Official | Midfielder Yannik Engelhardt returns to Freiburg and the Bundesliga via €7m transfer | OneFootball

Freiburg have officially confirmed the signing of German defensive midfielder Yannik Engelhardt. The 25-year-old – who most recently spent the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach – arrives from Serie A outfit Como 1907 on a €7m transfer. Engelhardt made 31 appearances for Gladbach last season, in the process re-establishing his viability as a reliable Bundesliga professional. 

Yannik Engelhardt returns to Freiburg

Englehardt spent two seasons playing with the Freiburg reserves between 2021 and 2023. At that time, the former Werder Bremen academy man worked under current SCF head coach Julian Schuster. Engelhardt’s parent club, Fortuna Düsseldorf, eventually sold him to Como for €8m in August of 2024.

Amid scoring two goals and registering three assists last year on loan at Gladbach last year, Engelhardt raised his estimated market value back up to a career high of €7m. Freiburg identified the Göttingen native – whom Gladbach were also interested in keeping – as a top transfer target this summer. 

In a club statement accompanying the signing, SCF sporting director Klemens Hartenbach noted that the Schwarzwaldverein hoped to draw upon Engelhardt’s underutilized attacking skill-set; something the Freiburg midfield will need to compensate for following the departure of Swiss international Johan Manzambi.

Statements on Engelhardt’s signing

“Yannik really made a strong impression during his first stint at SC Freiburg,” Hartenbach noted in the club statement. “He can read the game and is technically very skilled. At his last two clubs, his ability to provide structure [to the midfield] was emphasized. Now we need to combine that with his offensive capabilities.

“We’ve remained in regular contact with Yannik over the past three years,” Hartenbach continued. “Yannik still embodies a great deal of what the Sport Club stands for, both on and off the pitch.”

“The connection to SC Freiburg was never severed,” the player himself added. “It feels really good to be back in Freiburg and I received a warm welcome. The ambitions here are very high. I like that and am eager to get started.“

GGFN | Peter Weis