Manuel Polster signs with Austria Wien

Austria Wien signs Manuel Polster from VfB Stuttgart. The 19-year-old offensive player signs a three-year contract until summer 2025 and starts training today, Monday.

"It's a super feeling to be able to be here now. I spent the last few years in Germany, playing in the Junior Bundesliga and then in the Regionalliga. Now it was time for the next career step into a professional team and I am overjoyed that Austria Wien gave me the chance. Here I have the best conditions to give everything, I want to experience beautiful moments and achieve the common goals. It is also very nice to be back home in Vienna," said Manuel Polster.

Polster started playing football at the age of five at SV Langenzersdorf and won several youth titles with his first club. From 2013, the attacking player also played for LAZ Stockerau and from 2015 for the St. Pölten academy.

In the summer of 2019, Polster ventured to Germany and joined VfL Wolfsburg. He played 21 matches for the Lower Saxony U19s in the U19 Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal for juniors in the following two years, scoring three goals.

At the age of 18, he moved to VfB Stuttgart, where he played for the second team in the Regionalliga Südwest in 2021-22. Polster played in 34 of a possible 38 matches, starting 23 times and scoring six goals. This made him the best U20 scorer in the league and the second most successful goal scorer for VfB.

Manuel Polster has made 31 international appearances (3 goals) for Austria and has played in every national team from U15 to U18. He made just under half, 14 games, for the U17s, with whom he took part in the European Championship in 2019 with Matthias Braunöder, Armand Smrcka and Josef Pross, among others.

Sporting director Manuel Ortlechner: "We sensed from the first conversation that Manuel would like to move here, that he really wants to play for Austria Wien and is highly motivated. We are getting a player with a very exciting profile, Manuel is very dynamic, has a good left foot and can play several positions in the offensive area. He has been through the Austrian junior national teams, which also speaks in his favour. We are very happy that we have succeeded in this transfer."