A towering, talented striker | OneFootball

Frankfurt’s tallest outfield player has also grown in confidence in Karlsruhe. Eintracht have rewarded Igor Matanovic’s development with increased prospects.

The message from Markus Krösche left no doubt: “Igor Matanovic is coming back,” reiterated the board member for sport at the start of the month, as he reflected on the season just gone and looked ahead to the new campaign.

The 21-year-old impressed on loan at Karlsruher SC in 2023/24 with 17 goals and five assists in 32 games in Bundesliga 2. “I really broke through into senior football,” said Matanovic at the end of the season.

The door is open

It was a step towards establishing himself one level higher, which the SGE management evidently believe he’s capable of having extended his contract until 2029 in March. “Igor has developed brilliantly and made big strides forward in Karlsruhe,” said Krösche at the time, opening the door for a more mature and confident Matanovic to go through. “We hope he establishes himself with us in the summer. He’s got an outstanding profile. He should become a full member of the squad and be able to fight for places.”

“I’m coming back this time with a new sense of self-confidence in particular,” said the youngster in kicker magazine recently. “I now have the belief that I can really help and become part of the team. That was harder a year ago.” At that time, in July and August 2023, the Hamburg-born striker was a permanent part of the Eagles’ pre-season squad and caught the eye not only because of his height of 1.94 metres – no current Frankfurt outfield player is taller – but also because of his four goals in friendlies. That was followed in mid-August by another temporary move to the second tier, following two years on loan at boyhood club FC St. Pauli which did not go to plan in terms of playing time and were plagued by a shoulder injury. But Matanovic drew motivation from that, as he stated in kicker: “I learned early to remain patient when it comes to setbacks and injuries. And in those periods, it’s also easier to work on your weaknesses to some extent.”

Those include, according to the 90-kilogram forward, “my heading technique and awkward tackling”. Although strangely, Matanovic won 139 aerial duels last season, the second most in Bundesliga 2 behind Wiesbaden’s Aleksandar Vukotic (141).

Return to Millerntor

The son of two war refugees from the former Yugoslavia has spent the biggest chunk of his life up north. Born in the Hamburg district of Heimfield, he played at St. Pauli for 13 years from 2010. After the Kiezkicker’s promotion to the Bundesliga, a reunion could be on the cards at the Millerntor.

Matanovic looking up to Mandzukic

Just down the road, at the big Volksparkstadion, is where Matanovic’s chosen national team Croatia play their second group game at EURO 2024 against Albania on Wednesday. Ahead of the tournament, Matanovic found himself on the standby list for senior team, whose assistant coach is incidentally Matanovic’s biggest idol: Mario Mandzukic. A World Cup runner-up, Champions League winner, Croatian, German and Italian champion – and a Bundesliga debutant at the age of 24. Matanovic could beat him there.