At the age of 20, just as the pandemic arrived, Arthur Theate had begun to explore his options for an alternative job outside of football.
Finding himself without a club, he briefly considered a career in construction. In the time since, the defender has emphatically rebuilt his career.
In the coming weeks, he will represent Belgium at the World Cup in North America and, before he kicks a ball on the biggest stage, his performances have already been enough to put him on the radar of Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth. He might not have envisaged this moment six years ago.
Theate had spent time in the youth team and reserve sides at both Genk and Standard Liege, without making his first-team breakthrough. And, after leaving Standard — his hometown club — for the second time in his fledgling career in 2020, he was almost ready to give up on football.
A week-long trial at another Belgian club, Oostende, proved to be his salvation — as he secured his first professional contract. Six years later, he is an established international and plays in the Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt.
Arthur Theate has thrived at Eintracht Frankfurt (Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
Roughly 18 months after he considered quitting the game, Theate made his Belgium debut in a World Cup qualifier against Wales. After he had won the first of his 33 caps so far, in November 2021, then-Belgium coach Roberto Martinez described him as: “A player with a lot of character. He likes challenges, he’s good in terms of his aggression and intensity”.
The 26-year-old has needed every ounce of that character to get him to this point. Theate has built himself a reputation as being an emotionally resilient, determined personality.
“I’ve always believed in myself. I was preparing for a life other than football, but I never gave up. During COVID, I used the little money I had saved to pay for a physical trainer and to be ready if an opportunity arose,” Theate said in an interview with Onefootball.com. “Before Ostend, I tried out for a Belgian D2 club and was turned down. Ostend was my last chance because I couldn’t keep failing like that. But I never stopped believing in myself and I knew that one day things could turn around.”
Now there are many who expect that, this summer, he might well become the next big sale by Frankfurt. The German club’s model has long been to sell players and reinvest, and Theate’s rise has coincided with the broader decline of Frankfurt’s defensive standards, which have come alongside some of those sales.
Frankfurt are generally in the headlines for the departure of their big-name attackers — Hugo Ekitike joined Liverpool in a deal Frankfurt said could stretch to €93million (£79m; $107m) last summer and Omar Marmoush (a one-time Forest target) signed for Manchester City in a €70-75m move in January last year. But the club have also seen a lot of experienced, high-quality defensive players leave in recent years, including Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain in 2024), Evan Ndicka (Roma in 2023) and Tuta (Qatari side Al Duhail last year).
The players who have replaced them have not always been of the same quality. Robin Koch — the former Leeds United centre-back — has struggled. Goalkeepers Michael Zetterer and Kaua Santos have engaged in an unproductive battle for the No 1 shirt and the general impact has been one of instability.
Theate has stood out during a period of flux for the German side and his attitude has been an asset. Within the context of all this change, he has been a success story.
As well as his strong mentality, Theate is a versatile, left-footed defender. Having begun his career as a forward, he evolved firstly into a left winger and then into a left-back. Following a growth spurt in his late teens, he gradually moved into the centre of defence. Those who watch him regularly believe he is most comfortable playing on the left side of a three, but he has also flourished as part of a central defensive duo.
Our data categorises him as a channel defender, a centre-back who is happy to stride forward with the ball and defend in wide areas. He largely played on the left of a back three last season, but has also played in a back four for French side Rennes and even at left-back.
He ranks 241 out of 332 centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues for ‘true’ tackles per 1,000 opposition touches, a metric that tells us he doesn’t “stick a foot in” too often when his team are without the ball. But when he does, his success rate is high (62.9 per cent).
Theate carries the ball forward pretty frequently, while his passing with his left foot is good — as we can see from the chart below, he can move the ball through the centre of the pitch well and also keep it moving down the flanks with longer passes down the left.
In terms of playing style, he shares many similarities with former Forest defender Moussa Niakhate, who was sold to Lyon for £27million in July 2024.
In terms of a comparison with Forest’s most established left-sided central defender, Murillo, the main difference, according to last season’s data, is that the Brazilian is slightly more front-footed when it comes to jumping out of the defensive line and making interceptions. Theate tended to see a lot more of the ball at Frankfurt, taking around 30 extra touches per game and completing almost double the progressive carries per game (0.8 on average vs 1.9).
Forest also have Morato and Jair Cunha who can play as left-sided central defenders and both had a positive end to the season under head coach Vitor Pereira. But Theate’s ability to play at left-back also makes him a useful asset.
Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos are among the defenders Theate idolised growing up. Puyol seems particularly fitting given he shares the curly, flowing locks of the former Barcelona and Spain man. But it is Puyol’s grit that he really admired.
And if Pereira wants a player who will add even more determination to his back line, the club could do worse than target Theate.