After the departures of Szalai & Drexler
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With Attila Szalai (26), TSG Hoffenheim gave away a central defender on loan on Sunday, and the Kraichgauers apparently have a new one in their sights. As the “Kicker” reports, among others, the Austrian veteran Gernot Trauner (32) from Feyenoord Rotterdam is the Bundesliga club’s preferred candidate with a view to strengthening the defense.
The 15-time international has a contract with the Eredivisie club until 2026. In the current season, the 1.83 meter tall right-footer has only played seven times in the league due to injury. In the Champions League, Trauner played all six games for the Dutch and scored a goal in Feyenoord’s 4-2 win against Prague. The central defender is well known to Hoffenheim’s managing director Andreas Schicker and coach Christian Ilzer from the ÖFB team. According to the magazine, the focus of TSG, where Ozan Kabak (24) is expected to return in the spring after recovering from a torn cruciate ligament, is on a loan deal for the second half of the season.
With Robin Hranac (24), Arthur Chaves (23), Kevin Akpoguma (29) and Stanley Nsoki (25), Ilzer now has four more regular players for the defensive center after the departures of Szalai and the talent Tim Drexler (19), who moved to Nuremberg available. Trauner could give this further stability in the club bosses’ considerations with his experience. The relegation-threatened Hoffenheim team conceded 29 goals after 16 matchdays, and on Saturday they were 15th in the table. have to admit defeat to VfL Wolfsburg. For the offensive, TSG signed Gift Orban (22) in the winter and brought Erencan Yardimci (22) back early from his loan from Graz.
