Sorted out professionals
© Imago
Dennis Geiger and Mergim Berisha, which was sorted out at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, could be back on the pitch shortly, according to “Kicker” – but not with the professionals. The two 27-year-olds have been training for the second team of the Kraichgauer for a long time, and they are working in the 3rd division. There they should collect play practice and draw attention to themselves, because their contracts run until 2027.
With 33 professionals, Hoffenheim has the biggest squad in the Bundesliga. The competition for Geiger and Berisha is accordingly large. Geiger, who played his last game for TSG in May, got two new teammates in his position with Leon Avdullahu and Wouter Burger in the summer. The same applies to Berisha, who was awarded to FC Augsburg in the past second half of the season, and now has two other strikers in front of him with Tim Lemperle and Fisnik Asllani.
Both professionals have had a clear minus in the market value in the past. Geiger reached his career high in February 2021 with 13 million euros, after a few injuries and little season, this has dropped to 2 million euros. It is similar with Berisha, who came from the FCA in the summer of 2023 for 14 million euros, and whose market value has since decreased from 14 million to EUR 3.5 million. At the upcoming market value update of the Bundesliga on October 14th, this trend should continue.
In terms of squad value, the U23 of the TSG in the 3rd league with 5.85 million euros is in 15th. The combined market value of the two professionals is 5.5 million euros and is higher than the squad value of four third division teams. They would be the most valuable professionals in the 3rd division and would replace Hoffenheim’s Deniz Zeitler and Regensburg’s Leopold Wurm. After the international break, the tenth -placed TSG travels to VfL Osnabrück before a home game against Erzgebirge Aue follows.