Borrowed to Valladolid
© Imago
Officially, Florian Grillitsch is under contract with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim until summer 2026, and has been loaned to Real Valladolid since winter. It seems unlikely that the Kraichgauer will come to a comeback after the loan ends next summer. In the first half of the season, the 29-year-old was banished by coach Christian Ilzer to the stands and apparently agrees with the handling.
In an interview with the “Kleine Zeitung”, Grillitsch replied when asked how he can look back on the situation in Hoffenheim: “What should I say? A big coach once said: ‘If I Speak, I’m in Big Trouble.’ So I will not say anything about it. ” What is meant today’s Fenerbahce coach José Mourinho, who gave this sentence during his time at Chelsea in 2014 in relation to an arbitrator performance.
Grillitsch had played 14 games from the start under Pellegrino Matarazzo in the first half of the season, under his compatriot Ilzer he had no chance due to an inner ligament injury. The 51-time national player admitted that he had not expected it to “do not expect it”: “I never wanted to leave Hoffenheim. Now it has just happened.”
In January we loaned Laliga-Lichtlicht Real Valladolid, where he is a regular player, but so far only a draw in six games. The gap to the saving bank is ten points (for the table) ten match days. “I like the league. It comes towards my skills. I really wanted to play in Laliga, and sometimes out of Germany, where I was for years,” said Grillitsch, who completed 196 Bundesliga games for SV Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim. The 2022/23 season at Ajax Amsterdam was previously its only year outside of Germany.
It is still unclear how the midfielder will continue in summer. If Ilzer is still in office in Hoffenheim, a return to the TSG should be unlikely. The walk to the second Spanish league with Valladolid is hardly imaginable in the second most valuable player in the current squad. “I want to play as well as possible. It would be best if we drive in a few victories and stay in the league, even if it gets very difficult. I’m loan now. We will continue to see in summer.”