The most loyal team in the Bundesliga

The football business has become fast moving, including in the Bundesliga. It is not uncommon for a professional to have a double-digit number of clubs at the end of his career. But there are also counterexamples in which the players remain loyal to their club for a long time.

In dating, the word “loyalty” is certainly one of the most popular answers when the other person is asked about the values ​​in a relationship. In the Bundesliga, however, loyalty is one of those things. At FC Bayern Munich, the average professional spends 1,365 days at the club, but at VfB Stuttgart only 511 days. There is a wide gap between the idea of ​​club loyalty. fussball.news has put together a starting eleven of the most loyal Bundesliga players in terms of club membership as professional players. Of course, a coach shouldn’t be missing either.

Goal: Timo Horn (1.FC Köln)

The 27-year-old goalkeeper Timo Horn is an institution at 1. FC Köln. The former U21 international has been with the Rhinelanders since 2002, and has been a professional since 2011. The goalkeeper is now even the captain of Cologne and has been in the box 167 times in the Bundesliga.

External defense: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Werder Bremen) & Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund)

Two oldies can be found on the outside lanes. Theodor Gebre Selassie moved from Slovan Liberec to Werder Bremen in 2012, playing 274 competitive games (21 goals, 17 assists) for the North Germans. The 34-year-old right-back’s contract, like Marcel Schmelzer’s, expires in 2021. Borussia Dortmund’s left-back is the longest-serving professional in the Bundesliga. No other player was in the professional squad (twelve and a half years) of a club as long as the 32-year-old. In 2005 he moved from Magdeburg to Borussia, was in the meantime captain and played 367 competitive games.

Central defense: Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen) & Tony Jantschke (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Born in Bavaria, Lars Bender moved from TSV 1860 Munich to Bayer Leverkusen in 2009. The defensive player is vice-captain of the Werkself and will end his career next summer with brother Sven. In addition to the 337 competitive games for Bayer, the 31-year-old could add a few more by the summer. Tony Jantschke, on the other hand, is only a reservist at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 30-year-old has been playing for Gladbach since 2006, moved from youth to professionals in 2009 and is now in second place among the longest-serving professionals in the league. The defender’s contract has just been extended to 2023, so far there have been 280 competitive games for the foals.

Defensive midfield: Nicolas Höfler (SC Freiburg) & Maximilian Arnold (VfL Wolfsburg)

Nicolas Höfler from SC Freiburg has played for the Breisgauer since 2005. Only a year on loan at Erzgebirge Aue (2011/12) interrupted the 30-year-old’s membership in the club. The midfielder turned professional in 2010 and has played 152 Bundesliga games for SC so far. Next man Maximilian Arnold turned professional at VfL Wolfsburg in January 2012. The left-footed player has been kicking for wolves since the U17s (2009). 289 competitive games for the professionals will be followed by a few more in the contract that runs until 2022.

Attacking midfield: Timothy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt) & Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich)

At Eintracht Frankfurt there has been a high turnover in the management team in recent years. This is one of the reasons why Timothy Chandler has been with the club for six and a half years and is the most loyal professional in Hessen. If you add to that the nine years that the 30-year-old winger played for Frankfurt when he was young, he is one of the most loyal professionals with a total of over 15 years in the club. Between 2010 and 2014, the American played at 1. FC Nürnberg, where he made his breakthrough in the Bundesliga. However, Thomas Müller has been in his club even longer – and continuously. The 31-year-old has been lacing his soccer shoes for FC Bayern Munich since 2000. In 2009 he became part of the professionals and is already a club legend. 557 competitive games (208 goals, 203 assists) for the German record champions and 100 full international matches for Germany speak for themselves.

Attack: Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig) & Fabian Klos (Arminia Bielefeld)

The soccer club RB Leipzig has only existed since 2009. It is quite rare for a player to actively experience more than half of the club’s history. Yussuf Poulsen can demonstrate this feat, has been under contract with the Saxons since 2013, when he moved from Lyngby to Leipzig to the 3rd division for around 1.5 million euros. The march into the Bundesliga was shaped by the 26-year-old, the youngest of the loyalty team, in 271 competitive games (70 goals, 56 assists) the Dane was on the field – and in all three German professional leagues. His neighbor Fabian Klos from Arminia Bielefeld has been under contract with Ostwestfalen since 2011 and is currently playing Bundesliga for the first time with Arminia. Klos is also the captain of Bielefeld and has played in 341 competitive games (154 goals, 67 assists) in nine and a half years.

Trainer: Christian Streich

For eight years, eleven months and 29 days, Christian Streich has been on the sidelines with the professionals at SC Freiburg. The 55-year-old has played 335 games so far. On average, he got 1.38 points. The cult trainer has been with the club for a long time, already in 1995 as a trainer in the youth department. As a player, he was only on the pitch for one season for the SC. So far, however, he has only spent his coaching career with the Freiburg team.

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