Image: EXPA/REINHARD EISENBAUER (APA/EXPA/REINHARD EISENBAUER)
Alexander Schmidt returns to the Bundesliga: The 25-year-old from Vienna terminated his contract with the Portuguese first division club Vizela and signed with Austria for one season with the option of another.
“In Alex we found a striker who fitted our search profile perfectly and we didn’t have it in the squad. He gives us more options for our offensive,” explained sporting director Manuel Ortlechner. Schmidt played a total of 69 Bundesliga games for Wolfsberg, St. Pölten and LASK and scored 15 goals, mainly for St. Pölten in the 2020/21 season (13).
He played for the Lower Austrians on loan from LASK, who signed him in the summer of 2020. When he returned to the athletes he was not able to assert himself, a year ago Schmidt switched to Vizela. He made twelve competitive appearances for the Portuguese last season, only three of them in the starting XI. He remained without a goal contribution. At Austria he should now close the gap left by Haris Tabakovic’s departure to Hertha BSC.
Drame moved to Turkish second division club
At the same time, an ex-LASK striker left Austria for good: Ibrahima Drame switched to the Turkish second division club Bandirmaspor. In January 2020, LASK signed the winger from Diambars FC in his home country of Senegal. He played for the former cooperation club FC Juniors OÖ, a cruciate ligament rupture slowed down his development. In the Bundesliga he was never on the ball for the athletes.
A year ago, Drame moved to Austria together with Marko Raguz, James Holland and Andreas Gruber. He scored seven goals in 20 second division appearances for the Young Violets and was substituted on five times for the Bundesliga team.
Bundesliga transfers
- FC Salzburg
Additions: Schlager (LASK), Bidstrup (Den, Brentford, most recently Nordsjaelland), Terzic (Srb, Florence), Ratkov (Srb, Backa Topola), Nene (Mli, Westerlo, after loan), Diambou (Mli, Lucerne, after loan), Mantl (D, Aalborg, on loan), Piatkowski (Pol, Gent, on loan), Simic (Cro, FC Zurich, on loan), Morgalla (D, 1860 Munich)
Departures: Seiwald (Leipzig), Adamu (Freiburg), Sesko (Slo, Leipzig), Okafor (Sui, AC Milan), Köhn (Sui, Monaco), Bernardo (Bra, Bochum), Van der Brempt (Bel, Hamburg, loan), Diakite (Civ, Reims), Onguene (Cmr, Frankfurt, after loan), Stejskal (Cze, Tirol), Walke (D, end of career) - SK Sturm Graz
Additions: Wlodarczyk (Pol, Gornik Zabrze), Scherpen (Ned, Brighton & Hove, loan), Johnston (Sco, Motherwell), Serrano (Esp, Atletico Madrid, loan), Demaku (Klagenfurt, after loan), Bignetti (Frankfurt), Haider (Hoffenheim II)
Departures: Emegha (Ned, Strasbourg), Ljubic (LASK), Siebenhandl (LASK), Okonkwo (Eng, Arsenal, after loan), Ajeti (Sui, Celtic Glasgow, after loan), Wels (Austria Vienna), Schützenauer (Altach), Komposch (Hartberg), Schendl (Ried), Ingolitsch - LASK
Additions: Kone (Sen, Nimes), Ba (D, Leipzig, loan), Ljubic (Sturm Graz), Siebenhandl (Sturm Graz), Darboe (Gam, AS Roma, loan), Pintor (Fra, Saint-Etienne), Andrade (Pan , Bielefeld), Bello (USA, Bielefeld), Havel (liefering), Balic (Altach, after loan), Twardzik (Cze, Trnava, after loan)
Departures: Schlager (Salzburg), Potzmann (Austria Vienna), Talowjerow (Ukr, Slavia Prague, after loan), Celic (Darmstadt, after loan), Wimhofer (Horn, loan), Gebauer (end of career), Boller (D) - SK Rapid
Additions: M. Seidl (Blau-Weiss Linz), Mayulu (Blau-Weiss Linz), Grgic (Hajduk Split), Cvetkovic (Srb, Ashdod), Kaygin (D, Mainz U19)
Departures: Zimmermann (Wolfsberg), K. Wimmer (Slovan Bratislava), Druijf (Ned, Zwolle, loan), Kasius (Ned, Bologna, after loan, to Alkmaar), Petrovic (Slo, Rijeka), Fallmann (Freiburg II, loan), Schuster (Sandhausen), Dijakovic (Tychy), Knasmüllner - FK Austria Vienna
Additions: Potzmann (LASK), Plavotic (Cro, Ried), Schmidt (Vizela), Guenouche (Fra, Lustenau), Wels (Sturm Graz), Kani (Isr, Bnei Yehuda), Polz (Drassburg)
