Two years after leaving FC Schalke 04, Guido Burgstaller makes another change and turns his back on Germany.
The 33-year-old Austrian is returning to Rapid Vienna from FC St. Pauli, as the Hamburg club announced. The striker had asked the club to let him out of his contract for family reasons. It was agreed not to disclose the terms of the transfer.
For him, “a time has come when other things in my life besides football are more important,” explained Burgstaller in the statement.
Sports director Andreas Bornemann regretted the striker’s departure, but also showed understanding. “Obviously, given the way Guido presented himself on and off the field, we would have loved to have gone into the coming season with him,” he said. Together they searched for a solution that was fair for all sides “and have now found it”.
His Kx club 1. FC Nürnberg was also interested in Burgstaller. According to media reports, the Franks should have offered a higher transfer fee than Rapid.
Burgstaller switched from FC Schalke 04 to Hamburg on a free transfer in 2020. In a total of 57 competitive games, he scored 31 goals and prepared 13 goals.