Third time lucky: will this Bundesliga talent take his final chance?

SC Freiburg spent six million euros in the summer of 2023 to secure the services of Austrian national player Junior Adamu, placing a lot of hope in the then 22-year-old from RB Salzburg. However, this transfer has yet to pay off for the Breisgauer. Will the third attempt be the charm?

Recently, Adamu has been increasingly convincing, rescuing an important point for the Breisgauer in the Europa League match against Bologna with a penalty and already delivering a goal and an assist in this Bundesliga season. He played a key role in helping SC climb back up the table after a poor start.

It seems as though the Austrian has finally broken through. The only problem is, this isn’t the first time that’s happened—so far, brief highs have always been followed by long-lasting lows.

The newcomer’s journey with Freiburg began two years ago in a particularly bitter way: due to patellar tendon syndrome, he missed the entire pre-season after his signing and was unavailable for SC for the first three league matches.

Freiburg’s sporting director Klemens Hartenbach defended his protégé that winter: “Junior is a positive guy, a cheerful soul, but he also puts a lot of pressure on himself. He wanted to make an immediate impact here at SC and help the team. Even in his later appearances. Unfortunately, in the summer he thought: ‘Just don’t say anything hurts.’ That was wrong,” he told ‘kicker’.

Adamu’s debut season ended as modestly as it began: in the entire 2023/24 Bundesliga season, he managed only a meager 93 minutes of playing time. The only bright spot for the player and fans at the time: a goal and an assist during a twelve-minute substitute appearance against Backa Topola in the Europa League. Due to his inconsistent performances, the youngster also missed out on the 2024 European Championship in Germany—ÖFB national coach Ralf Rangnick preferred to rely on Michael Gregoritsch.

📸 Alex Grimm - 2023 Getty Images

An early departure for the striker was not an option for SC at the time: “We had more than six loan inquiries for Junior. But we quickly agreed that, after such a start, we definitely didn’t want to throw in the towel after just half a year,” Hartenbach made clear in that winter interview.

So the 2024/2025 season was considered a second chance for the Austrian. Full pre-season, a new coach—why not try again? After a strong start to the season with braces in the first cup round against Osnabrück and on the third Bundesliga matchday against Bochum, he slumped again after a few games. Many missed big chances, problems holding up the ball, and weaknesses playing with his back to goal.

New coach Julian Schuster stood by the striker despite all the criticism: “I am still absolutely satisfied with Junior and his development. He leads from the front, keeps pressing, and brings his teammates along. That helps us enormously to implement our game against the ball the way we want,” he told ‘kicker’.

So Adamu was allowed to stay again this summer and try once more.

The parallels to last year are obvious given Adamu’s current high. A good start to the season, a couple of goal involvements in a short time. But the question remains: Will he collapse again and let his third—perhaps last—chance slip by unused? Or can he finally convert his great effort into goals on a consistent basis? For all the defensive work, that is ultimately the currency by which strikers are measured.

This afternoon, the Breisgauer host table neighbors Eintracht Frankfurt, and Adamu has the next chance to prove that this time, things really are different.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 LUKAS BARTH-TUTTAS - AFP or licensors