Departures: Tabakovic (Sui, Hertha BSC), Dovedan (Heidenheim), Mühl (D, La Spezia), Keles (Karagümrük, loan), Leidner (Isr, Piraeus, after loan), Teigl (Admira), Drame (Sen, Bandirmaspor) - SK Austria Klagenfurt
Additions: May (D, Viktoria Berlin), Gemicibasi (Tur, Kasimpasa, on loan), Schwarz (Rapid II, on loan), Hasenhüttl (Oldenburg, on loan), Djoric (Srb, Sibenik, on loan), Markelic (Viktoria Berlin, after loan)
Departures: Rieder (Wolfsberg), Demaku (Sturm Graz, after a loan), Moreira (Uru, Panserraikos), Metu (D, Bayern Munich II, after a loan, to Horn), Fuchs (D, Sandhausen), Blauensteiner, Miesenböck - Wolfsberger AC
Additions: Sabitzer (LASK, most recently Tirol), Zimmermann (Rapid), Rieder (Klagenfurt), Kennedy (Can, Regensburg), Bamba (Civ, Rishon Le Zion), Altunashvili (Geo, Batumi), Ibertsberger (Salzburg, Leihe, most recently Liefering)
Departures: Baribo (Isr, Philadelphia), Malone (D, Augsburg, after loan), Anzolin (Ita, Triestina), Oermann (D, Bochum, after loan), D. Gugganig (Tyrol), Schifferl (Unterhaching, loan), Taferner, dive hammer - SC Austria Lustenau
Additions: Mätzler (Altach, most recently Dornbirn), Diallo (Fra, Clermont, loan), Cisse (Stittard), Devisate (Bra, Mineiro), Bobzien (D, Mainz), Marte (Dornbirn, after loan)
Departures: Guenouche (Fra, Austria Vienna), Hugonet (Fra, Magdeburg), Türkmen (Tur, Clermont, on loan, to Ankaragücü), Motika (Srb, Red Star Belgrade, on loan, to Olimpija Ljubljana), Gedikli (Tur, Trabzonspor, after loan), Bellache (Alg, Clermont, after loan), Koudossou (D, Augsburg, after loan, to The Hague), Cheukoua (Cmr, GAK), Adriel (Bra, Bregenz), Küng (Wiener Sport-Club), Bacic (Hohenems) - WSG Tyrol
Additions: Buksa (Pol, FC Genoa, loan), Prelec (Slo, Cagliari, loan), Kronberger (Sturm Graz, loan, most recently Ried), Stejskal (Cze, Salzburg), D. Gugganig (Wolfsberg)
Departures: Sabitzer (LASK, on loan, to Wolfsberg), Behounek (Willem II), Rogelj (Slo, Chaleroi), Prica (Swe, Aalborg, on loan), Bauernfeind (Horn), Rinaldi (Arg), Beccari (Ita) - TSV Hartberg
Additions: Lang (storm, loan, most recently Ried), Bowat (Sco, Fulham, loan), Komposch (Sturm Graz), Entrup (Marchfeld), Urdl (Deutschlandsberg), Schutti (St. Pölten Juniors), Scherf (Amstetten, after loan) , Fillafer (Spittal), Kovacevic (Vorarlberg Academy)
Departures: Schantl (Blau-Weiß Linz), Fadinger (Altach), Tadic (St. Pölten), Avdijaj (Kos, FC Zurich, after a loan), Kriwak (Rapid, after a loan, to Dordrecht), Horvat (Cro, Leoben), Erhardt (Drassburg), Sturm (Siezenheim), Faist (end of career), Sonnleitner, Klem - SCR Altach
Additions: Gebauer (Bielefeld), Stojanovic (Regensburg), Fadinger (Hartberg), Schützenauer (Sturm Graz), Reiner (Gliwice, Leihe), Koller (GAK), Santos (Bra, Dornbirn), Lukacevic (Admira), Kaiba (Cmr, Coton Sport), Eckmayr (WSC Hertha), Piffer (Akademie Vorarlberg)
Departures: Balic (LASK, after a loan), Haudum (Blau-Weiss Linz), Casali (Brunswick), Herold (D, Bayern Munich II, after a loan, to Karlsruhe), Jungdal (Den, AC Milan, after a loan, to Cremonese), Lazetic (Srb, AC Milan, after loan), Ndiaye (Fra, Sanliurfaspor), Mischitz (Dornbirn, loan), Odehnal (Dornbirn, loan), Schreiner (Weißkirchen/Allhaming), Thurnwald, Tartarotti - FC Blau-Weiss Linz
Additions: Haudum (Altach), Dobras (Vaduz), Schantl (Hartberg), Pasic (Steyr), Hofer (Salzburg, Leihe, most recently Liefering), Lukse (Vienna), Noß (Sco, Mönchengladbach), Ibrahimi (D, Leipzig), holiday (Amstetten), Softic (LASK amateurs Upper Austria)
Departures: M. Seidl (Rapid), Mayulu (Fra, Rapid), Schößwendter (end of career), Fetahu (Alb, Dornbirn), Herrmann (D, Zwickau), Neumayr (Seekirchen), Briedl (Wallern/St. Marienkirchen, Leihe), Radulovic (Wallern/St. Marienkirchen, loan), Schößwendter (end of career), Rath
Source: Nachrichten
