Kicker Report: Hoffenheim set to allow Skov's expiring contract to lapse
Never fully able to realize his potential in Germany's top footballing flight, it appears as if 27-year-old wingback Robert Skov and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are finally preparing to part company. Skov is among four TSG players sitting on contracts set to expire at the end of the season. Since transferring to Sinsheim from FC Copenhagen in the summer of 2019, Skov has scored 11 goals in 111 league appearances for "die Kraichgauer".
Working primarily as a right flank attacker and set-piece wizard prior to his move to the Bundesliga, Skov struggled to adjust to a new role as a left back fashioned for him by then TSG trainer Alfred Schreuder. The 14-times-capped Danish international did find regular playing time as both a left and right rail player under the subsequent coaching regimes of Sebastian Hoeneß, André Breitenreiter, and Pellegrino Matarazzo.
Current Hoffenheim head-coach Matarazzo has praised Skov's abilities and deployed him in the league 22 times this season. The one-time €10 million purchase has netted three tallies and registered three assists in the league in the current campaign. Loanee David Jurasek has nevertheless displaced him on the left flank. Skov hasn't started since match-day 23 and remained unused on the bench in the last two league fixtures.
Hoffenheim correspondent Benni Hofmann of Germany's Kicker Magazine reports that Stove's German club presently maintains little interest in renewing his expiring deal. Skov still maintains an estimated market worth of €6.5 million in the latest transfermarkt listings. Hofmann does take care to note that Skov's presumed replacement - Czech left wingback David Jurasek - might prove too pricey.
Jurasek - currently serving in Sinsheim on loan from SL Benfica Lisbon - will cost a reported €12 million to sign permanently. The 23-year-old hasn't put in the most convincing performances in four consecutive league starts since taking over for Skov. At a recent presser, Matarazzo noted that Skov's "strong left foot" gives him "all the skills necessary to be a top player".