October 24, 2021 will be remembered for a long time by Leo Greiml as the darkest day of his young career. In the first division game between Rapid Vienna and TSG Hartberg, the 20-year-old central defender tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee without external influence. The meniscus was also affected.
“I just headed the ball and landed and suddenly there was a crack in my knee”Greiml described the incident a few weeks later on ‘Sky Austria’, “It was quite a pain.” The injury came at the wrong time for the defensive talent, because the development curve of the young Austrian had actually shown a clear and steep upward trend.
“Defensively brutal machine”
Greiml was set for Rapid and even pushed the Bundesliga and Premier League experienced Kevin Wimmer to the bench. In the summer he led the Viennese into the Europa League with a brilliant performance in a 3-2 away win against Zorya Lugansk. His central defender colleague Maximilian Hofmann then celebrated Greiml as “defensively brutal machine”.
It is now clear that the “defensively brutal machine” will not appear again in the jersey of the Austrian capital club. Yesterday, Schalke 04 announced the signing of the 20-year-old, who is still in the rehabilitation phase. A fee is not due because Greiml’s contract is expiring.
The question of whether the Austrian U21 national player would have switched to Gelsenkirchen without an injury cannot be answered definitively. For sports director Rouven Schröder, this does not seem to be the case. Because at today’s press conference, the 46-year-old once again emphasized that Greiml chose Schalke regardless of the league: “That’s exactly what we need. 100 percent Schalke 04 and 100 percent willingness to play for this club. That is what one desires.”
“An incredibly emotional player”
Schroeder continued: “Leo is an incredibly emotional player who is passionate about football. Schalke 04 is a club with a lot of emotions and history, so it fits perfectly for his next step. He sees him with us and he will fit in here wonderfully in terms of character.”
Greiml has committed himself to the Royal Blues for three years. Enough time to get fit, to let his development curve point upwards again and to forget the darkest day of his young career.
