Tony Jantschke

Tony Jantschke (born 7 April 1990) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back.

Career
Jantschke began his career at Hoyerswerdaer SV Einheit and FV Dresden-Nord before moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2006. There he was used in the youth team and in the second team, living for almost two years in the club's youth boarding school. On 29 November 2008 he made his Bundesliga debut under coach Hans Meyer in a 3-1 home loss to Energie Cottbus, coming on as a substitute for Gal Alberman in the 46th minute. He scored his first Bundesliga goal in the game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (1:3) on 6 December 2008, in which he played the full 90 minutes. At 18 years and 243 days, he is Borussia's third youngest goalscorer in the Bundesliga, behind Marco Villa and Rainer Bonhof.

Jantschke signed a professional contract on 1 January 2009, which initially ran until the end of June 2012 and was later extended to 2018. At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, he got injured on 12 September 2010 in the second team's Regionalliga match against SC Wiedenbrück and, after breaking his left metatarsal, missed almost the entire first half of the season.

Jantschke, who was initially used as a defensive midfielder under Hans Meyer in Mönchengladbach (but has also played as a left or central defender) sees himself as a "defensive all-rounder". In the 2011–12 season, however, he found himself increasingly playied at right-back, with his former youth national team coach being the first to let him play a wide position in defence. There, he supplanted Tobias Levels and earned himself a regular place on this defensive side. During the first half of the 201314 season he was moved from full-back to central defense and was used in this position for several games.

On 20 April 2017, Jantschke extended his contract in Mönchengladbach until 2021. In December 2020, he extended his contract until 2023. In addition, an agreement was reached according to which Jantschke would take on a task in the club after his playing career. In early April 2023, his contract was extended until the end of the 2023-24 season. The agreement that he "remains with the club beyond his active career" was confirmed.

On 30 April 2024, Jantschke announced that he would retire at the end of the season.