Stuttgart striker crisis: Polster and Schipplock train with first team
Two new strikers trained with the Stuttgart senior side on Tuesday as Pellegrino Matarazzo races to get attacking options up to speed in time for the weekend's Bundesliga fixture.
Facing a crisis of sorts after multiple injuries, VfB Stuttgart called up a youngster and a veteran to train with the top squad on Tuesday. Local Baden-Württemberg daily the Stuttgarter Nachrichten reports that both Manuel Polster (18) and Sven Schipplock (32) are candidates for squad selection on Saturday.
The veteran Schipplock quietly signed a deal with to play with the reserves this offseason, returning to the same club who's youth ranks he emerged from nine years ago. The former 1899 Hoffenheim, Hamburger SV, and SV Darmstadt 98 player does bring with him the experience of 189 professional appearances. He was nevertheless not a topic for contract renewal when his deal three-year-deal with Arminia Bielefeld expired this summer.
Most everything has gone wrong for there Württemberg Swabians following the sale of Nicolas Gonzalez this summer. The club has recently lost Sasa Kalajdzic and third-choice striker Mohamed Sankoh to long-term injuries. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Sankoh will officially be out for the entirety of the 2021/22 season.
Additionally, possible other candidates to fill in at lead striker Silas Katompa Mvumpa and Tanguy Coulibaly remain unavailable.
Schipplock does have 19 Bundesliga tallies to his name. He netted one goal last season for Bielefeld.