Germany star considered retirement after being housed in 10-man apartment during Italy spell
| Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images |
In the space of just a couple of years, Younes Ebnoutalib has gone from playing lower-league football for German side FC Gießen to appearing for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and representing Germany at international level.
The striker's journey has not been without its setbacks, and he even considered bringing his playing career to an end at the age of 20 before his move to Gießen.
In 2022, Ebnoutalib left Rot-Weiss Frankfurt to join Italian second-division side AC Perugia, and the move quickly turned into a nightmare.
He told Süddeutsche Zeitung that the Italian club placed him in a shared apartment with nine other people.
“It was a pretty run-down apartment, with bunk beds in the living room and broken toilets,” Ebnoutalib recalled.
Unable to speak “a single word” of Italian, he made just three appearances for Perugia's first team, totalling 71 minutes, before leaving the club.
“Even though it wasn't the best decision from a footballing perspective, it really shaped my character,” he said, reflecting on his difficult spell in Italy.
Ebnoutalib subsequently spent the period between January and July 2024 without a club before joining Gießen, where his performances attracted the attention of SV Elversberg.
Elversberg proved to be the springboard for his next move, with Ebnoutalib earning a transfer to Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt after just one year at the Saarland-based club.
Despite suffering a serious injury shortly after joining Eintracht, Ebnoutalib continued his impressive rise.
A strong start to the 2026/27 season earned him his first call-up to Jürgen Klopp's Germany squad in September, and he made his senior international debut later that month.
He has now been included in Germany's squad once again for the upcoming fixtures against Serbia on Friday and the Netherlands on Monday.
On this occasion, Klopp made sure to remind Ebnoutalib to keep his selection a secret.
“Because last time I accidentally leaked it myself,” Ebnoutalib explained, referring to an incident in September when he prematurely revealed his call-up to a fan at a shopping centre.
“That’s why the national team coach laughed again and said something along the lines of, ‘Be careful this time – no more going shopping!’”
