Interview with Cyrus Christie

HANNES WOLF HAS PROVED A LIVELY ON-FIELD PRESENCE SINCE JOINING SWANSEA CITY ON LOAN FROM BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH. HERE, HE REVEALS HIS REASONS FOR MOVING TO SA1, REFLECTS ON PLAYING ALONGSIDE A LIST OF STARSTUDDED TALENTS AND OUTLINES HOW A SERIOUS INJURY SETBACK MADE HIM STRONGER AS A PERSON.

Hannes, welcome to Swansea City. You’ve got a few games under your belt since sealing your January move. How has it been for you?

I am really happy here and really excited. I had an interesting journey to get here, I did everything I could to make the move happen quickly and to get here and be ready to play has been very nice.

It’s always good to get everything done. I think it was five countries in two days, I went from Dusseldorf to Paris to Amsterdam to Bristol, and finally to Swansea as it was the quickest way to get things done with my visa.

It would have taken longer otherwise, but I wanted to start here as soon as possible and play against Preston.

“It has been amazing to play in front of the fans, it was a really nice feeling. The club, the staff and the training facilities are amazing; everybody is so kind. My girlfriend has now come over and we’re very happy.”

You were linked with a number of clubs, including Celtic, during the window. What was it about Swansea that made you decide to join?

“The first thing for me was that I had a really good Zoom call with the coach, he told me how they want to play football and he showed me some videos of how the team has been playing,” he said. “When I saw it, I just loved it from the first moment, it is the same way I see football.

“I knew the club, Swansea is a big club and so everything was top. I told my agent and we decided to come here.

“This is a team that has so much possession, and as an offensive player you can get so many chances per game.

“This suits me, and I feel I can help the team playing this way. I have watched five or six of Swansea’s games this season and it is really good football.

“This is a new experience for me, and it is something I wanted to do. I wanted to do something different for me and I think this could be perfect.”

The Bundesliga is a great league and one that’s popular with fans in this country, have you likewise been watching a lot of British football during your time in Austria and Germany?

Yes, of course. I have watched a lot of the Premier League when I was young and I remember seeing Swansea play and do so well. I have also watched the Championship as a good friend of mine moved to play in this division a few years ago.

It was Patrick Schmidt who was at Barnsley. I watched some of his games and I watched a lot of Swansea games before moving.

I asked him about how things are. We often say in Austria that English football is hard football but Patrick told me that it is tough but Swansea are a team that play football and so I knew this would be a good fit for me.

This is a new experience in a new country for you. How much did that side of things appeal to you?

This is also something I wanted to do. I have been in Austria and Germany and I felt it was time for something new.

I feel like this step could be perfect for me. I left my hometown of Graz at the age of 14 to make the move to RB Salzburg and I worked my way up from there.

So I have been used to moving to take on new challenges, I got a professional deal and played two years under Marco Rose, who had been my coach as a young player.

We had a good time there and won some titles, I will never forget those and we have gone on from there.

What was it like to leave home at such a young age?

It was hard sometimes, as you would expect. There are times you are homesick and you just want to go home.

But I was able to go and visit home every week and that helped with things. It was a three-hour drive and my parents came to see me and to get me so it was fine.

You mentioned your time with Red Bull Salzburg, and you also played for Red Bull Leipzig. You’ve played with some big names in global football like Erling Haaland, Takumi Minamino and Patson Daka.

All of those guys are nice guys and really great players. I think you look at that group of players who have gone on from Red Bull Salzburg and ended up in England or Germany, you can see the talent they develop as a club.

They got nice moves but they got those moves because of their talent and how they have developed.

You got your move to Red Bull Leipzig, but were so unfortunate to suffer a bad injury before you had a chance to make your debut as you broke your ankle at the European Under-21 Championship with Austria. That must have been tough?

It was hard as I felt really good. I was performing well and then the injury happened. But sometimes football is like this. Leipzig is a big club with some great players and after half-a-year out it was not so easy to get the games I needed so I moved on as I needed to play.

I learnt a lot from those hard times as that was the first time things were not going as they had been going. Things in life do not always move in just one direction, there are ups and downs.

You understand there is another side of life, but I got through it, my ankle is good and I feel good.

You joined your old coach Marco Rose at Borussia Monchengladbach and had a great season with him. How big an influence has he been on your career?

He called me, he was a person who wanted to help me get the old Hannes back. We had a great season, we had the Champions League and we did okay in the cup and the Bundesliga.

He left after one year, this is football and this is a new challenge.

You’re a player with a lot of energy, you like to drive forward with the ball. But how would you sum yourself up as a player?

I like the ball at my feet, I like to dribble with the ball and take on defenders, looking to play the right ball in the right moment.

I hope I can show from the first day what I can do, I have not played so many games these past months but I will be giving everything for Swansea.

I trained and played with the team, and it was really nice and the training ground and everything here is top.

The quality of training is great and I felt good.

I now need to play my football again, and play with speed and confidence. As a team, there is so much quality here that we want to move up the league. I am excited for the games we have left.