Agreement on transfer fee
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Christian Ilzer will apparently be the new coach at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. According to information from the TV channel “Sky”, there should be an agreement between the Kraichgau team and Ilzer’s club Sturm Graz. There is no confirmation from Hoffenheim yet.
Ilzer, who won the double with Graz, will succeed Pellegrino Matarazzo, who was released on Monday. It was the desired solution of the new sports director Andreas Schicker, who had worked successfully with the coach in Graz until October. According to Sky, Hoffenheim will have to pay a transfer fee of 2.5 million euros for the coach, who will have a contract until at least 2027.
Hoffenheim are only in 15th place in the Bundesliga with nine points from ten games. The appearances in the Europa League were also bumpy with only one win from four games. The separation from Matarazzo, who had held the coaching position since February 2023, no longer came as a surprise at the beginning of the week after the 0-0 draw at FC Augsburg.
Now Schicker and Ilzer want to continue their successful collaboration in Hoffenheim. In Austria, Sturm Graz and they replaced series champions RB Salzburg at the top after ten titles and also led them into the Champions League, where they most recently lost 1-0 at Borussia Dortmund. In addition, like in 2023, the duo brought the cup to Styria.
Ilzer to TSG Hoffenheim: trio from Graz reunited
This would mean a complete change in Hoffenheim’s sporting leadership. Long-time manager Alexander Rosen, who was an important advocate for Matarazzo, had to leave in the summer. In addition to Schicker, Paul Pajduch also moved to the North Baden-based company as technical director from Graz in October. As the “Kicker” reported, the Kraichgauers also want to get rid of Ilzer’s almost entire coaching staff, which understandably doesn’t go down well with the Austrian double winner.
Ilzer, who has been working in Graz since 2020, would be the fifth coach in Hoffenheim since the departure of current national coach Julian Nagelsmann in the summer of 2019. Alfred Schreuder, Sebastian Hoeneß, André Breitenreiter and Matarazzo were unable to bring lasting success to TSG.
