The change is perfect, VfB Stuttgart have signed Luca Pfeiffer. The striker, who last played for Darmstadt 98 in the second division, comes from Danish club FC Midtjylland. The fee is estimated at three million euros.
At first sight, the man causes a lot of respect. At 1.96 meters tall, the bearded Luca Pfeiffer outshines most defenders. The 25-year-old isn’t just big and strong, he’s also a really good striker. With his 17 goals for Darmstadt 98, Pfeiffer not only plowed unstoppably through the second division penalty areas, but also shot himself into the headlines and the notebooks of the first division scouts.
VfB Stuttgart can also use the massive center forward Luca Pfeiffer (contract until 2026) in the future, especially since Sasa Kalajdzic still as an acute candidate for change applies and Pfeiffer is an ideal complement to the more graceful offensive players like Tiago Tomas, Chris Führich or Darko Churlinov.
Pfeiffer is a goalscorer, hard worker and Schlager fan
Luca Pfeiffer is not only considered a cool goal specialist, but also a hard worker in the service of his respective team. “With long strides and close ball control, he always knows how to tear gaps in the opposing defense,” said the colleagues from the Hessischer Rundfunk about Luca Pfeiffer’s strong performances last season in the Darmstadt jersey. In any case, the instinctive footballer and crowd favorite felt at home at the Böllenfalltor and really got off to a flying start.
Incidentally, Darmstadt coach Torsten Lieberknecht gave Pfeiffer the nickname “Howard Carpendale”. Pfeiffer loves German Schlager art, not only established himself as the top scorer for the Lilies, but also as a musical warm-up during bus trips after away wins.
In the youth of TSG Hoffenheim
Luca Pfeiffer was born in Bad Mergentheim. So he is a genuine Baden-Württemberger. Via VfR Gommersdorf, where he grew up, the talented kicker ended up in the youth academy of TSG Hoffenheim and played there in the U17s. However, because the feeling of well-being among the youngsters in the Bundesliga was, according to his own statement, not that great, he moved back to his home region to the Oberliga club FSV Hollenbach.
Champions League experience in Denmark
Things went well again in Hollenbach, where Pfeiffer started as a top scorer for the first time as a junior player in the senior division, scoring 32 Oberliga goals in 80 games from 2013 to 2016. The tall attacker also showed his nose for goals at the Stuttgarter Kickers, scoring 13 times in 43 regional league games for the Blues. So Luca Pfeiffer already knows the state capital Stuttgart very well.
Luca Pfeiffer also stormed for the Stuttgarter Kickers
Two years ago, Pfeiffer then switched to the Danish champions and Champions League participants FC Midtjylland via SC Paderborn, VfL Osnabrück (promoted to the 2nd division) and Würzburger Kickers (promotion to the 2nd division), and signed a contract there until 2024.
With the Danes, Pfeiffer even collected Champions League minutes against Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam. The great football luck was denied him in the north: “That was not an easy year abroad,” said Pfeiffer afterwards.
Almost promoted to the Bundesliga with Darmstadt
And so last summer SV Darmstadt 98 finally brought Pfeiffer back to Germany from Denmark and landed the big coup with the loan of the striker: He developed into one of the top scorers in the league with the Hessen team. Side by side with fellow striker Philipp Tietz (15 goals), Luca Pfeiffer (17 goals) shot through the season.
Pfeiffer and Tietz – a kind of “dream duo” with coordinated routes and blind understanding: “Everyone is happy for the other,” said Luca Pfeiffer in an interview with HR about his relationship with Philipp Tietz, “we treat ourselves to everything”. Only promotion to the Bundesliga was not granted to the two in the end, shortly before the end of the round the Darmstadt team slipped to fourth place in the table.
Bundesliga dream at VfB?
With the move to VfB Stuttgart, Luca Pfeiffer is now fulfilling his Bundesliga dream. The preliminary highlight of a professional career over many stations and more on the second educational path. But it doesn’t always have to be the worse one.
In the future, Luca Pfeiffer will be able to frighten the Bundesliga defenders with his 1.96 meters in the jersey with the red chest ring.
