Marcel Heller – “lightning quick and aggressive”

Marcel Heller, born in Frechen in the Rheinland, has had to deal with a number of setbacks in his career already. Relegation battles and injuries are nothing new for the 31-year-old. However the midfielder, who had been plying his trade at SV Darmstadt 98, has always battled back and found his way in the Bundesliga. At the age of 20, Heller was offered his first professional contract at Eintracht Frankfurt. It was a dream come true for the youngster, who back then was playing at third-tier side Sportfreunde. After an up-and-down couple of years at Eintracht, making a handful of appearances in the second team and going out on loan to MSV Duisburg, Heller’s career was on the line due to a serious back injury, forcing him to spend a year out. He tried to rebuild at Dynamo Dresden before heading to Alemannia Aachen. Their relegation to the third league of German football in 2013 and the club’s bankruptcy declaration initially left Heller without a club. He then signed for SV Darmstadt 98, then managed by former FCA head coach Dirk Schuster, and it was here that Heller finally found success. He achieved a double promotion with the Lillies to take the club into the top flight of German football and helped them maintain their Bundesliga status in the 2015/16 season. His contract with Darmstadt ran out in the summer of 2017, leaving him once again searching for a new challenge. It is then that he decided to put pen to paper for FCA and is looking forward to getting started with his two-year contract. “My aim was to also be playing Bundesliga football this season which is why I am delighted to be taking on this new challenge with FCA, who convinced me in the excellent discussions we had and with the exciting task ahead of us.”