With the Dane Dolberg, Hoffenheim gets reinforcements on the offensive. The club, which slipped further and further before the World Cup, can use it.
Zuzenhausen (dpa/lsw) - Kasper Dolberg was still missing in the shooting competition from 18 meters at the start of training in Zuzenhausen - but less than two hours later the Danish World Cup striker's move to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim was perfect. The North Baden Bundesliga club is loaning the 25-year-old from OGC Nice until the end of the season, and there should also be a purchase option.
"Kasper is a center forward who is distinguished by his intelligent way of playing as well as his excellent ball handling, his dynamism and a certain physicality," said TSG sporting director Alexander Rosen. "We are convinced that he can bring a component to our game that we do not yet have in our squad in this form."
The 1.87 meter tall attacker has a contract with his French club until 2024 and was loaned to FC Sevilla last year. There he was recently used little.
Still without Dolberg and without coach André Breitenreiter, who was ill, the Kraichgau team completed the first training session of the new year on Monday before heading to the training camp in Portugal on Tuesday. "Of course we're happy about newcomers," said defender Kevin Vogt. Dolberg had already shaken quite a few hands in the training center.
The centre-forward scored three goals for Denmark at last year's European Championship. In 2019 he moved from Ajax Amsterdam to Nice for around 20 million euros. There he scored 24 goals in 85 games. Alongside the currently injured Jacob Bruun Larsen and Robert Skov, Dolberg is the third Dane in the current Hoffenheim squad.
At the end of 2022, the Kraichgauer were plagued by personnel problems on the offensive, as Ihlas Bebou (knee) and Munas Dabbur (shoulder) had suffered serious injuries. Bebou hasn't played a single game of the season yet. The duo is now training again. With 22 goals in 15 games, the eleventh place in the table, which had slipped further and further before the World Cup, could not exactly shine.
Goalkeeper Oliver Baumann is also a thorn in his side because of the 22 goals he conceded: "Fewer goals conceded and more zero-to-zero also give points," he warned. The captain didn't want to talk too much about the still aspired participation in the European Cup: "We don't need to swear to it artificially. My personal goal: play a better second half of the season - we should work on that."
At the training session on Monday, which was led by the assistant coaches Frank Fröhling and Darius Scholtysek, the Croatian World Cup bronze medalist Andrej Kramaric was also on the pitch. The long-term injured Grischa Prömel (fractured ankle) and Jacob Bruun Larsen (hernia) were missing alongside the sick rider.
"We worked intensively before Christmas and now we want to build on that so that we can play a successful round. The coach and the coaching team will not let go of the gas pedal," said Vogt and demanded: "Each of us can go one step further."
Hoffenheim set off for the training camp in Albufeira on Tuesday. In Portugal there are friendlies against VfL Wolfsburg (January 6th) and Servette Geneva (January 9th). The final endurance test will be on January 14th at FSV Mainz 05. In the Bundesliga, the Kraichgauer will continue on January 21st against 1. FC Union Berlin.
