Bringing vast amounts of experience to the Leeds United squad is latest addition Nico Elvedi, who has put pen to paper a three-year deal at Elland Road.
The defender joins the club from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he has enjoyed a stellar spell that has spanned over a decade in Germany’s top-flight.
Below are eight facts and figures about our latest addition…
By signing for the Whites, the centre-half reunites with his former boss Daniel Farke! During the 2022/23 campaign, the duo worked together at Borussia-Park with Elvedi featuring 34 times in all competitions, scoring three goals. That season, the side were unbeaten against champions Bayern Munich, with Nico starting both encounters.
The 29-year-old’s 318 matches in the German top-flight puts him eighth on Gladbach’s all-time Bundesliga appearances list. He holds the record for a non-German player for the North Rhine-Westphalia club. An almost ever-present across the past decade at Borussia-Park, last campaign the defender started in 33 of 34 encounters, captaining the team on his final appearance in a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim.
Vastly experienced, Elvedi has competed in the UEFA Champions League! During his 15 UCL outings, Nico has regularly competed against some of the continent’s very best teams, notably including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City! He also featured four times for boyhood club FC Zürich in the Europa League! Coming through the ranks with the his hometown team, Nico made the switch to Mönchengladbach while still a teenager.
Elvedi becomes the fourth Swiss player to represent the Whites! Cult-hero Gaetano Berardi began the trend, featuring 157 times for the club. Isaac Schmidt followed, making the switch from FC St. Gallen and was part of our Sky Bet Championship winning squad. Then, Noah Okafor joined from AC Milan last summer and excelled in his first season in the Premier League.
Elvedi has shared the pitch 14 times with Okafor for their country, beginning with Noah’s international debut in a UEFA Nations League meeting with England in 2019. The duo have an impressive record together, winning seven of those and drawing on three occasions. Most recently to feature both, Switzerland beat Algeria in the Round of 32 at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, enroute to an eventual Quarter-Final finish.
Prior to this summer’s tournament, Switzerland hadn’t reached the last eight of the World Cup since 1954. Murat Yakin’s team finished top of Group B before knockout victories over Algeria and Colombia. During the run to the Quarter-Final, Elvedi played every single minute! Nico now has 73 caps for Switzerland and has scored three goals.
An international debut came in a 2016 friendly against Belgium, with the centre-back aged just 19 at the time. Fast forward two years and a maiden goal for his country arrived, incidentally against the same opposition. During his time representing his homeland, the defender has been part of the travelling squad to every single major tournament since 2016!
Football runs in the Elvedi family! Twin brother Jan is also a centre-back, on the books of 2. Bundesliga club FC Kaiserslautern since 2023. Last term, Jan spent time on loan in the German second tier with Greuther Fürth, featuring 17 times. Now back with Kaiserslautern, he has started both games of the new campaign, keeping cleansheets in two goalless draws.
