Schicker departure?

Contact with Hoffenheim, but no agreement yet

Andreas Schicker (right) will probably soon be working in Hoffenheim.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

The departure of Sturm Graz sporting director Andreas Schicker to German Bundesliga club Hoffenheim is imminent. Sturm president Christian Jauk denied this on Sunday ahead of the match against Salzburg. 

"I'm more or less through with my talks," Schicker told Sky after Graz's brilliant 5:0 home win against Salzburg on Sunday. However, both Schicker and Sturm president Christian Jauk denied that the deal had been finalized. "There is no agreement yet, there are talks," said Jauk.

According to reports, it is only a matter of final details. Both clubs are on the right track, Schicker reported. He expects clarity "in the next two or three days". "I also hope that there will be a solution, because I think that the timing for a change of sporting director in October or November is very good. It gives me and my potential successor time to get to know the processes."

"From apprentice to superstar"
"We want a solution where we can all go out and look each other in the eye," explained Jauk. Schicker has been working in Graz since 2018 and has been successful as Managing Director Sport since 2020. Together with Christian Ilzer, he is considered the architect of the reigning double winners' success, having celebrated three titles with Sturm and handled transfers worth millions. Interesting: Both Ilzer and Schicker were vague about the future of the coach in Graz. However, Schicker also said: "The position is clearly occupied in Hoffenheim and I'm not there yet."

The desirability and Schicker's career make the president visibly proud. "He's been (sporting director) with us for four and a half years now. Back then, when I practically invented him, he didn't have the experience, I was criticized for being an apprentice," Jauk recapitulated. "From apprentice to coveted superstar in Germany is a great path for him and ultimately also for our decision." The Graz club boss did not want to comment on possible successors at this time.

(Bild: GEPA)

The Graz club boss did not want to comment on possible successors at this time. Paul Pajduch, who was promoted from chief scout to technical director in the summer, is not a successor candidate according to the Kleine Zeitung. Instead, he could follow Schicker to Hoffenheim. A seven-figure euro sum would flow into the Murstadt for the "master builder of the record high", wrote the KLZ.

In Hoffenheim, Schicker would succeed Frank Kramer, head of youth development, who took over as interim sporting director following the departure of Alexander Rosen at the end of July.