Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 10:45• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 11:45

In the search for defensive reinforcements, Feyenoord ended up with Gernot Trauner, know SPOX and the General Newspaper report on Saturday. The 29-year-old central defender of the Austrian LASK must fill the void left behind by Sven van Beek and Eric Botteghin. Trainer Arne Slot is thin in the right-footed center defenders, as Lutsharel Geertruida is also injured. The Rotterdammers even seem to have made a ‘seven-figure bid’ for Trauner.

Geertruida injured his knee in Feyenoord’s last league match against RKC Waalwijk (3-0 victory) on May 16. Five days later, the multifunctional defender was operated on, after which he started his rehabilitation. Geertruida is not expected to return until October. Slot at the heart of the defense so far gives confidence to Leroy Fer, who usually plays in midfield. Wouter Burger also played this preparation as a central defender at Feyenoord.

Feyenoord hopes to strengthen itself with Trauner to finally solve the empty space in the center of the defense. The defender has not traveled outside Austria’s borders in his career and has played most of his matches for SV Ried, where he was under contract between 2012 and 2017. In the summer of 2017, he returned to LASK, the club where he started his professional career. Trauner himself would be interested in a transfer to Feyenoord, although it is questionable whether his employer is willing to cooperate. Trauner still has a contract in Austria until mid-2024.

The centre-back has worn the shirt of the national team of Austria five times to date, including in the World Cup qualifiers in March against Denmark (0-4 loss) and the Faroe Islands (3-1 win). During the European Championship he was not part of the selection of national coach Franco Foda. The European Championship opponent of the Dutch national team operated in most cases with Martin Hinteregger and Aleksandar Dragovic at the heart of the defense in a four-man defence. Trainer comes according to it General Newspaper from the new scout Bernard Schuiteman, who is familiar with the market in Austria.

In addition to Trauner, Feyenoord is also in the market for Mario Vuskovic, reported The Telegraph Wednesday morning. The nineteen-year-old center defender of Hajduk Split is also in the interest of Celtic, but would prefer a switch to Rotterdam. Feyenoord wants to take over Vuskovic directly from the Croatian club, in order to create capital. According to those reports, Hajduk Split would like to see an amount of approximately five million euros for the youth international of Croatia.