Freiburg’s Jan-Niklas Beste and Eren Dinkçi prepare for story-laden reunion with Heidenheim | OneFootball

Jan-Niklas Beste’s return to the Bundesliga brings with it quite the storyline. In his first match in an SC Freiburg kit, the 26-year-old prepares to square off against his former club Heidenheim. As it turns out, the team Beste helped qualify for the 2024/25 UEFA Europa Conference League presently find themselves fighting relegation.

In what will already be an emotional match at the Europa Park Stadion, both Beste and new teammate Eren Dinkçi will face the club they played for last year. Beste (eight league goals and 13 assists) and Dinkçi (10 league goals and six assists) were enormous factors in Heidenheim’s successful 2023/24 campaign.

Their departures, along with that of Borussia Mönchengladbach and new German national team striker Tim Kleindienst, are crucial factors in why Frank Schmidt’s FCH are four points from safety in the Bundesliga’s promotion-relegation playoff place. In interviews with SC Freiburg TV, both players spoke on the reunion.

Dinkçi – true to form – kept his sense of humour about him. The 23-year-old spent last year in Heidenheim on loan from Werder Bremen. Dinkçi thrived in the German top flight for the first time, increasing his estimated market value from €1m to €12m in a single season.

Freiburg forked over €5m to acquire him from Bremen in April 2024. Ironically enough, it was Dinçki’s brace on the final matchday of the season that helped Heidenheim qualify for the Conference League over his future club. The Bremen-native famously quipped that he had “messed up”.

“I put in a good word,” Dinçki said of Beste’s recent transfer to Freiburg. “I’m happy that he’s here. I knew that he wasn’t happy on and off the pitch [at Benfica].”

“Coincidences don’t happen, so it must mean something,” Beste told the club broadcaster about his immediate reunion with his former club. “Their second year in the Bundesliga can be tough, [particularly with the added burden] of playing every three days.”

“I’m nevertheless firmly convinced that they’ll make it at the end of the season and avoid relegation,” Beste was sure to conclude.

GGFN | Peter Weis