Kevin Christian Trapp (; born 8 July 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Paris FC.
Trapp began his professional career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he took part in two Bundesliga seasons. In 2012, he signed for Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee of €1.5 million and played regularly over three years, also competing in the UEFA Europa League. He joined Paris Saint-Germain for an estimated €10 million in 2015, where he won several domestic honours. In 2018, he re-joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan, before signing permanently the next season.
Trapp won 21 caps for Germany's youth teams, including 11 for the under-21s, and made his full debut in June 2017. He was part of their squad that won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and also competed at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
Club career 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Born in Merzig, West Germany, Trapp began his football career at FC Brotdorf, joining at seven years old. He moved to neighbouring town, SSV Bachem aged twelve. After spending two years there, Trapp joined SV Mettlach. One day, he said in an interview on joining 1. FC Kaiserslautern, saying:
Trapp started his professional career with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he progressed through the club's youth system. During his time at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Trapp said he learned a lot from Gerald Ehrmann.
Trapp made his first appearance in the first team on 9 August 2008 in the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal round 1 against FC Carl Zeiss Jena, losing 2–1. It was announced on 21 July 2009 that he signed his first professional contract with the club, keeping him until 2013. Trapp made another appearance in the first team ten days later on 31 July 2009 in the 2009–10 DFB-Pokal round 1 against Eintracht Braunschweig, where he kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0. Over the next two seasons, Trapp was involved in the first team, appearing as the club's third choice goalkeeper and then second choice goalkeeper. At one point during the 2009–10 season, he suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out for three months. By January, Trapp made a recovery.
Since the start of the 2010–11 season, Trapp became the club's second goalkeeper for the side and was featured on the substitute bench. On 12 March 2011, with regular goalkeeper Tobias Sippel sidelined with influenza, he made his Bundesliga debut in a 2–1 home win over SC Freiburg. Competing with Sippel, Trapp played all eight remaining fixtures of the season. During which, he kept three clean sheets for the side, including two in a row between 23 April 2011 and 29 April 2011 against Schalke 04 and FC St. Pauli. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Trapp went on to make nine appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Trapp was linked with a move to Schalke 04 but he ended up staying at the club. Following this, Trapp continued to be the club's first choice goalkeeper at the start of the season, beating out Sippel. His performance was praised by Manager Marco Kurz, who said: "Kevin once again proved his class in a very emotional, intense game and saved the point. Overall, it was a happy FCK point win after the entire 90 minutes, which is morally very valuable." Despite suffering from injury in late–October, Trapp continued to remain as the club's first choice goalkeeper. Along the way, he kept clean sheets for the side, both coming against SC Freiburg and Werder Bremen. However, in early–March, Trapp suffered a thigh injury and was sidelined for two matches. After returning from injury, he found himself on the substitute bench, as Sippel was the club's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 2011–12 season. As the season progressed, 1. FC Kaiserslautern was eventually relegated to 2.Bundesliga. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Trapp made twenty–six appearances in all competitions.
Eintracht Frankfurt On 7 May 2012, Trapp left relegated Kaiserslautern and joined promoted Eintracht Frankfurt on a four-year contract for a fee of €1.5 million.
