Borussia sign Kevin Stöger from VfL Bochum | OneFootball

"Kevin is a seasoned Bundesliga player and has become a real leader at his last few clubs," said Borussia's managing director for sport Roland Virkus. "He's also a danger going forward – as a creator through clever passing, set pieces and crosses and even as a goalscorer himself." Kevin Stöger added: "I’m looking forward to getting to know the team and the backroom staff personally. I want to give it everything out on the pitch, I’m extremely hungry and I want to make sure we achieve success together."

Stöger, who came through at ATSV Steyr and SV Ried in his native Austria, has been in Germany since 2009. He made his debut for VfB Stuttgart in the U17 Bundesliga and was also part of that season's U19 Sud/Südwest divisional-championship winning side. His first taste of professional football was for VfB's reserves in the third tier in 2010/11. Stöger went on to make 51 appearances for them in two seasons (4 goals), before playing a total of 61 second-division games for 1. FC Kaiserslautern (2013-15) and then SC Paderborn (2015/16), scoring four times. He made his first move to VfL Bochum ahead of the 2016/17 campaign and netted five goals in 37 2. Bundesliga matches for them.

He joined newly promoted Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2018, followed by a move to 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2020, making 42 top-flight appearances for each of the two clubs and scoring five goals in total. Stöger has spent the past two years back at Bochum, playing a further 64 Bundesliga games (12 goals), plus the two recent play-off fixtures (1 goal). During his career, the midfielder has also featured 21 times in the DFB-Pokal (5 goals), as well as playing 17 games for Austria's U21s (4 goals) and another 24 for the ÖFB's other youth sides (1 goal). (Photo: imago images/Nordphoto)