Following the surprise departure of Marko Maric, Sporting Director Andreas Müller had publicly stated that the club would look to bring more competition for the goalkeeping berth. This task has been completed just days later. With the signing of Richard Strebinger, a 22-year old with six caps at U-21 level for Austria, the club has managed to secure the services of one of Austria’s brightest young goalkeeping prospects. Born in Lower Austria and standing 1.94m meters tall, Strebinger recently spent time on loan at German 3rd division outfit Jahn Regensburg from SV Werder Bremen and became a regular in the starting line-up. He also made two Bundesliga appearances for his parent club, as well as appearing on a regular basis in the Regional League North in Bremen’s colours. Strebinger left for Germany as a 15-year old, initially representing Hertha BSC before moving on to Bremen: Rapid is his first stop as a professional footballer in his home country. Richard Strebinger put pen to paper on a contract tying himself to SK Rapid until summer 2019, and must now only complete routine medical checks to complete the transfer. The fee remains undisclosed. Sporting Director Andreas Müller: "Richard Strebinger fits beautifully with our philosophy. He has extraordinary talent and despite being young has an impressive wealth of experience. In addition he was massively keen to join us and didn't only convince us to go in for him due to his abilities on the pitch, but also through his mentality and his character. He’ll ensure that we have genuine high class competition for the Number One jersey."Richard Strebinger: "I'm absolutely delighted that the transfer was sorted out so quickly, and that SK Rapid have put such faith in me as shown by the length of the contract. For me it’s a huge challenge to be allowed to play for such a massive club and I’ll do everything I can to make sure I play my part in ensuring we’ll have plenty of successes to celebrate in the coming years."
30.06.2015