Ádám Szalai hangs up his boots

Former TSG striker Ádám Szalai has announced he is hanging up his boots. A six-month spell aside, the 35-year-old Hungarian played in Hoffenheim from July 2014 to August 2019, making 113 appearances and scoring 25 competitive goals in a TSG shirt. After 487 appearances and 105 goals at club level, plus 86 matches (26 goals) for Hungary, the towering forward has now ended his career.

Ádam Szalai made exactly 100 Bundesliga appearances for TSG Hoffenheim and wrote himself into the club's history books forever in one very special match. The 1.93-metre-tall striker scored the goal that made it 2-1 in the 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 34 of 2017/18, paving the way for UEFA Champions League group-stage qualification for the first time. The TSG fans witnessed the attacker notch 24 other goals and 13 assists. Szalai also represented TSG on the international stage, making five appearances in the Champions League, one in the Europa League and one in Champions League qualification for Hoffenheim.

He initially began his career with a rival, whom he left to move on to probably the best club in the world: Szalai left Hungary for the VfB Stuttgart youth academy as a youngster, before receiving – and accepting – an offer from the Real Madrid second team. He departed the Spanish capital and returned to Germany three years later, enjoying spells with Mainz and Schalke before ultimately making his way to the Kraichgau in 2014. Five years later he was still a TSG Hoffenheim player – the only interruption being a six-month loan spell with Hannover 96. He then left Hoffenheim to go back to Mainz, whom he left in February last year as the best Hungarian goalscorer in Bundesliga history (54 goals) and completed a switch to FC Basel. It was to be the final stop of his successful club career.

Szalai made 86 appearances for the Hungary national team. He wore the captain's armband for the two-time World Cup finalists from 2018 and played in two European Championships (2016 and 2021). The striker shone against Germany in the last edition of the tournament, notching a goal and an assist in a 2-2 stalemate. The Hungarian completed several coaching courses in the latter stages of his career and already holds an A-licence.

TSG wish Ádám Szalai all the best for his future. Thanks for the great moments in a TSG shirt!