Trapp made his Eintracht Frankfurt debut, where he started the match, only to be sent–off in the 19th minute for a professional foul on Jakub Sylvestr, as the club lost 3–0 against Erzgebirge Aue in the first round of the DFB–Pokal. Despite this, Trapp made his league debut for the club, helping the side win 2–1 against Bayer Leverkusen in the opening game of the season. In a follow–up match against Hoffenheim, he kept his first clean sheet in his Eintracht Frankfurt's career, winning 4–0. Since joining the club, he quickly became a first choice goalkeeper for the side. The team had a good start to his first season, sitting in third place by November, and he received plaudits for his performances against leaders Bayern Munich despite losing 2–0. Manager Armin Veh praised Trapp's performance, saying: "Kevin has a great mentality, is totally on the ground. He's going to get even better." He then helped the club keep four clean sheets between 2 February 2013 and 10 March 2013. However, his campaign ended prematurely in March 2013, due to a hand injury while with the national under-21 team. Despite the injury, Trapp made twenty–seven appearances in all competitions and helped Eintracht Frankfurt finish sixth place in the league, therefore qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
Having served a one match suspension for his red card last season, Trapp made his first appearance of the season against Hertha BSC in the opening game of the season and conceded six goals, as Eintracht Frankfurt lost 6–1. Since his return, he continued to regain his place as the club's first choice goalkeeper in the 2013–14 season. Trapp played in both legs of the UEFA Europa League Play–Offs against Qarabağ, helping the side win 4–1 on aggregate to qualify the Group Stage. He then helped Eintracht Frankfurt qualify to knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League Group Stage and helped the club earn four clean sheets along the way. However, the club reached the last 32, where they lost on away goals to FC Porto after a 5–5 aggregate draw. During a 5–0 loss against Bayern Munich on 2 February 2014, he suffered a bruise on his right tibia and was substituted in the 77th minute. Following a check, Trapp was given all clear and returned to the starting line–up against Eintracht Braunschweig on 8 February 2014, as he helped the side win 3–0. During the 2013–14 season, he saved four penalties, a record of his penalty saves in a season. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Trapp went on to make forty–six appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Trapp was linked with a move to Borussia Mönchengladbach as a replacement for Marc-André ter Stegen, but stayed at Eintracht Frankfurt. He also was given a captaincy by Manager Thomas Schaaf following the departure of Pirmin Schwegler. Trapp made a good start as a captain when he helped the side earn two wins and four draws. However, during a 2–2 draw against Mainz 05 on 24 September 2014, he suffered ankle injury at the last minutes and was sidelined for four months. It wasn't until on 31 January 2015 when Trapp returned to the starting line–up against Freiburg, as they lost 4–1. Following his return, he resumed his captain role, as well as, his first choice goalkeeper status. It was announced on 2 March 2015 that he signed a three–year contract with the club, keeping him until 2019. Since returning from injury, Trapp continued to regain his captaincy and his role as the club's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 2014–15 season. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he went on to make twenty–three appearances in all competitions.
Paris Saint-Germain
On 8 July 2015, Trapp signed a five-year deal with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of around €10 million, and was assigned the number 16 jersey.
Trapp made his debut on 1 August in the 2015 Trophée des Champions in Montreal, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Lyon. He then kept four clean sheets in the first four league matches of the season. His five consecutive clean sheets ended when he conceded two goals, including a mistake that allowed Wahbi Khazri to capitalize the mistake, in a 2–2 draw against Bordeaux on 11 September 2015. Despite the mistakes, Trapp regained his first choice goalkeeper role and then made amends from his mistake against rivals, Marseille on 4 October 2015, making impressive saves, including saving a penalty from Abdelaziz Barrada, as PSG won 2–1. However, he suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty and missed one match as a result. Trapp returned to the starting line–up against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League match on 21 October 2015, starting the whole game, as he helped the side keep the match goalless, in a 0–0 draw.
Trapp went on to earn a total of four clean sheets, as PSG advanced to the UEFA Champions League Group Stage. Following this, he kept three consecutive clean sheets between 19 December 2015 and 16 January 2016 against SM Caen, Bastia and Toulouse. Trapp then played in both legs of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 against Chelsea, as he helped the side win 4–2 to advance to the next round. During the 2015–16 season, Trapp overtook Salvatore Sirigu as PSG's first choice goalkeeper in the club's Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League matches, while the Italian played in the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue, as he helped the club win a domestic quadruple. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Trapp went on to make forty–six appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2016–17 season, Trapp was in goal as PSG won the 2016 Trophée des Champions in Austria, a 4–1 win on 6 August against Lyon again. Shortly after, he switched number shirt to number one. Despite being featured in the first four league matches of the season, Trapp was dropped in favour for youngster Alphonse Areola. Following Areola's injury, Trapp returned to the starting line–up for the next two matches, where he kept two clean sheets. But following Areola's poor performance, he returned to the starting line–up once again, coming against FC Lorient on 21 December 2016 and kept a clean sheet, as PSG won 5–0. This was followed up by keeping three consecutive clean sheets between 7 January 2017 and 21 January 2017. However, during a 1–1 draw against AS Monaco on 29 January 2017, Trapp suffered a muscle injury and was substituted in the 54th minute; he was sidelined for two weeks. He returned to the starting line–up two weeks later on 10 February 2017, keeping a clean sheet, in a 3–0 win against Bordeaux.