. Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||||
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern II | 2015–16[43] | Regionalliga Südwest | 24 | 1 | — | — | — | 24 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17[43] | Regionalliga Südwest | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||||
| SC Freiburg | 2017–18[43] | Bundesliga | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19[43] | Bundesliga | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20[43] | Bundesliga | 32 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 2 | |||
| Total | 82 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 87 | 5 | ||||
| Leeds United | 2020–21[44] | Premier League | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[45] | Premier League | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23[46] | Premier League | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | ||
| Total | 73 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 77 | 0 | |||
| Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) | 2023–24[c][43] | Bundesliga | 31 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 8[d] | 2 | 42 | 4 | |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 8[e] | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| Total | 53 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | 16 | 2 | 75 | 5 | |||
| Career total | 291 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 325 | 13 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2019 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | |
Germany U21
Germany squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
