There is a huge gap between the level of the third-tier European leagues and the first-tier leagues. Players who are killing everyone in the third-tier European leagues can't even serve as substitutes in and in the Bundesliga. For example, the protagonist of our story today, João Klauss, had such an experience.
Klaus was born in Brazil. This 1.9-meter-tall shooter is a natural high center template. In January 2017, he joined the Hoffenheim second team from Gremio's U20 echelon. In the five and a half years since
joined the team, Klaus has been loaned to Helsinki , Linz, Standard Liege and St. Trueden. But in the Hoffenheim first team, Klaus's presence is very low. He has only had 10 appearances and only played 405 minutes. Because of too little time and only four starts, he did not score or assist.
Klaus’s first-team appearances were all completed in the first half of the 20/21 season. That season, he only gained a cumulative 46 minutes of playing time in Bundesliga . Three of these appearances lasted less than 10 minutes. That season, he was only reused in the Europa League group stage and got 344 minutes of opportunities.
However, Hoffenheim itself does not pay enough attention to the Europa League. Klaus's appearance in such a game also illustrates his embarrassing status. Moreover, in the last few games of the first half of that season, the team suffered a dismal record of 1 win and 4 losses, but even so, he still did not get a chance to play for a minute. It can be seen that the Brazilian cannot even guarantee a substitute position in the team.
Although his presence in the Bundesliga is very low, in the second-tier European leagues, Klaus's efficiency is indeed quite good. During his loan spell at Standard Liege, he made 47 appearances, scored 9 goals and provided 10 assists. While playing for Linz in Austria, he made 60 appearances and scored 24 goals and 5 assists.
During his time in Linz, he also played with the team in the Europa League and scored 3 goals. The team also reached the knockout round and had the opportunity to compete with Manchester United . Unfortunately, the team lost by 5 goals and missed the quarterfinals.
Unfortunately, Krause did not receive championship honors in these two teams or St. Turden. Standard Liege is a Belgian giant, but it has been suppressed by Bruges in recent years. Linz once reached the semi-finals of the Austrian Cup, but ultimately failed to beat Red Bull Salzburg. Speaking of scoring 12 goals in the regular season, his performance was good, but Weismann scored 30 goals in the Austrian League Golden Boot that season, and in the end he was only among the underdogs of and in La Liga. And Klaus, who has scored less than half of his goals, is obviously difficult to gain a foothold in the four major leagues.
However, in the low-level Finnish Super League, Klaus actually won the Golden Boot once. At the age of 21, he was loaned to HJK Helsinki for a year, during which he made 42 appearances in various competitions, scored 24 goals and provided 6 assists.
The Finnish League is a non-New Year's Eve competition. That season, he finally scored 21 goals and won the league's Golden Boot. The team also won the league championship with 78 points. In the Finnish Cup, the team finished second. But in the European qualifying rounds, the shortcomings of this team's limited strength were fully exposed. They will still lose to third-rate European teams like Borisov and Olympia Ljubljana .
Recently, the 25-year-old striker ended his five-and-a-half-year stay in Europe. He will join the new American Professional League team St. Louis City Club. Here, the 1.9-meter Brazilian shooter may find a new home!
