TRAUMATIC NEWS: The amazing star of the Leeds United passed away in an airplane crash while returning to the team for a training session after visiting his family. May he rest in peace.

Former Leeds United defender Robin Koch is counting down the days until this summer’s European Championships, insisting hosts and his home nation Germany have the quality to go all the way.

Koch was a somewhat surprising addition to the 26-man German squad, having been picked ahead of Champions League finalist and experienced Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels.

The 27-year-old joined up with his compatriots earlier this month and came off the bench to feature in one of their two warm-up friendlies – a 0-0 draw against Ukraine.

Manager Julian Nagelsmann’s decision to call Koch up was just rewards for an impressive season on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt, with the centre-back registering 41 appearances across all competitions, even captaining his side three times across Bundesliga and Europa League fixtures. He will likely play a back-up role to Antonio Rudiger and Jonathan Tah but hopes to realise a childhood dream by representing his country at a major tournament, which kicks off when Germany face Scotland on Friday.

“Obviously he’s a really good coach,” Koch added of Nagelsmann. “He’s also quite young so I think he understands us players really well. With the national team, you don’t have a lot of time to work so you have to be clear in your vision and how you want to play and get it across to the players.”Koch has already committed his long-term future to Frankfurt, having signed a three-year contract with the Bundesliga outfit in January, which becomes officially active once his Leeds deal expires this summer. The centre-back will be playing continental football again next season, helping his side to qualify for the Europa League once again.

Leeds received a loan fee of just £500,000 when Koch left last summer, the German one of several to activate a loan clause following relegation from the Premier League. His situation was of particular frustration to supporters, with Leeds helpless as the centre-back ran down the final 12 months of his deal on loan elsewhere before leaving for free this summer. The unfortunate circumstance means United will book a significant loss on the £11m they paid for Koch back in 2020.