Alexander Schlager had to give up on his hopes of making EURO 2024, unfortunately - with the risk of a serious injury being too high. Nonetheless our goalkeeper will be busy this summer - on the comeback trail following his meniscus injury and an operation. Recovery sessions at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Thalgau will be on the agenda to ensure that he can recover in time for the start of the 2024/25 season.
That is the same situation another of our boys, Leandro Morgalla, faces. The German defensive youngster has been out since the start of the season with an inflamed heart muscle but is also targeting an eventual comeback.
The diagnosis was a shock for me, initially. I then accepted it fairly soon and gave everything I had to recover as quickly and fully as possible. It was an unusual situation, as I had to completely rest after the diagnosis, even though I felt fit again straight away. It was hard to keep the feet up in that scenario. That makes me even happier to be back on the pitch - it is an incredible feeling!
Leo currently occupies himself with training sessions at the Red Bull Football Academy and recovery work in Thalgau. He still has a few tests to complete, but the 19-year-old is confident of making a full recovery.
I still have individual training in the weeks to come. If everything goes well with the medical check-ups, I can join the team again at the start of the season and get back into training step-by-step.
It won't be long at all until our boys are back, with performance testing kicking off the new season on 22 June. Two days later new coach Pepijn Lijnders will hold his first training session. All our dates for summer 2024 can be seen here:
Gallery: Schlager and Morgalla working on comeback
