Out of sight, out of mind? It is precisely this phenomenon that we want to counteract with our “What is he doing?” » and show you every week what one or two old German acquaintances are doing.

A 27-year-old joining SV Stripfing in the Austrian second league doesn’t usually attract much attention. However, if it is about former Bayern gem Gianluca Gaudino, « Sky » transfer expert Florian Plettenberg thinks it is worth reporting in its own right. The German Fabrizio Romano even tweeted the finalization of the transfer in English.

Of course, Plettigoal caused plenty of heads to shake online.

Regardless, Gaudino’s career got off to a rather promising start. He made his debut under Pep Guardiola on matchday one against VfL Wolfsburg in 2014 and remained on the pitch for ninety minutes. Subsequently, Pep knighted him and attested to his “exceptional” play.

But 280 minutes later in the Bundesliga, his time in Germany’s top division was over again. The son of former national player Maurizio Gaudino has been in constant sporting decline since his departure at the end of the season. Via Bern, Altach, Sandhausen and Lausanne, he now finds himself in ninth place in the second Austrian championship and can now qualify as a striptease.

In Germany and particularly in Frankfurt, Luka Jovic is remembered fondly. The Serbian’s year with the Eagles was nothing short of inspiring and many still remember his big day with a five-pack against Dusseldorf. Since then, Jovic has been considered a one-year wonder. After his move to Real, he failed to convince at all and managed just three measly goals in 51 games for the Royals. Even a return to Frankfurt and a move to Florence did not bring Jovic the former happiness.

The 26-year-old is now under contract with AC Milan and finally appears to be returning there. Although it has been difficult to get past Olivier Giroud so far, the Serbian has scored seven goals in his last twelve appearances. What is remarkable is that it was usually short appearances that were enough for Jovic to score and were more often than not decisive for Milan.

According to ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’, super substitute Jovic is currently in contract negotiations with Milan officials. If the former Buffalo Frankfurt finally delivers on the great promise of the furious Bundesliga season, he would certainly be a candidate for feel-good story of the year.

In the summer of 2007, Jan Schlaudraff joined the German record champion for a fee of 1.2 million. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, then CEO of Bayern, described him as one of the « most promising young German players. » But 14 games and no goals later, it was clear that Schlaudraff didn’t have Bayern’s stature. After just one year, he joined Hannover 96. He finished his active professional career there in 2015.

He then worked as a sports director at Hannover before moving to Austria, where he was promoted to sports director in January 2022. He still holds this role today. In the meantime, Schlaudraff also stepped in as interim coach. In six games, he had four wins, just one loss and a 2.17 points average. Despite all the successes, Phillip Semlic took over the Austrian second division team from Schlaudraff. With this record, it’s really only a matter of time before he sits back in the coaching chair.