Bio
TOUGH TACKLING LEADER…
German defender Rebecca Knaak joined Manchester City in January 2024.
The versatile centre-back joined from Swedish outfit Rosengard until the summer of 2026 having enjoyed an illustrious near three-year stay there.
A commanding backline enforcer, Knaak is equally as sophisticated on the ball and such attributes saw her collect two Damallsvenskan titles in Sweden as well as the 2022 Svenska Cupen.
Rebecca was born in Adenau, Germany – a small medieval town in southwestern Germany which provided idyllic views, but perhaps not the best environment for an aspiring professional footballer.
She soon joined SC 07 Bad Neuenahr as a teenager before progressing through their ranks and moving to pastures new where she was handed her first real taste of senior football.
Knaak joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 and enjoyed four years there ahead of a switch to Freiburg where she spent a further four campaigns until 2021.
During this period, she began her psychology studies where she has since finished her master’s thesis and began her PhD in psychology – a degree she is currently working towards.
Throughout her early career, the 28-year-old was a consistent figure across Germany’s youth teams after making her debut for the Under-15s at 14-years-old.
She went onto represent the Under-17s and 19s before captaining the Under-20s across 10 appearances for the youth team.
In January 2022, Knaak ventured out of her homeland for the first time when joining Rosengard in Sweden and was quickly described by now City Director of Football Therese Sjogran as ‘a leader who is needed on and off the field’.
She then helped them to the league and cup double in 2022 and led from the back in 2024 as Rosengard won a 14th Damallsvenskan.
What’s more, she was named the division’s Defender of the Year award at the end of the term.
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