“The club means a great deal to me,” Leeds United player lamented despite leaving on loan

The center-back has teamed up with another summer acquisition, , and the pair has played a key role in enabling the German club now hold the best defensive record in the league.

The 27-year-old acknowledged in an interview with Sports Illustrated Deutschland that his time at Leeds helped him get off to a strong start with the Bundesliga club.

The Whites took the defender from SC Freiburg in 2020 and was a regular figure for them in the last three years. When asked about his decision to return to Germany, he opened up about his time at Elland Road.

“It has always been a dream for me to play in the Premier League and experience English football there – and I have fulfilled this dream,” he said 

“In my three years at Leeds, I have felt very comfortable so far and have developed further as a footballer and as a person. The club really means a lot to me. But it was time for me to make another change in terms of sport.”

The Leeds owned player has stated he had several options to pick from and also explained why he joined Eintracht Frankfurt.

“I looked into it intensively, I also thought about staying in the Premier League, there were also other inquiries,” Koch explained.

“In the end it wasn’t an easy decision, but as always in my career so far, I trusted my gut feeling. Eintracht Frankfurt, with their team and fans, are the right team for me next season. Also, against the background of what has been built here in recent years.”

Koch hasn’t featured for Germany since June 2021, and earlier this month, he talked about his desire to return to the national team. The Whites defender has again insisted that this a factor why he picked Eintracht Frankfurt over other clubs.

“It is without a doubt one of my goals to rejoin the DFB team. This was taken into account while deciding to lend money to Eintracht Frankfurt. I’m hoping to rejoin the national team, and I’m aware that performance is key. I want to demonstrate that in Frankfurt and perform at a high level so that I can once again make an application for the national squad,” he continued.