Introducing Jonny | OneFootball

Jonathan Burkardt got his first Eintracht shirt 21 years and wrote Bundesliga history at Mainz. Here we outline seven milestones from his seven years in professional football.

1. Jonny, the professional

Burkardt told the ‘Eintracht vom Main’ podcast: “I joined my first club at three, went to Darmstadt 98 at eight – I always wanted to play with a ball when I was a little boy. Football was always my purpose in life.”

That was the case at Mainz from 2014. After going through the academy, the striker was handed his first professional contract in June 2018 at the age of 17.

It wasn’t long before his Bundesliga debut, with Sandro Schwarz naming Burkardt in his starting XI against Augsburg in September of the same year. The young Burkardt played the full 90 minutes wearing the number 29 and celebrated a 2-1 win. His first goal in the German top flight followed in June 2020 away to Borussia Dortmund.

2. Jonny, the European champion

Burkardt landed his first big success around a year later with victory at the 2021 European Under-21 Championship. “Very special,” he recalled. “At first I didn’t quite realise how significant it was. It was a lot of fun and showed that you can achieve a lot with great togetherness.” In September, Burkardt took on the captain’s armband for the Germany U21s.

3. Jonny, the rising star

The next milestone came six months later. When kicker magazine launched its annual end-of-year survey, the majority of the 234 voting players chose Burkardt as their ‘rising star of the season’. For context: Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala finished in second and third place. By the end of the 2021/22 campaign, Burkardt had played in all 34 Bundesliga matches as well as three DFB Cup ties.

4. Jonny, the poacher

The 2024/25 season was his most prolific campaign and represents his peak to date: 18 goals and two assists, a total of 20 goal involvements in the Bundesliga. This set a new top-flight record in Mainz history, as did his overall total of 41 Bundesliga goals – eight of them with his head. What’s particularly notable is that a third of all Mainz’s goals last term were scored by Burkardt, the highest proportion of any Bundesliga player.

5. Jonny, the playmaker

Burkardt doesn’t just finish, though – he can also provide. Board member for sport Markus Krösche praised “his style of play: high speed, high goal threat – and he can initiate dangerous situations.”

Some stats to prove it: since 2020, his long pass competition rate has ranged between 56 and 65 percent, but last season it shot up to over 71 percent.

6. Jonny, the international

Two Eagles already know Burkardt pretty well. “I played with Ansgar Knauff for the U21s,” he said. His record at under-21 level stands at 15 goals in 20 appearances. Since then the 24-year-old has added three senior caps to his name, through which he’s got to know Robin Koch more closely.

“Robin has been sending me lots of messages recently, we’ve been in closer contact,” revealed Burkardt, who highlighted “the sporting outlook” at Eintracht and wants to “really make a mark with the national team”. First of all, though, he wants to “settle in Frankfurt, feel at home and produce good performances”.

7. Jonny, the Eintracht expert

He’s certainly not lacking background knowledge. After meeting Pirmin Schwegler and Mounir Chaftar in the City Forest, he immediately had knowledge about the former players ready to go: “Chaftar, number 31, full-back. Schwegler, number 27, defensive midfielder.” He himself prefers to wear the number 9.

The last Eagles shirt that Burkardt presumably wore was 21 years ago. “My first shirt was an Eintracht one, I got it for my fourth birthday,” he told the podcast.