Erwin Hoffer

Erwin "Jimmy" Hoffer (born 14 April 1987) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a striker

Born in Baden bei Wien, Austria, Hoffer played for the youth teams such as 1.

SC Haidhof, FC Tribuswinkel and Badener AC before joining Admira Wacker, where he started his professional career.

After progressing through the ranks there, Hoffer started his professional career at 17 Admira Wacker, where he played from 2004 to 2006 in the first team.

He also scored four times, including against Sturm Graz and Pasching.

After a two-year spell, he moved to Rapid Wien where he was a replacement for Muhammet Akagündüz, who left for Turkish side Kayserispor.

Hoffer made his Rapid Wien debut on 29 July 2006, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–0 loss against SV Ried.

Having spent most of the season with the reserve, Hoffer then scored a brace on 13 May 2007, in a 2–0 win over Grazer AK.

In his first season, Hoffer made 21 appearances and scored 4 times.

Having missed the start of the 2007–08 season, due to international commitment, Hoffer made his first appearance of the season, where he set up the only goal in the game, in a 1–0 win over SC Rheindorf Altach on 1 August 2007.

On 3 November 2007, he scored his first goal of the season, as well as, setting up a goal, in a 4–0 win over SV Ried.

He then scored twice on 16 February 2008, in a 2–0 win over Austria Kärnten.

On 23 March 2008, he scored a hat-trick in their 7–0 victory against Red Bull Salzburg and assisting two times during the match as well.

In the last three matches of the season, Hoffer scored three goals in three matches, including scoring decisive goal, in a 3–0 win over Rheindorf Altach on 21 April 2008, a victory that saw Rapid Wien win the Austrian Football Bundesliga title in the 2007–08 season.

In the 2008–09 season, Hoffer started the season well when he score 7 times in all competitions against Austria Kärnten, Anorthosis Famagusta, Rheindorf Altach (four times), and LASK Linz.

After three months without scoring, Hoffer, once again, went on a goalscoring form throughout the end of the year, scoring against LASK Linz, Sturm Graz (twice), Rheindorf Altach (hat–trick), and Austria Wien.

Finishing the 2008–09 season as second top scorer in the league behind Marc Janko, Hoffer made a total of 39 appearances scoring 29 times in all competitions.

At the end of the 2008–09 season, Hoffer attracted interests from clubs around Europe.

Amid to the transfer move, Hoffer made two appearances for the side in the UEFA Europa League Qualification Round campaign against Vllaznia Shkodër, scoring in the first leg, with the result was 8–0 on aggregate for Rapid Wien.

After Rapid Wien had denied that any clubs were interested in Hoffer, the agreement between Rapid Wien and Napoli was agreed.

From 8 March 2009 to 21 March 2009, Hoffer scored five goals in three appearances, including two braces against Kapfenberger SV and Austria Kärnten.

After suffering a muscle injury that kept him out on a short term, Hoffer then scored two hat–tricks against Red Bull Salzburg and Kapfenberger SV in May 2009.

On 28 July 2009, Napoli signed the striker on a five-year deal, for €5 million.

Hoffer scored his first goal with the partenopei on his club debut on 16 August 2009 in 3–0 Coppa Italia win against Salernitana.

After the match, Hoffer said about scoring his first goal: "I would say that there is nothing better than starting this way. I hoped I could enter the field and give my input, then the good ball came in."

Two weeks later, on 30 August 2009, he made his league debut for Napoli, coming on as a late substitute, in a 3–1 win over Livorno.

But as the 2009–10 season progressed, Hoffer found his first team opportunities limited at Napoli, due to striking form of Germán Denis and Fabio Quagliarella.

He turned down a move to ChievoVerona in January 2010.

Having spent the whole season on the substitute bench and a little playing time, Hoffer made a total of 11 appearances scoring once.

Ahead of the 2010–11 season, Hoffer was linked with moves to German sides 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Mainz 05.

Ultimately, he joined 1.

FC Kaiserslautern on a season-long loan deal for the 2010–11 season, with no buy option.

However, Hoffer expressed his unhappiness over lack of playing time at Napoli, with his first team opportunities there limited.

Nevertheless, he hoped his move to Kaiserslautern would make an impact in Germany, unlike his time in Italy.

Hoffer made his debut for the club in a first round cup match against VfL Osnabrück, scoring two goals, having came on as a substitute for Iliyan Mitsanski, in a 3–2 win after extra time.

A week later, on 21 August 2010, he made his league debut for the club, where he set up a goal for Ivo Iličević, in a 3–1 win over Köln.

A month later, on 18 September 2010, he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw against Hoffenheim.

However, Hoffer found himself within a competition in the first team, which saw him being on the substitute bench.

He scored a hat–trick for the reserve side on 28 November 2010, in a 4–1 win over Wuppertaler SV.

For this, Hoffer had his contract extended, keeping him until 2011.