The Bundesliga team 1. FC Union Berlin has added Carl Klaus to its goalkeeper squad. The 30-year-old played for 1. FC Nürnberg until the end of last season and has now been confirmed as a Union player after a trial training period.

Trained in Germany – matured in Spain

Born in Stuttgart, Klaus joined VfB Stuttgart’s youth academy at the age of ten and initially made the leap to the Swabians’ U17s in 2010. This move was also to be the start of an almost annual transition: in 2011, he continued with VfB’s U19s, followed by a move and transfer to VfL Wolfsburg’s U19s in 2012. Twelve months later, the goalkeeper was already part of VfL’s second team. The prospect of playing professional football drew the then 21-year-old back home in the summer of 2015, but this time to the third division and VfB’s local rivals Stuttgarter Kickers. Klaus made 14 appearances for the Kickers, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated to the Regionalliga. 

Another transfer followed. He remained in the third division, but now in Spain’s Segunda División B – Grupo III. At Atlético Baleares, a club in Mallorca’s capital Palma, he initially shuttled between the bench and the pitch; however, he established himself as a regular goalkeeper in his third season, and only narrowly missed out on promotion to the second tier in the play-off final against CD Mirandés due to the away goals rule. 

Back in Germany, the Germany U18 international joined the then second-division club SV Darmstadt 98 for two years before finally moving to league rivals Nuremberg in the summer of 2021. Klaus initially held the status of number 2 at the club, but finally took over the job between the posts in the second half of the 2023/24 season and helped to secure Darmstadt’s relegation. 

Carl Klaus has been training with Union in recent weeks, initially on a trial basis, but he will now be able to prove his skills in the longer term.

Three facts about Carl Klaus

• Carl Klaus has already played with Rani Khedira as a youth player at VfB Stuttgart.
• With VfL Wolfsburg’s U19s, he became German A-Junior Champion in 2013 and won the Regionalliga Nord with the Wolves’ second team in 2014.
• Alongside his professional career, he has completed a degree in psychology.

Comments on the contract signature

‘I’m delighted that I was able to prove myself in the trial period at Union and that I’m now an integral part of the team. I felt very comfortable here right from the start and was given an excellent reception by the club. I am proud to be part of Union and to give my best for the club every day,’ said Carl Klaus on the contract signature.

Horst Heldt, Managing Director of Men’s Professional Football at 1. FC Union Berlin, explained: ‘Carl was immediately a major help, he trained hard and always showed great team spirit. We are convinced that he will strengthen our goalkeeper team and are delighted to officially welcome him to 1. FC Union Berlin.’