Discarded in Austria, Sven Sprangler is determined to make himself indispensable in Scotland.
After a long red-tape saga was eventually ended at the weekend, the 28-year-old was able to make his St Johnstone debut against Hibs.
His was an individual performance that suggested he will be worth the wait.
And Sprangler intends to repay his new manager’s faith by helping dig the Perth club out of their Premiership hole.
“Nobody in Austria believes in me,” said the midfielder, who played the full 90 minutes of the 2-0 Easter Road loss.
“No clubs wanted me.
“I have no idea why that was – honestly, I don’t know.
“I was playing for Wolfsberger but they changed managers when I was injured.
“So when I came back, he had his starting XI and I wasn’t playing.
“He wanted me to stay because I had two years left on my contract but I wanted to be playing so I took the risk to leave.
“I don’t know why teams in Austria didn’t want me so I went six months without a club.
“I joined Steyr eventually so got back playing again – it was good to have matches every weekend.
“Once we were relegated it was the same again. I couldn’t find a club and it was frustrating.
“I talked a lot with my parents and girlfriend about what to do, and she told me never give up and keep going.
“So I got a new agent, who did things well for me and got me the opportunity to come to St Johnstone on trial.”
St Johnstone trial gamble for Sven Sprangler
Sprangler earned his move to Saints the hard way – proving himself on trial as a free agent.
“I was very excited about it and when the gaffer said he wanted me to stay,” he said. “It was one of the happiest days of my life.
“My girlfriend likes Scotland so she was very happy for me to come here.
“I have always liked Scottish football. I love the intensity of it and the passion of the fans.
“So it was always a dream to play here even from when I was young.
“The intensity here is higher than in Austria. There are more duels.
“That’s my kind of game. I like to win the ball and play it simple so I think the style will be perfect for me.”
That trial was over a month ago and, ideally, Sprangler would have made his debut far sooner.
“I had to be patient because it was a long wait to get the visa, but it is done now and I am happy to be here,” he said.
“I had to go home to Austria to do some paperwork and then down to Manchester, so it took longer than I expected.
“But it is done now and I am looking forward.
“The team is good but we are not scoring a lot and that’s the problem.
“We created chances and got up the pitch but we didn’t have enough players in the box.
“That’s where we have to improve – we need to get more people up there to score.
“I have to improve on this and the whole team has to do it too.
“I think this is a good team and I am very positive we can stay in the league.”
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