Primary Position– Centre-Back

Other position(s) – Defensive midfield / Left-Back / Right-Back

Last two seasons’ form – Games 56 / Goals 2 / Assists 0

Born in Kaiserslautern, Germany in 1996, Koch started out with the youth teams of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SV Dörbach before starting his senior career at Eintracht Trier in 2014/15. He was signed by 1. FC Kaiserslautern, initially featuring for their youth side. He made 24 appearances for his hometown side in the 2016/17 season and moved to SC Freiburg in August 2017 for a fee of €3.5 million. He went on to make 82 Bundesliga appearances for Freiburg over three seasons, scoring four goals. He was also capped by the German national side in August 2019 and has started two games since. Leeds have signed the German on a four year deal for a fee of £13 million, primarily to replace White who was on loan from Brighton last season.

Leeds were the best defence in the Championship last season, conceding just 35 goals and keeping 22 clean sheets. They owed a large part of their solidity to the commanding performances of centre-back Ben White who Brighton have refused to loan out again this season. Koch is highly rated in Germany but it remains to be seen if the German can replicate White’s heroics from last season. Whether Bielsa decides to slot him straight in also remains to be seen, with the Argentine traditionally giving his signings some time to bed in. However with lack of options at centre-back, the German may be thrown straight into the fray. He featured for all but two games for Freiburg last season so fitness is not an issue. 

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