Jonathan Burkardt - Scout Report

Earlier this week, Eintracht Frankfurt completed the signing of Jonathan Burkardt for a reported fee of €23m from Bundesliga rival Mainz 05. After eight years at Mainz, Burkardt has decided to take the next step in his career, joining the club which he supported during his childhood. He is expected to replace Hugo Ekitike next season, who is continuously linked with a move away from the club. With these big boots to fill, let us take a look at what it is that makes ‘Jonny’ Burkardt so special.

STYLE OF PLAY

Despite his relatively young age, Jonathan Burkardt is already a complete forward, both on and off the ball. Despite only displaying below-average defensive stats last season, he played a key role in Bo Henriksen‘s intense pressing system, due to his extremely high work rate. He was often not the player who ended up winning the ball, but the one who triggered their aggressive pressing with his clever movements and relentless running off the ball.

Possessing great stamina, Burkardt also makes a lot of important runs in possession — he’s always available to receive the ball, whether it’s for a short pass into his feet or a through ball behind the defense. He’s in the 83rd percentile for progressive passes received in Europe’s ‘Top Five Leagues’, indicating he is comfortable with frequently receiving vertical passes due to his well-timed runs and positional awareness.

In a recent video on Eintracht TV, Dino Toppmöller explained how he sets up his team in the build up phase. The main goal of this phase of play is getting the ball into the 'Red Zone' as often as possible. This is the area just infront of the opponent’s last line of defense:

Dino Toppmöller’s 'Red Zone'

The aim during the build-up phase is to get the ball into the feet of a striker dropping deep into the ‘Red Zone’, who is then able to either turn or lay off the ball to a midfielder nearby, setting off a quick attacking transition. Last season, both Hugo Ekitike and Omar Marmoush were outstanding at this, often laying off the ball immediately or using their first touch to burst into space to create a chance out of nothing. Take a look at this example against Bochum, where Marmoush drops back from the defensive back three into the ‘Red Zone’, and then turns into space with his first touch, finally setting up Ekitike’s opening goal with a brilliant cross:

Compared to Marmoush, Burkardt lacks the elite ability to turn and beat defenders on his own, but his physical presence, off the ball movement, and technical ability can still make him a great receiver of the ball in the ‘Red Zone’, fulfilling a crucial role in Toppmöllers style of play, while players like Knauff and Bahoya will provide more pace on the wings.

In recent seasons, Eintracht Frankfurt often struggled more against deep back lines, where they could not exploit spaces behind the defense as shown above. Last season we already saw a significant improvement in this department, with Eintracht earning 18 out of 18 points against the bottom three teams in the league. However, games such as the draw against St. Pauli at the end of the season showed that there is still room for improvement when a team defends in a low block, especially once the opponent takes the lead.

The signing of Burkardt could be an important step in the right direction. His combination of strong link up play in tight spaces and finishing ability could make him the right addition, either next to Hugo Ekitike, or as a single striker behind two wide midfielders.

Above all though, Burkardt is a clinical finisher in the opponent’s box. Last season, he scored 18 goals in 29 matches — his highest-ever scoring season — overperforming his xG by 2.47 (Hugo Ekitike underperformed his xG by 5.6). Burkardt can finish with both feet, his head or even other body parts, as he showed in the game against Frankfurt:

His clever positioning allowed him to remain unmarked in the box by standing behind Rasmus Kristensen, and his quick anticipation allowed him to arrive into a dangerous position just at the right time following the flick-on from his Mainz team mate, leading to a simple finish from close range. Despite 8 Eintracht players being in the box, Burkardt showed the ability to be in the right place at the right time to score the goal to equalise for his team.

In games where we will be facing low-block defenses, this ability could make the difference.

Burkardt’s style of play is also reflected in his heat map last season, which shows him occupying more central areas in front of the opponent goal, whereas Ekitike often drifts into wider areas to drive forward the attack by carrying the ball up the pitch himself.

Despite being ‘only’ 1.83m, he also provides a solid aerial presence in the box. Last season alone, he scored three goals from headers, more than anyone in the Eintracht squad.

Based on his statistical profile, comparable strikers in Europe include Lautaro Martinez and Mateo Retegui: Two complete forwards who compete at the elite level of European football.

Stats via FBref

AREAS TO IMPROVE 

Burkardt’s chance creation for his teammates is still an area which he could improve upon – he has never recorded more than three assists in a Bundesliga season so far. In comparison, Hugo Ekitike (44) created more than twice as many chances for his team mates as Burkardt (20) in the Bundesliga last season.

Even though Burkardt is a technically good player, he’s still far from being able to replace Ekitike on his own in this regard. The Frenchman completed 1.82 successful dribbles per 90 minutes in the past season, whereas Burkardt only completed 0.68.

It remains to be seen whether Ekitike will remain at the club, or if more additions to the squad will be required to mitigate his loss. Players such as Knauff and Bahoya, who also shine through their pace and dribbling abilities, could spread out Ekitike’s influence in attack across more players. The potential signing of Ritsu Doan could be another indication of this approach.

While Burkardt‘s pace (34.5km/h top speed) allows him to play in a counter attacking setup, his overall profile offer more qualities suited to a more dominant and possession-based style of play, which could be Toppmöller’s aim in the long-term future.

INJURIES

There is still one major concern with Burkardt. The one thing everybody talks about when discussing this player, the reason why many people questioned his signing: his injuries.

Burkardt has a horrible injury record. He has already missed almost 100 games due to injury or illness in his still rather young career. Last past season he had three injuries and an illness, causing him to miss eight matches. We can only hope things get better in the future…

via Transfermarkt.de

WHERE WILL HE PLAY?

Burkardt‘s technical and physical profile, workrate, and his understanding of the game allow him to play in almost every attacking position in our system.

However, it’s pretty clear that Burkardt will play as a center forward, just like he did at Mainz. The question is whether he’ll play as a single striker or with a partner like Elye Wahi or Michy Batshuayi.

Krösche recently explained that one of the reasons for Wahi’s struggles was having to play as a lone striker, suggesting he’d benefit from a partner like Burkardt. While Burkardt would make up for the lower work rate shown by Batshuayi and even Wahi last season, a lack of creativity in attack may raise some concerns. A two striker system could still function well with a creative number ten, such as Mario Götze or Can Uzun.

DREAM COME TRUE

Aside from the tactical fit, the signing of Jonny Burkardt is especially interesting from an emotional point of view. As revealed by Inside Eintracht FFM, the Burkardt family are all Eintracht Frankfurt fans. As a little kid, Jonny Burkardt must have been dreaming to play in the Waldstadion one day — one of the reasons why Eintracht Frankfurt were always favourites to secure his signature one day. 

During a time where our squad often changes quite drastically each summer, many fans have been longing for more identification with the team. Players such as Rasmus Kristensen and Arthur Theate, who both fully embraced the ‘069’ mentality, immediately became fan favourites. As a life-long Eintracht fan, Jonny Burkardt also has the potential to quickly become a fan favourite, and maybe even a face of the club for the coming seasons.

In his press conference he already stated his desire to stay at the club for a long time, rather than viewing Eintracht as a ‘stepping-stone’ in his career.