Aymen Barkok smiles almost all the time. When he speaks and when he listens. The video conference with the Frankfurt media seems to be fun, at least the contact with the public doesn’t unsettle him. That was different three months ago. At that time, immediately after his return to Frankfurter Eintracht, the 22-year-old looked shy, nervous, afraid to say something wrong.
The boy from Frankfurt, who started his Bundesliga career so furiously with the winning goal against Werder Bremen at the age of 18, had two unfortunate years at Fortuna Düsseldorf behind him. On the Rhine, the attacking midfielder should gather match practice and gain the security that would enable him to fully develop his talent. He was not able to do this in his home on the Main. Because the quick start turned out to be fatal. The public’s expectations of him and the own demands that grew out of the debut crushed him.
But Düsseldorf was not a new beginning, but a continuation of its misery. “It was a long time of suffering,” said Barkok on Wednesday into the camera. “I was injured for a year net from the two years.” And when he was fit, he didn’t get into the team. In the first year, in the second division, coach Friedhelm Funkel tried it with him from time to time. The former Eintracht coach had finally signed the German-Moroccan on loan. In the second year, in the Bundesliga, the new coach Uwe Rösler gave him no more chance.
First a candidate for removal
When Barkok came to Eintracht’s first preparatory training session in the summer after the loan deal was over, it wasn’t clear whether he would stay longer than a few days. The midfielder was one of the first candidates to be deleted, after all Corona forced Eintracht to save personnel costs. But Barkok managed to convince coach Adi Hütter of himself. “I’m happy,” says Hütter today. Because the German junior national player, who was appointed to six different U-teams, has proven to be an invigorating element for the Frankfurt offensive.
The Austrian football teacher brought Barkok into play in each of the seven compulsory games. And in most of his part-time appearances, Barkok stood out, even in the five minutes against TSG Hoffenheim when he worked out a great scoring opportunity. Most effectively, however, the talent acted last Saturday against Werder Bremen. His ball win shortly after his substitution was the starting point for André Silva’s 1-1 equalizer. And in the next 30 minutes, Barkok got a lot right. He was not used in the center as usual, but on the right wing. “I don’t care where I play. The main thing is that I play. In the Eintracht youth I was a right defender, in the Kickers youth I was even a left defender. “
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