Only one striker currently fit
©IMAGO
After his first goal of this Bundesliga season, Robert Glatzel was diagnosed with a bitter diagnosis: a torn muscle fiber and thus his retirement for the rest of the year. “Mentally, it hurts a little more than my thigh. I had to wait a long time for my chance, and I think I was able to make good use of it. Now having to watch from outside again hurts,” said the Hamburger SV striker at half-time in the DFB Cup round of 16 against Holstein Kiel (3:5 n. E.) on “Sky”.
Glatzel has scored 82 competitive goals for HSV since his arrival in the summer of 2021. This puts the 31-year-old in the historical top 10 of Rothosen’s best goalscorers. He has also been one of the audience’s favorites for years. Most recently, he was mostly only in demand as a joker under coach Merlin Polzin. That’s why there was speculation in the media about a departure in the winter, despite a contract that runs until 2027. But that was not his intention, as Glatzel emphasized. When asked whether he would stay in Hamburg in January, the attacker replied: “Yes, that is the plan.”
The Munich native wants to get back to health quickly in the next few weeks, as the Hamburg attack staffing levels are thin. Like Glatzel, captain Yussuf Poulsen is also struggling with a torn muscle fiber, which is why there is currently only one fit center forward available, Ransford Königsdörffer. It is therefore quite possible that HSV will improve on this position again in the winter.
“Now for me it’s a matter of getting fit and getting back on the pitch as quickly as possible. And then I hope that I can pick up where I left off in the last game. We’ll see everything else. But my focus is on HSV,” emphasized Glatzel once again at the end.