Kevin Wimmer (; born 15 November 1992) is an Austrian professional

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 le ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

and the Austria national team. Wimmer began his professional career with

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional Football team, football club, from the Upper Austria, Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and pl ...

where his performances earned him a move to German club 1. FC Köln in June 2012. In the 2013–14 season, Wimmer helped Köln set a new

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

record, conceding only 20 goals as they earned promotion to 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 ...

. After a solid first season in the German top flight he moved to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

for a fee of £4.3 million. However his playing time under

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino played as a central defender and be ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

was restricted due to the form of

Toby Alderweireld Toby Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for Belgian Pro League club Royal Antwerp. Alderweireld began his professional career at Dutch club Ajax, whe ...

and

Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Anderlecht and the Belgium national team. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior car ...

. After two seasons in North London, Wimmer joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in August 2017 for a fee of £18 million. He struggled for game time at Stoke and joined

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

on loan for the 2018–19 season, Belgian side

Royal Excel Mouscron Royal Excel Mouscron (, ), commonly known as Mouscron or familiarly as REM, was a Belgian professional football club based in Mouscron. The team was formed as ''Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz'' in the spring of 2010 as a result of the merging between ...

in 2019–20 and

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the D ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Club career

1. FC Köln

In June 2012, Wimmer moved from Austrian side

to German club 1. FC Köln for a €250,000 transfer fee. On 5 August 2012, he made his debut in a 1–0 loss to

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

. He went on to become a regular in Köln's defence. On 29 November 2013, Wimmer scored his first goal in a 3–0 win over

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

. In the 2013–14 season, Wimmer helped the club set a

record, conceding only 20 goals as they earned promotion to the

. Wimmer continued his good performances in Germany's top division to help Köln stay in the Bundesliga, managing to avoid defeat against every team, save for

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

and

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

, at least once. The team played a Bundesliga record nine 0–0 draws, equalling Bayern Munich's 1966 Bundesliga record of not conceding a goal in 13 matches. In the 2014–15 season, Wimmer started 32 matches and was named the seventh-best defender in the league by football magazine ''

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

''.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 29 May 2015, Wimmer joined

side

on a five-year contract for a reported £4.3 million transfer fee. On 30 July, he made his Tottenham debut against the MLS All-Stars in a 2–1 defeat in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Wimmer replaced captain

after 45 minutes and made his debut alongside fellow new signings

Dele Alli Bamidele Jermaine Alli ( ; born 11 April 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Beşiktaş, on loan from Premier League club Everton. Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth s ...

Kieran Trippier Kieran John Trippier (; born 19 September 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Newcastle United and the England national team. Trippier started his career in the youth system at Manchester City but ...

and

. On 4 August 2015, Wimmer made his first start for the club in a 2–0 defeat to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the

Audi Cup The Audi Cup is a biennial two-day pre-season friendly football tournament that features four teams, hosted by the German club Bayern Munich, and is staged at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. It is held on odd years since 2009, opposite the ...

, played in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, and was replaced by Jan Vertonghen after 46 minutes. Wimmer was limited to scant cup appearances and squad namings to start the season, mainly due to the strong central defense partnership between Vertonghen and Alderweireld. With a loan out of the club a potential possibility, manager

elected to keep Wimmer, citing a need for depth in defense in case of an injury. Such an opportunity arose, as Wimmer finally got his breakthrough when he made his first league appearance of the

2015–16 Premier League The 2015–16 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...

season on 23 January 2016, coming on as a substitute for an injured Vertonghen in a 3–1 win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. With Vertonghen ruled out for about two months, Wimmer was set for an extended run as his replacement in both the Premier League and the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

knockout stages. Wimmer impressed as Vertonghen's replacement, making 15 starts across all competitions before Vertonghen returned against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 10 April. In the 9 league starts made by Wimmer, Tottenham only gave up six goals as they reached second place in the table. After the season, Wimmer signed a new five-year contract, keeping him at Tottenham until the summer of 2021. Despite heading into the 2016–17 season with "different expectations" on the heels of his first season, Wimmer was once again on the bench to start the year, not helped by a preseason thigh injury. After telling the Austrian paper ''

Kleine Zeitung ''Kleine Zeitung'' (, ''Small Newspaper'') is an Austrian newspaper based in Graz and Klagenfurt. As the largest regional newspaper in Austria, covering the federal states Styria and Carinthia with East Tyrol, the paper has around 800,000 readers ...

'' in October that he was waiting "patiently for his chance", an injury to

opened up the door for Wimmer, but it was initially

Eric Dier Eric Jeremy Edgar Dier (born 15 January 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays for club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. A versatile defensive player, Dier has been deployed as a defensive midfielder, a centre-b ...

who took his spot at centre-back. A second injury was necessary for Wimmer to crack the lineup, and it was Dele Alli who suffered this time. Wimmer appeared for the first time in the Premier League that season on 6 November against bitter rivals

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as the lone centre-back in a three-man back line that was used for the first time by manager

that season. In the

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, Wimmer scored an own goal attempting to defend a whipping

Mesut Özil Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir. Özil is known for his technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision. He can ...

free kick in a 1–1 draw.

Stoke City

Wimmer signed for

on 28 August 2017, for a fee of £18 million. Manager

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...

said that "Bringing Kevin here is a real coup in my view, because he is a hugely talented young player who will undoubtedly add further quality to the group...There is a lot of money being spent this summer, so for us to get a player of Kevin’s calibre through the door for the price we have paid, in my opinion, is something we will really appreciate for years to come". He made his Stoke debut on 9 September 2017 in a 2–2 draw against

. Wimmer made a poor start to his Stoke career and came in for much criticism from supporters for his performance in a heavy defeat at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Wimmer's performances failed to improve and he was placed on a special fitness regime by new manager

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-ol ...

. Wimmer failed to play at all under Lambert, as Stoke suffered relegation to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

. Wimmer was branded a 'flop' by Stoke supporters and it was reported that the club would be willing to take a substantial loss on him in the summer. Wimmer joined

club

on loan in May 2018 with the option of a permanent transfer. Wimmer played 24 games for Hannover as the side finished in 17th position and were relegated to the

. He did not play enough matches to trigger a permanent transfer. On 31 August 2019, Wimmer joined Belgian

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side

on loan for the 2019–20 season. He made 18 appearances for Mouscron until the Belgian season was ended early in April 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

with Mouscron in 10th position. On 1 February 2021, Wimmer joined German side

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.

Rapid Wien

On 28 May 2021, it was announced that Wimmer had his contract with Stoke terminated so he was able to move to

SK Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

on a free transfer.

International career

Wimmer has represented Austria at under-17, under-19,

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

and under-21 levels. On 15 November 2013, he made his senior debut for the Austria national team in a friendly, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 win over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He represented the national team at

2016 UEFA Euro The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimmer, Kevin Living people 1992 births People from Wels Footballers from Upper Austria Association football defenders Austrian footballers Austria international footballers Austria under-21 international footballers Austria youth international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players 2. Liga (Austria) players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Premier League players Belgian Pro League players LASK players 1. FC Köln players 1. FC Köln II players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Hannover 96 players Royal Excel Mouscron players SK Rapid Wien players Austrian expatriate footballers Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium