Football
ESPN staff 7y

San Jose Earthquakes seal signings of Florian Jungwirth and Danny Hoesen

The San Jose Earthquakes completed the long-awaited signings of German midfielder Florian Jungwirth and Dutch forward Danny Hoesen on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, a league source told ESPN FC that the Earthquakes had also agreed in principle on a deal to bring FC Lucerne and Albania midfielder Jahmir Hyka to the club.

Jungwirth joins from Darmstadt after the Bundesliga club initially resisted selling the 28-year-old. He made 63 appearances in two and a half seasons in Darmstadt, helping the club win promotion to the top flight in 2015.

"Florian is capable of playing all defensive positions. He came up through the German National Team system and won the European Cup with them," news Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli said in a statement.

"He grew up as a central defender, on both the right and the left. He was later moved to defensive midfield because he is a player that has a strong presence and is very logical and careful when it comes to possession and build-up situations.

"He is a player that has a lot of heart and has been very much liked on every team that he's played for because he will fight for his teammates and is a natural leader."

Hoesen, 26, comes to San Jose on an initial season-long loan from Groningen in the Dutch Eredivisie, though the MLS club will have an option to purchase him outright at the end of the year.

Hoesen, a former youth player for Fulham in England, has scored 15 goals in two and a half seasons with Groningen. He previously spent two years with Dutch giants Ajax, helping them win the Eredivisie title in 2013 and featuring in the Champions League, where he scored against Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

"Danny Hoesen gives us a player with a strong frame that is tall, but also has a fast pace," Fioranelli said. "He can attack the space in counter-attack situations. He can also work in tandem with whichever striker will be supporting him.

"He's a player that comes from very attack-minded football in Holland and will be the perfect striker to give us an additional element in the box that we may have been missing."

Both players' signings were completed by using targeted allocation money.

Fioranelli has had a busy month since taking over as Earthquakes GM on Jan. 5. Jungwirth and Hoesen join forward Marco Urena and defender Harold Cummings as offseason transfers the Quakes have made in a bid to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

^ Back to Top ^