“Living a childhood dream” | OneFootball

Farès Chaibi sat down for an interview and spoke about the training camp in the USA, working with Dino Toppmöller, his lofty ambitions, a special anthem and his close ties to his friends and family.

Farès, you also spent your summer holidays with friends and family in the USA, over in California. It looks like you’re quite a fan of the country… “Yes, we went to Los Angeles not that long ago, maybe a month or so, and now I’m back here in the USA – this time for work, and that’s pretty cool.”

In 2024/25, you made 38 appearances. How do you rate your season? “Personally, I wasn’t very satisfied with my season. I want to play a lot, and prior to that in my career, I hadn’t had to sit on the bench much. This was the first time that I’d had to take more of a secondary role, but nevertheless, experiences like that help me, as I learnt a lot from it. I’m going to be giving it my all to get back into a primary role. From a team point of view though, it was obviously a great season.”

You didn’t have an easy time of it at the beginning of the last campaign. Who or what helped you the most during this period? “First and foremost my family. My mother, my sister and my brother came to visit me regularly in Frankfurt and stayed for weeks at a time to be by my side and support me. I’m very, very grateful to my family. There are times when you’re not in the starting line-up because you’re not playing well, and I can accept that. But I’m a battler and I want to be in the starting XI – that’s my ambition. And so this period wasn’t an easy one for me.”

In the matches against FSV Frankfurt, Aston Villa and Louisville City, you played in the middle, twice alongside Oscar Højlund and once with Hugo Larsson. How do you like it in the centre? “I played this position earlier in my career in Toulouse but more as an eight or a ten rather than a six. I prefer to play a little further forward in midfield as that means that I get the ball more often.”

How has training camp been going? “It’s very hot but that’s good for us, because it means we’re pushing our bodies to work harder – we’re in the red zone. We’ve got good facilities here and we’re putting the effort in. We’re enjoying it!”

How are things going with the coach? Where does he see you fitting into Eintracht’s style of play? “The coach and I talk a lot. He even called me when I was away on vacation. This is our third season together, which is great. I get on really well with him, not least because he’s the type of coach who talks to us players a lot. I feel more comfortable out on the pitch when I’m in the middle, and the coach is doing a lot to get me into a situation where I can help the team in the best way possible.”

What are your expectations ahead of the new season? “I’ve got big ambitions and I’m going to give it my best, but I’m not looking at ‘how many goals, how many assists’. I’m just going to try to have the best possible season. All of us want to make our fans proud of us.”

How well do you know the Champions League anthem? “I’m living a childhood dream! We didn’t qualify for Europe when I was at Toulouse. In my first year at Frankfurt, we were in the UEFA Conference League, then the Europa League the following season, and now we’re in the Champions League. That’s crazy, making it through to the Champions League. I can still hardly believe it and I can’t wait to hear that wonderful anthem, that I’ve known since I was a little kid, ring out around Deutsche Bank Park.”

Which of your team-mates do you think is poised for a break-out year? “There’s a few that I can think of – we’ve got a lot of talent in our team. If I had to choose someone, then I’d go for Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, Aurèle Amenda, Oscar Højlund or Elye Wahi. But as I said, we’ve got so many highly talented youngsters in our squad, and I hope that we’ll all combine to make it a good season.”