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RB Leipzig and 27 year old Benjamin Henrichs have agreed on an early three-year contract extension until 2028.
The Red Bulls can thus retain the next top performer in the long term. The 27-year-old has been playing for RB Leipzig since summer 2020 and has tallied eight goals and 16 assists in his 142 competitive RBL games to date. The German international (currently 14 caps) was also called up for the the 2024 European Championship.
RB Leipzig sporting director Rouven Schröder said, “Benjamin Henrichs is a special player because he’s very flexible and always delivers. He’s also extremely important to us in the dressing room as a leader and link between players and management. That’s why Benny has been on the team council since this season and is a key contact for our young players – also because of his multilingual ability. We’ve always stressed that we would very much like to extend Benny’s contract and that we’re counting on him in the future because he lives the club with his philosophy and his football.”
“We’ve discussed the next step openly and it’s quite normal that he was considering other options at this stage of his career. In the end, however, the overall package convinced him of RB Leipzig with our ambitions and goals for the next few years – Benny will continue to play a very important role here. With this contract extension, we can answer a very important squad question positively before the last game of the season.”
Benjamin Henrichs said, “I’ve been with RB Leipzig for almost four years now and have spent the longest and most successful time of my professional career here – and now four more years are to come! I’m incredibly happy about that and am really looking forward to everything that is to come. We have outstanding conditions, a great stadium with great fans and, above all, a very, very cool team. I want to continue to take on responsibility as a leader, support our many young players and bring my qualities to the pitch.”
“We’ve always had a very fair exchange of views. I’m now 27 years old and of course I have also thought about whether I’d like to try something new again. But the club and the sporting management around Rouven Schröder and Marco Rose have always made it very clear to me that they’re counting on me and would like to see me continue in Leipzig. This appreciation makes me proud and I’m happy to continue to be a Red Bull.”
Benjamin Henrichs initially came to the Red Bulls on loan from AS Monaco in July 2020. After fighting for a regular place, he was out for more than three months with patellar tendon problems, before returning for the season finale and finishing as runner-up. Benny impressed in his 20 competitive games, so we exercised the purchase option for a permanent commitment in April 2021.
In the summer of 2021, Henrichs took part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo with Germany, playing 90 minutes in all three games, but was eliminated with the team in the preliminary round. In the Bundesliga, he finished fourth with RBL at the end of the season, reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League and the DFB Cup final for the second time. Here, Benny was on the pitch for the entire 120 minutes and converted the decisive penalty in the shootout to make it 5-3 and give us our first DFB Cup victory, against SC Freiburg.
In the 2022/23 season, Henrichs was a regular starter and played 44 games in all competitions. Our No.39 scored the important second goal the cup semi-final in Freiburg (5-1) and finally crowned himself a double cup winner against Frankfurt. He also played from the start and for the full 90 minutes in the second victorious final.
Benny and the team built upon the DFB Cup victory with the Supercup victory against Bayern Munich (3-0) and he set up Dani Olmo’s goal for 1-0.
This season, Henrichs was promoted to the team council and played a total of 41 games with one goal and eight assists, which is a personal best for the versatile right-footer.
