Hoffenheim looking for experience in January transfer window

TSG Hoffenheim sit 13th in the Bundesliga after the weekend round with 19 points. Looking at the rest of the table, it certainly can’t be said to be out of danger of a potential relegation battle. The team, led by André Breitenreiter since the summer, certainly envisioned a calmer sailing for this season, and so they are looking to steer towards it in the second half of the season by strengthening the lineup with experienced mainstays. Do their January actions in the transfer market make sense?

Hoffenheim are seen as an ambitious and progressive club. However, the truth is that they have been tinkering quite a bit since Julian Nagelsmann’s departure from the bench. They did improve their first year after the departure of the current Bayern coach, jumping from ninth to sixth place, but have spent the last two seasons around ninth place again. They are more than a long way from finishing fourth and third respectively from the 16/17 and 17/18 seasons.

The club currently sits in 13th place and it looks more like a fight for European places rather than a fight for relegation. Claims of a progressive direction can be supported by the midfield, for example, with which André Breitenreiter’s team ran out for the recent clash with Union Berlin, consisting of Geiger (24), Stiller (21) and Bischof (17).

However, Stiller and Geiger have been added to the injured list alongside Grisch Prömel and the 17-year-old Bischof can only be supplemented from deep midfield by Rudy, Tuhumcu and Ole Becker, of whom only the 32-year-old mainstay Rudy has proper first-team experience.

The midfield is therefore one of the positions where Hoffenheim are looking to strengthen in the winter. Along with the midfield, they also want to reinforce the centre of defence. Here, too, they are leaning on young players, be it summer acquisition and short-term English Liverpool player Ozan Kabak (22), Stanley Nsoki (23), visiting Eduardo Quaresma (20) or Kevin Akpoguma (27).

Also on the roster are 30-year-olds Kevin Vogt and Ermin Bicakcic. However, the former has been repeatedly absent with injuries since October, while the former Bosnian international does not have the confidence of the new coach and has barely featured in the last year of his contract.

Brooks as a certain reinforcement of the defence

TSG Hoffenheim have therefore brought back to the Bundesliga a long-term stalwart of Germany’s top competition, John Anthony Brooks. Apparently also a former, though not by choice, United States international, the player opted for a foreign experience in the summer after his experiences in his native Berlin with Hertha and then Wolfsburg. However, his transfer to Portuguese side Benfica was not a success and he only hit 233 minutes of play in their jersey during the whole of the autumn.

So the situation was exploited by the Dietmar Hoppe-owned team in January, and since Brooks went to Portugal as a free agent, they brought him back for a compensation of just 300,000 euros. They offered the player, who celebrated his 30th birthday a few days ago, a sober 18-month contract.

They have therefore committed him until the summer of 2024. Taking into account the unspecified salary, but which, judging by his past, will probably place him among the club’s highest earning players, this is a purchase with minimal risk that can help Hoffenheim not fall too close to relegation waters.

Delaney as a boost to the midfield

Hoffenheim have similar plans for the mooted midfield. There, they have offered a path back to the Bundesliga to one former player of that competition, Thomas Delaney. Today, the 31-year-old Danish international lost the place that was his last year at Sevilla. Hoffenheim have thus secured the former Borussia Dortmund or Werder Bremen prop on a six-month loan deal.

Delaney is thus another league-tested reinforcement without risk. At least financially. Delaney’s injury history is a slight concern given Hoffenheim’s current midfield.

After all, it’s barely been a couple of weeks since he returned to training after knee problems. Still, worst case scenario, Hoffenheim will be in the same position as before and Delaney will head back to Sevilla after the season.

Source: Florian Plettenberg – SKY DE, Transfermarkt, TSG Hoffenheim