Flying high, falling low: Fiete Arp just doesn’t get going after his loan move from FC Bayern to Holstein Kiel. His current coach protects the striker, who was once extremely hyped at HSV, but the numbers speak against him.
On Saturday, Fiete Arp was finally able to prove himself for a few minutes on the field. When the score was 0:2 from Kiel’s point of view, the attacker was substituted on against Karlsruher SC, but was unable to change anything in the final phase of the Storks’ home defeat.
For Arp, it was the first significant assignment in the new year. First, a corona infection threw the 22-year-old off track, then coach Marcel Rapp had no reason to rebuild his team, which was in good form at the time, without great need. The former junior international stayed on the bench several times for the full 90 minutes.
FC Bayern once invested three million euros in Arp
However, the truth is that Arp was not convincing in the first series either. After two completely disappointing years at FC Bayern, the idea of his parent club was actually to give the once highly praised offensive talent game practice near his home in a quiet environment. But the native of Bad Segeberger did not take his chance.
Only one goal and two assists are after 16 appearances in the 2nd Bundesliga, Arp has been waiting for a starting eleven since the beginning of October. In the course of the first series, the Austrian Benedikt Pichler, who is much more assertive, had outstripped him in the center of the attack.
A circumstance with which neither the player himself nor FC Bayern can be satisfied. After all, the record champions had transferred three million euros to HSV in 2019 to bring the winner of the U17 Fritz Walter medal in gold from 2017 to Säbener Straße – so far not particularly well spent money.
Kiel coach protects Arp: “You have to see how old Fiete is”
In Munich Arp played almost exclusively for the second team in the 3rd division, he made his only game for the professionals in the DFB Cup against 1.FC Düren. After the second representation was relegated to the regional league, it was clear to everyone involved that a change of air was needed. Kiel seemed like the perfect choice.
At the moment, however, the former child prodigy is far behind in the offensive hierarchy at Holstein. Only in winter did the North Germans add another competitor in Kwasi Wriedt, Arp’s former strike partner from Bayern days.
Coach Rapp does not want to give up his protégé just yet. “You have to leave out the whole history and see how old Fiete is. It’s not unusual for me that a player his age plays in the second division,” emphasized the 42-year-old in the “image“. Arp wants to “look ahead, get better every day”, is also “totally humble” and will therefore “go his own way”.
Whether this will still be the case at FC Bayern in the future is more open than ever. Arp’s working paper with the German industry leader is valid until 2024.
Heiko Lütkehus