Danny Latza (born 7 December 1989) is a German

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for 2. Bundesliga club

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

Career

Latza began his footballing career in 1995, at the age of five, as a youth player with his local team, DJK Arminia Ückendorf. He stayed as a player for three years before moving to

where he started his professional career. Latza's first professional appearance was in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

on 14 February 2009 against

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

, when he came on as a substitute for

Levan Kobiashvili Levan Kobiashvili ( ka, ლევან კობიაშვილი, born 10 July 1977) is a Georgian former professional footballer and the current president of the Georgian Football Federation and a member of Parliament of Georgia. He pla ...

. Latza joined the SV Darmstadt 98 for the 2011–12 3. Liga season. On 22 May 2013, it was announced that the

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

had signed Latza. However this contract was valid only for the 2. Bundesliga and was voided when the

Deutsche Fußball Liga The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH, or simply Deutsche Fußball Liga ("German Football League"), and often shortened to DFL, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ''Die Liga – Fußballverband''. The DFL is responsible for entire operating business o ...

denied

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

the license to play in the 2013–14 2. Bundesliga season. After a brief trial spell, Latza signed with the 2. Bundesliga side

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

. On 17 December 2016, Latza scored his first

goals, a hat-trick for 1. FSV Mainz 05, in a 3–1 home victory against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. On 17 March 2021, Latza agreed to rejoin Schalke 04 on a free transfer for the 2021–22 season, signing a two-year contract which will be extended by an extra year should Schalke achieve promotion in that time. He was promptly appointed the team's captain under the head coach

Dimitrios Grammozis Dimitrios Grammozis (; born 8 July 1978) is a Greek-German professional football manager and former player who last coached Schalke 04. During his playing years, he was known as a versatile defender and defensive midfielder. Playing career Earl ...

Career statistics

Honours

Schalke 04 * 2. Bundesliga: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Schalke 04 website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Latza, Danny 1989 births Living people FC Schalke 04 II players FC Schalke 04 players SV Darmstadt 98 players VfL Bochum players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Oberliga (football) players Men's association football midfielders German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers People educated at the Gesamtschule Berger Feld Footballers from Gelsenkirchen