European experience, honors… All you need to know about Philipp Köhn
He has just become AS Monaco’s first recruit of the summer! Arriving from RB Salzburg, Philipp Köhn has just signed a five-year contract with the club from the Principality, until 2028. Off the back of two Austrian titles, the explosive 25-year-old goalkeeper, renowned for his play on his line, already has European experience and participated in the last World Cup with Switzerland. Here’s eight key points on our new goalkeeper… 🗓
L'AS Monaco est heureux d'annoncer la signature de Philipp Köhn en provenance du @RedBullSalzburg. Le gardien suisse de 25 ans s'engage pour 5 saisons ✍#WelcomePhilipp 👋
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) July 15, 2023
Trained in Germany 🇩🇪
Philipp Köhn comes from the region of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Born to a German father and a Swiss mother, he started playing football at the age of six in Dinslaken in the club of his hometown. After starting as a striker, he quickly became a goalkeeper, and was spotted by MSV Duisburg during a tournament. He then joined Schalke 04, Stuttgart, before landing in Leipzig in 2017-2018.
A succesful loan which kickstarted his career 📈
After a one-year stint at RB Leipzig, he joined Salzburg in the summer of 2018, before moving to RB Liefering, the reserve team. After 12 matches there, he was then loaned to the Swiss club FC Wil in the second division in 2020-2021. It was a beneficial loan since he played the entire season (33 games), which allows him to start on his return to Austria. “I made many appearances in the Swiss second division, which was very beneficial for my development,” he said in an interview with German media outlet ZDF in February 2022.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Gaining European experience 🇪🇺
At just 25 years old, Philipp Köhn already has European experience, since he has played in 16 Champions League matches, including in the Round of 16 against Bayern, and two Europa League matches with Salzburg. He was notably the author of a fantastic match against Chelsea last season, making nine saves, thus avoiding a heavy defeat for his club (1-2 final score).
An international teammate in the Monégasque squad 🇨🇭
While he completed his training and won 11 caps for that country’s youth teams, the goalkeeper finally decided to represent Switzerland internationally. “Switzerland had been trying to recruit me from U-15 level. The contact with goalkeeping coach Patrick Foletti has always been there, which is why I decided to play for my mother’s country of origin,” he explained in this same interview with ZDF. At AS Monaco, he will reunite with international teammate Breel Embolo.
He’ll also reunite with a former club teammate 🫂
In the Principality, the Swiss goalkeeper should not experience too many problems in terms of being able to acclimatize. Because, in addition to Breel Embolo, whom he has already joined shoulders on international duty, Philipp Köhn will also find his former teammate from Austria: Mohamed Camara. The two players indeed played together during a strong season in 2021-2022, notably reaching the Round of 16 of the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Part of the 2022 World Cup Squad 🌏
Very impressive with RB Salzburg, Philipp Köhn was called up for the first time in November 2021 by Murat Yakin, the coach of the Swiss national team. Although he remained on the bench in the two games against Italy and Bulgaria, this did not prevent him from participating in his first World Cup in Qatar, a year later, as the team’s number 2 goalkeeper, behind Bayern Munich’s Yann Sommer.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Named the best goalkeeper in Austria 🔝
An indisputable starter in the Salzburg goal, the native of Dinslaken has undoubtedly had the best season of his career in 2022-2023. He was the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets (16) and the best save percentage (78.9%), and he is also the one who “prevented” the most goals for his team in the Austrian Bundesliga (5.3 – 26.3 xGot suffered for 21 goals conceded excluding CSC), notes our partner Opta. These remarkable statistics allowed him to be named goalkeeper of the season for the first time in his career.
Plenty of trophies 🏆
Before packing his bags to head to the Principality, Philipp Köhn has had plenty of time to stock his trophy cabinet. With Salzburg, he has twice won the Austrian league, in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Cup in the 2021-2022 season, being a major contributor to this success. In the semifinals against Wolfsberger, he was decisive in the penalty shootout, saving the second attempt by the opponents.
