This season, 1. FC Union Berlin can play in the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. However, a new signing will not be able to play against Real Madrid and Co. Were false promises made?
Attacker Benedict Hollerbach is not part of Union Berlin’s premier class squad. “My aim is to come into the team here and be a player who has a lot of responsibility and scores goals,” said the summer newcomer to “Bild”: “That’s why I was disappointed about not being nominated for the Champions League. I was looking forward to it, it’s a childhood dream to play at the Bernabeu.”
The 22-year-old came to the Bundesliga club from second division promoted SV Wehen Wiesbaden. However, Hollerbach initially had to submit to Union coach Urs Fischer at the start of the season. The striker, who scored 19 goals and five assists in 41 games for Wiesbaden last season, only played for around thirty minutes in the 3-0 defeat against RB Leipzig.
Hollerbach grew up at FC Bayern and VfB Stuttgart
Hollerbach made it clear that a completely different scenario had been painted for him in the run-up to his move to Köpenick: “It was communicated in the discussions that the offensive squad would not be as big as it is now.” Presumably, according to the newcomer, Union “expected more departures that didn’t happen.”
According to “Bild”, the Bundesliga club could now be at risk of trouble if Hollerbach’s dissatisfaction with the personal start to the season increases further. “I’m a competitive player, otherwise I wouldn’t be here now,” emphasized the 22-year-old: “Nevertheless, I need a fair chance to assert myself here. Without a certain amount of playing time, I can’t prove my potential.”
The Starnberg native was trained in the youth departments of 1860 Munich, FC Bayern and VfB Stuttgart before moving to Wiesbaden in 2020. Union now transferred two million euros to the second division club.