For some footballers, speaking to the media is something they’ve been trained for since childhood and comes naturally to them, for others it’s rather more difficult and something they’d like to avoid where possible.
Friday’s edition of Bild covers Mahmoud Dahoud’s first press conference since his move from Brighton & Hove Albion to Eintracht Frankfurt, which happened via a free transfer on August 30th.
There was hope that when Dahoud moved from Borussia Dortmund to Brighton in 2023, as a free agent, that he’d be able to fulfil the promise shown earlier in his career.
Unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case, and at his first Eintracht press conference, Bild say he was ‘totally nervous’, shy, and asking the press spokesman how he should answer questions.
He needn’t have worried, because when he did open up he said all the right things to endear a new audience.
“I’m happy to be here. Eintracht is a big club with a great fan base. I’ve been well received. The training sessions are very good. I can hardly wait to play in front of the fans. I’ve also been to the city. I like the big city, there are good coffee shops there.”
On his struggles in recent years: “It was up and down. I didn’t get in at Stuttgart because the team had won a lot without me. When I was back in Brighton, Eintracht approached me. I didn’t have to think about it for long. I’m a Bundesliga child.”
And then the bit which will please everyone: “I grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia. For me, there was always only football. Whether on the field or in the Aldi parking lot.”
Who can’t immediately take to a professional footballer who says they picked up their skills on an Aldi car park?!
Good luck Mahmoud!
