Eintracht confirm new deal for "native son" Chandler
The news caught many journalists on the German Bundesliga beat by surprise as a three-year-old press release stated that Chandler was already under contract with the Rhein Main Adler through the end of next season.
Following 40-year-old Makoto Hasebe's announcement that he would be hanging up his cleats earlier this week, Eintracht Frankfurt confirmed that 34-year-old veteran Timothy Chandler would play on for another year. The announcement from Frankfurt caused some consternation amongst those covering Bundesliga football long-term. When the USMNT international last extended with the SGE, the club claimed that he had signed through the end of the 2024/25 season.
Somewhat humorously, Eintracht never bothered to correct this error. The deal Chandler signed in the spring of 2021 was actually set to expire at the end of the current 2023/24 season. Chandler's new deal thus added some laughter to the broad range across the Bundesrepublik; throughout which the German-American enjoys great popularity.
Chandler - a Frankfurt native - joined the SGE academy at the age of ten back in 2001. The versatile fullback/winger actually made his professional breakthrough with 1. FC Nürnberg some nine years later, but eventually returned to his hometown club in 2014. He has never played anywhere else since. He's made 170 competitive appearances for Eintracht over the last decade.
The son of an American G.I. and a German mother, the issue of Chandler's identity was one of the many things that rendered him an eminently likable personality among German football fans. Initially called up to the American senior men's national team by U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, Chandler initially declined further call-ups to the USMNT as he considered himself more of a German.
Former Bundestrainer Jürgen Klinsmann then convinced Chandler to return to the USMNT, on which he played during the 2014 World Cup. Klinsmann's World Cup roster that year was notable for the many German born players - Chandler, Julian Green, Jermaine Jones, John Anthony Brooks, and Fabian Johnson - it featured. All five players were of German-Afro American heritage.
Chandler last prominently featured for Eintracht as a plater under head-coach Oliver Glasner during the 2021/22 campaign. In addition to his 17 league appearances that year, Chandler made five appearances for the team en-route to their 2021/22 Europa League title. He scored what would be - to date - his last goal for Eintracht against Antwerp in the group phase.
After making just five relief appearances and just one league start under Glasner last season, Chandler has made just five appearances off the bench under the rookie regime of SGE trainer Dino Toppmöller. He notched an assist on a late equalizer against Wolfsburg on match-day 23. It has been treated as a forgone conclusion that he will remain on with the club once he finally decides to end his playing career.
"Timmy is an identification figure and an important player for us," SGE sporting CEO Markus Krösche noted in a statement accompanying Thursday's news, "He is a valuable contact person both on the pitch and in the locker, especially for the young players. With his positive energy, he manages to inspire others. We are happy that he will be playing with us for at least another year."
"Eintracht Frankfurt is my home," Chandler himself added, "It's my second family. I'm eager to play with the eagle on my chest again next season. I'm still in top shape and full of energy. We have ambitious sporting goals. I want to be on the pitch next season and help the team."