The San Jose Earthquakes announced a pair of signings on Thursday, acquiring forward Danny Hoesen on a season-long loan with an option to buy from Dutch club FC Groningen and signing German defender/midfielder Florian Jungwirth from German Bundesliga side SV Darmstadt. Both players were signed using Targeted Allocation Money.
Hoesen, 26, comes to San Jose after spending the last 2 1/2 years with FC Groningen. He tallied 15 goals and five assists in 72 appearances for the Dutch top-flight club, including four goals in 12 matches this season.
Prior to signing for Groningen, Hoesen spent 18 months with Dutch power Ajax, recording 13 goals and six assists in 44 appearances across all competitions for the first-team, winning the 2012-13 Eredivisie title and scoring UEFA Champions League goals against Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. He was loaned to Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki in January 2014, spending half a season there before transferring to Groningen that July.
The 6-foot-1 forward scored three goals 13 appearances as a Netherlands youth international.
āDanny Hoesen gives us a player with a strong frame that is tall, but also has a fast pace,ā said Earthquakes GM Jesse Fioranelli, in a statement released by the club. āHe can attack the space in counterattack situations. He can also work in tandem with whichever striker will be supporting him. Heās a player that comes from very attack-minded football in Holland and will be the perfect striker to give us an additional element in the box that we may have been missing.ā
A former German youth international, the 28-year-old Jungwirth joins the Quakes after 2 1/2 years with SV Darmstadt 98. He made 63 appearances for the Bundesliga club, helping them earn promotion from the 2. Bundesliga to the top flight in the 2014-15 season.
"Florian is capable of playing all defensive positions. He came up through the German national Team system and won the European Cup with them," said Fioranelli. "He grew up as a central defender, on both the right and the left. He was later moved to defensive midfield because he is a player that has a strong presence and is very logical and careful when it comes to possession and build-up situations. He is a player that has a lot of heart and has been very much liked on every team that he's played for because he will fight for his teammates and is a natural leader."
Jungwirth has spent the majority of his career in the 2. Bundesliga, starting his career with 1860 Munich, transferring to Dynamo Dresden in January 2010 and moving to VfL Bochum ahead of the 2013-14 season before eventually signing with Darmstadt in September 2014. Heās totaled nearly 200 first-team league appearances in his career.
Hoesen will join a San Jose forward group that has had trouble finding any sort of productivity outside of Chris Wondolowski for the past several seasons, while Jungwirth jumps into a very crowded central midfield corps and already stout defensive group.
"I think both guys have a strong background coming from top leagues overseas and will help on both sides of the ball," said Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear. "Our expectation is that Danny will score goals and Florian will provide a solid presence on the backline."
