Hertha consider taking Hoffenheim’s Mërgim Berisha on loan

Sport Bild reports that Hertha BSC are interested in taking Hoffenheim striker Mërgim Berisha on loan. The 27-year-old recently returned from a loan stint with  Augsburg, during which he logged just 38 minutes in two substitute appearances during the entire second half of the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign. The former German international desperately needs a fresh start. 

Berisha once thrived at Augsburg. Whilst working in the Fuggerstadt during the 2022/23 season, Berisha scored nine goals and contributed four assists in 23 league appearances. The campaign enabled him to raise his estimated market value from €4.5m to €12m and earn two German national team caps under Hansi Flick. Augsburg purchased him permanently from Fenerbahçe Istanbul that summer. 

Unfortunately, nothing has gone right for Berisha since Augsburg then immediately sold him to Hoffenheim for a €14m sum ahead of the 2023/24 season. Berisha struggled to establish himself under then TSG head-coach Pellegrino Matarazzo before an ACL tear (and later a thigh injury) left him out of the loop in Kraichgau. 

Berisha has barely featured at all for Hoffenheim over the last two seasons, scoring just one goal in only 21 Bundesliga appearances. His estimated market value has plummeted from €14m to €3.5m and he counts as one of the many players Hoffenheim are actively attempting to get off their oversized squad.

Hertha themselves rejected a chance to re-acquire their former striker Haris Tabakovic from Hoffenheim this summer due to financial constraints associated with Tabakovic’s salary. Such concerns could also render a Berisha loan to the 2. Bundesliga outfit problematic. 

The two sides would naturally have to come to some sort arrangement in which Berisha’s salary is shared. It is rumored that Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach arrived at such a deal when organizing’s Tabakovic’s recently confirmed loan.

GGFN | Peter Weis

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