Contract signed

Prass completes medical check with TSG Hoffenheim

Alexander Prass moves to Hoffenheim.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures, TSG Hoffenheim)

The new club of ÖFB team player Alexander Prass is TSG Hoffenheim. The 23-year-old signed a contract until 2028, as the German Bundesliga club announced on Monday.

Sky had already reported in the morning that Prass was already in Germany and would shortly complete his medical check with TSG. The contract has now been signed and the Bundesliga club were able to beat off competition from Serie A clubs such as Atalanta and Bologna to secure the services of the Graz midfielder. 

A transfer fee of around twelve million euros is said to have changed hands for the Austrian footballer. At Hoffenheim, Prass will replace David Jurasek, who was injured in a test match.

"A bitter loss"
According to Sturm's sporting director Andreas Schicker, the decisive offer arrived late on Sunday morning. "His departure is of course a bitter loss for us in sporting terms, but Alex has absolutely earned this step with his hard work," explained Schicker. Sturm's managing director of business Thomas Tebbich confirmed that the move "is taking place in a remarkable economic region". In the Schicker era since 2020, it is the third sale with double-digit million proceeds after Rasmus Höjlund (20 million) and Emanuel Emegha (13 million).

Höjlund moved from Sturm to Manchester United for 20 million euros.

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

Prass has scored twelve goals and 26 assists in 130 games for Sturm, and the left-footed midfielder was a key player in Graz's championship season. The Upper Austrian has made nine appearances for the ÖFB national team. At the European Championship in Germany, he made a name for himself as a left-back with two assists. "Coming to SK Sturm three years ago was also the right decision in retrospect," said Prass. "I was able to develop as a player and as a person." Now he is really looking forward to the challenge of the German Bundesliga.

Alexander Prass

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Left-back
In contrast to other potential suitors, Hoffenheim do not play in the Champions League, but are represented in the Europa League as the league's seventh-placed team last season. Kramer is likely to have been a big advocate. "Alex is a dynamic left-footer who has been used at left-back in Ralf Rangnick's Austrian national team in recent months, including at the European Championships in Germany," explained the sporting director. "We also see his greatest strengths there and want to continue to develop him in this position."

With Prass, "we have optimally closed this gap in the squad", said Kramer. "He has a very good character, is extremely ambitious, hard-working and wants to develop further." At the club from Sinsheim, Prass will meet his ÖFB teammate Florian Grillitsch, while US-born Pellegrino Matarazzo has been the coach for the past year.