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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Slovan Bratislava. Wimmer began his professional career with

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

where his performances earned him a move to German club

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

in June 2012. In the 2013–14 season, Wimmer helped Köln set a new 2. Bundesliga 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 and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

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

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (born 2 March 1972), also known mononymously by his nickname Poch, is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the United States men's national team. Pochettin ...

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 Tobias Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, centre-back. Alderweireld began his professional career at D ...

and

Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (; born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he also played as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior career at Dutch club Ajax in 2006, and total ...

. After two seasons in North London, Wimmer joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

in August 2017 for a fee of £18 million. After several poor performances, he struggled for game time at Stoke and joined

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

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 Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

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 ...

Club career

1. FC Köln

In June 2012, Wimmer moved from Austrian side

to German club

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 football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. They compete in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier o ...

. 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 association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

. In the 2013–14 season, Wimmer helped the club set a 2. Bundesliga 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, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and

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

, 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'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

''.

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 List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Wimmer replaced captain

after 45 minutes and made his debut alongside fellow new signings

Dele Alli Bamidele Jermaine "Dele" Alli ( ; born 11 April 1996) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Como 1907, Como. Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth system at ...

, Kieran Trippier 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 (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

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 has been held every two years since 2009 (ex ...

, played in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, 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 buildin ...

. 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 (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

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

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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'' (; ) 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. History and pro ...

'' 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 Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back and Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder for Bund ...

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 status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, Wimmer scored an own goal attempting to defend a whipping

Mesut Özil Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Known for his ball control, technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision, he is widely re ...

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 association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

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 City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. 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-o ...

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

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

. 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 2. Bundesliga. 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 () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English language, English, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian cham ...

on a free transfer.

Slovan Bratislava

Wimmer departed Rapid Wien upon the expiry of his contract. On 8 June 2023, Slovan Bratislava announced the signing of Wimmer. On 18 September 2024, Wimmer scored his first goal for Slovan Bratislava in the 60th minute of a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

league phase match against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

International career

Wimmer debuted for the Austrian senior squad on 15 November 2013, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 victory against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He represented his country at

UEFA Euro 2016 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 association football, football ch ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimmer, Kevin Living people 1992 births Footballers from Wels Men's association football defenders Austrian men's footballers Austria men's international footballers Austria men's under-21 international footballers Austria men's 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 ŠK Slovan Bratislava players Austrian expatriate men's footballers Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia 21st-century Austrian sportsmen Karlsruher SC players