GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — United States forward Matthew Hoppe signed a contract extension with German club Schalke on Monday after scoring five goals in his first nine Bundesliga games.
The club said the 19-year-old American’s new deal runs until the end of the 2022-23 season.
Hoppe was with the Schalke reserves until November. He scored three goals in a 4-0 win over Hoffenheim on Jan. 9 to end Schalke’s near-record run of 30 league games without a win.
“The last few weeks have been like a dream. I am extremely thankful to everyone at Schalke for giving me this chance,” Hoppe said in a statement. “Now I want to play my part in us being successful again.”
Schalke is in last place in the Bundesliga with eight points from 19 games.
Also Monday, American defender Chris Richards joined Hoffenheim on loan from Bayern Munich for the rest of the season.
The 20-year-old Richards made his debut in June in the next-to-last league match of last season and has played in seven games this season: three in the Bundesliga, three in the Champions League and one in the German Cup. Richards also has played eight games this season for Bayern’s reserves in the third division.
He knows Hoffenheim coach Sebastian Hoeneß from their time together at Bayern’s reserve team.
Richards played for the United States at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup and made his senior national team debut on Nov. 16 in a friendly against Panama.
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