Nico Elvedi #4

Profile

The Zurich-born player with roots in Graubünden moved from Zurich to Mönchengladbach as a teenager in 2015 – and is still there. There have been talks of a move, but it never materialised and he is now, in fact, the club’s all-time leading appearance-holder in the Bundesliga. Nicknamed ‘Eisvogel’ (Kingfisher) In Germany after a cool and composed debut against Bayern Munich of all teams. Nico’s twin brother Jan is also a professional footballer and was most recently on loan from Kaiserslautern to Greuther Fürth. Jan is full of praise for his brother, although thinks he may be a little bit “too nice” on the pitch. “Nico is an all-rounder and has practically no weaknesses,” says Jan. “But perhaps he could be a bit more aggressive and use his elbows a bit more.” The brothers’ greatest wish: to play against each other one day. Elvedi has made a strong comeback for the national team after a difficult year when he lost his place in the starting line-up for Euro 2024. He was among the best Switzerland players in the World Cup qualifiers.

Key stats