Die Winterpause Wrap-Up

Die Winterpause Wrap-Up 

Updating you on St Pauli's newest assets, acquired during Die Winterpause

Thibaud Verlinden - Arriving from Stoke City - Loan Deal (6 months)

The 19th January saw a fresh face added to the St. Pauli squad, as 'Sister Club' Stoke City loaned out Belgian u19 winger Thibaud Verlinden. The 18 year-old was revealed to be spending 6 months at the German club to gain experience. Having only played one professional game at Stoke, a 4-0 victory in the EFL cup against Rochdale. Brought in from Standard Liege as a 15 year-old for what was believed to be a fee of around £40,000. Stoke have since used him in their development squads as he has developed with the Belgian youth ranks. Stoke fans have seen very little of the youngster, but he is believed to be 'quite the talent'. He has even recently signed a 5-year extension at Stoke City. They must see something in him?

As for goal-scoring records? Not a lot can be found on the tricky winger. However, Verlinden in an interview had stated that he "Can be used on both wings and likes to dribble as well as making goals". A lot of fans are excited to see such a dynamic and enthusiastic player help St. Pauli in the next few months. Where will he play? I think he'll be used regularly to replace Cenk Sahin and Waldemar Sobota whenever called upon. Later on in games, Verlinden may be called upon to go through the gears in the final third. Sobota appears to be having quite a good start to the season, so it would be tricky to see him removed from an ever-changing starting XI. Sahin, on the other hand is not living up to his great 16/17 season. The Turk struggling to match the goals or assists he generated in the last campaign. It's difficult for an 18 year-old to get into the many squads, but with someone of his calibre and apparent skill, I'd like to see him feature a handful of times this season.

The Belgian only has a short spell here at St. Pauli. 6 months is not a lot for a player to make a mark. Kauczinski clearly sees his quality as he described the winger as "a talented footballer with special skills" and that "he has already indicated his potential in the training camp". This move could see more Stoke City players moving back and forth in the near future, following the pairing of the two clubs. The temporary move will hopefully benefit all parties. The only question is how much of Verlinden will we be seeing? It seems the youngster has the all-important stamp of quality, it's just a matter of when and where we'll be seeing it. It would be a shame to only see him come from the bench, but with so many injuries and changes of circumstance within the club, I can see him being quite an impact.

Dimitris Diamantakos - Arriving from VFL Bochum - Contracted until 2020

About a week later, On the 25th January 2017, it was announced that former Olympiacos youth player Dimitris Diamamtakos would make the change from fellow .2 Bundesliga competitors VFL Bochum. The Greek international didn't feel like he was getting adequate playing time at a struggling Bochum. Diamantakos, who made his .2 Bundesliga debut under Karlsruhe manager at the time,Markus Kauczinski, will be linking up with the striker again at St. Pauli.

The 24 year-old forward has a very sporadic scoring record. Having been sent on several loan spells in his short career, Diamantakos has had very little chance to prove himself. Having made 59 appearances for both Karlsruhe and Bochum since the 15/16 season, he has put the ball in the net a reasonable 15 times. It's a decent record for someone who's been constantly in-and-out of squads. Kauczinski clearly has faith in him, having signed him on loan originally, and then signing him on a permanent basis whilst at Karlsruhe. A hefty €1m took him from Olympiacos in 2016. Quite a large fee for a .2 Bundesliga team, considering that Diamantakos had only ever been sent on loan featured for Olympiacos only 8 times. The Greek had a relatively successful couple of years with Karlsruhe, having helped them get to a respectable 7th place in the .2 Bundesliga.

How will Diamantakos do at St. Pauli? Only time will tell, I guess. He seems like quite an opportunistic player. Many of his goals come from only a few yards from goal. You won't find him curling them in from 30 yards, but I'm sure he will get many important goals for St. Pauli. Not the most clinical finisher there is, but a striker who is determined to get his name on the score sheet. It's something we could do with right now, with both Allagui and Bouhaddouz not finding the net as frequent as we would like. I'd like to see him challenge for Allagui's spot. The Tunisian is under-performing in my opinion and could do with a bit of friendly competition. It's the perfect time for Diamantakos to show us what he's got, with the majority of our goals coming from midfield and wider positions, it seems like we need a centre-forward to start taking the reins.