Norwich City

An imposing centre-half, Christoph Zimmermann worked closely with Daniel Farke before their time at Norwich City.

But Zimmermann’s road to the top tiers of English football is one less travelled by footballers around the world.

After a spell at SC Dusseldorf-West, Zimmermann spent the next six years of his youth career at Borussia Monchengladbach.

Zimmermann made the step up to Monchengladbach II, the club’s reserve team, and scored three goals in 52 appearances.

A big move occured as Zimmermann signed for Borussia Dortmund II. He didn't play for the first team, but did make 85 appearances for BVB’s reserves.

He also linked up with Farke, who took charge of the side in 2015 and gave his defender the captain’s armband for the Under-23s.

Zimmermann then considered hanging up his boots for a career in teaching, before Farke moved to Norwich City and convinced him otherwise.

Zimmermann signed for Norwich and missed only six league games in the Championship-winning season of 2018-19 before competing (and captaining) at the highest level, the Premier League. 

On the pitch, Zimmermann was willing to risk life and limb for the Canaries, demonstrated by his famous headed tackle on the ground against Wolves in 2018.

Off of it, the number six has been a class act. He could always be seen applauding all of the supporters at the end of matches at Carrow Road, regardless of the result.

He also contributed to 2020-21's Championship title with 22 appearances in the league.