Defender Maximilian Hofmann has committed his future to the Cub, signing a contract extension that will see him remain in Rapid colours until Summer 2017.The 20 year old is a product of the prolific Rapid Youth Academy and made his debut for the reserves under current Head Trainer Zoran Barisic in the Regional League East. His performances earned "Hofmann II" a call up to the first team squad where he made his debut in the last fixture of the 2012/13 season, replacing Stefan Kulovits in the closing stages of a 3:0 victory over SV Ried. He was thrust into international action last season when he came on for the injured Christopher Dibon in a pressure cooker atmosphere away to Asteras Tripoli in the Europa League. It was a baptism of fire for Hofmann, who emerged from the stern test showing a level of maturity that belied his years as Rapid kept their opponents at bay to secure safe passage through the tie. Days later he made his Bundesliga debut away to Sturm Graz a debut that lasted roughly 50 seconds before he received the quickest red card in Bundesliga history for preventing a goal scoring opportunity. That day he was grateful to his team mates who prevailed 4:2 despite the numerical deficit.Hofmann went on to make a further 4 appearances in the league, in 3 of which he played the full 90 minutes. Its probably not a co-incidence that in every game the combative centre back featured Rapid emerged victorious. On Thursday Maximilian celebrated his debut for Austria u-21's in a friendly match against Serbia.Andreas Müller is delighted that the freshly capped u-21 international has signed on the dotted line: "Maximilian Hofmann is further evidence that our talented youth players can make the step up to the first team squad. He made a great impression in the past season, continued his development and was always prepared when called upon. Along with Christopher Dibon, Mario Sonnleitner and Brian Behrendt, Maximilian Hofmann is one of four excellent centre halves at the club that we can really build on for the future."Maximilian, currently on duty with the Austria u-21's, was also delighted with the new deal: "Last season was a dream come true for me as I've managed to win a place in the starting 11 for the club I've been with since I was a kid. I want to relive this feeling next season, and that means head down and work hard every day. I'm so happy that the management have placed their trust in me and I'm looking forward to the next years with Rapid."
02.06.2014