Leon Goretzka is only one of a few German players in Aston Villa’s history.
Aston Villa have secured a rare move this summer by signing a German player. Leon Goretzka was snatched from the free-agent market after his contract with Bayern Munich expired.
He may already be 31 years old, but his experience at the top level would be handy for Villa’s new team. His versatility is certainly a great addition to the squad.
Unfortunately, he was not fielded in the last outing against Arsenal. Unai Emery stated the reason, as reported by Birmingham Mail.
“He needs more sessions to get his fitness and the level we want. But he’s good and hopefully, maybe Saturday after three days he should be available to be in the squad, on the bench.”
Interestingly, Goretzka’s arrival at Villa Park is actually the first involving a German player in more than 20 years. In the club’s history, there have only been three names who played for The Clarets and Blue. Let us find out more about who they were.
He was one of the first two German footballers in the club’s history. Breitkreutz was signed when he was still 20 years old alongside Stefan Beinlich. He only made 14 appearances for The Lions, mostly in the 1991/92 season, his first season in England.
The attacking midfielder eventually left after three years in the West Midlands and shone with the minnows, Hansa Rostock. He was part of the squad when they finished in the top 10 in the 1995/96 season.
Beinlich was signed by Aston Villa alongside Breitkreutz as one of the young talents for their new campaign in 1991/92. He was still 19 years old at that time.
Unlike his partner, Beinlich did slightly better as he featured in 16 games, scoring one goal and providing one assist in 1993/94, his last season at B6.
Beinlich left Villa Park to join Hansa Rostock together with Breitkreutz. However, the versatile midfielder thrived more as his impressive form in Rostock attracted Bayer Leverkusen, who secured his move in 1997. He was part of the squad when Der Werkself dramatically lost the Bundesliga title race in 2000 to Bayern Munich on goal difference.
The East Berlin-born midfielder also had spells at Hertha Berlin and Hamburg SV during his career. Beinlich was capped five times by the Germany national team between 1999 and 2000.
He is probably the best German player in Aston Villa history so far. Hitzlsperger joined Villa in 2000 from Bayern Munich’s youth team. He was promoted to the first team a year later and briefly loaned out to Chesterfield, who were competing in the second tier in 2001.
The former midfielder started playing regularly from the 2001/02 season and stayed until his contract expired in the summer of 2005. He then moved to VfB Stuttgart and helped them win the Bundesliga in 2007.
Overall, the Munich-born midfielder featured in 114 games for The Clarets and Blue, scoring 12 goals and providing 14 assists. He earned 52 caps for Die Mannschaft and was part of the squad at two major tournaments, the 2006 FIFA World Cup and EURO 2008.
Some of his memorable contributions for Villa came in the Birmingham derby, in which he netted once as both teams shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, and in a 3-2 win over Chelsea in the 2003/04 season. Another vital contribution came against Sam Allardyce’s Bolton in the following season. Hitzlsperger bagged the winning goal in a 2-1 win on the road.
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