Sven Sprangler needed someone to believe in him and now wants to repay St Johnstone

With every passing game it is becoming harder to grasp why Sven Sprangler was unwanted property in his homeland of Austria.

The 28-year-old has been very open about his struggles to find a club in recent times having previously starred in the Europa League for Wolfsberger.

In their 2020/21 campaign, for example, he started in victories against CSKA Moscow and Feyenoord while also playing against Dinamo Zagreb and English giants Tottenham.

Yet, after falling out of favour under new management, he soon found himself searching for other options. But nothing was surfacing.

He would drop down a level to join SK Vorwärts Steyr and, while outside voices said finding another job might be a feasible option, the fire was still burning strong inside Sprangler.

“I signed a new contract at Wolfsberger but they changed managers when I was injured and when I was back, it was clear I was only there for the training ground,” Sprangler said.

“I had a contract but I asked them to tear it up and let me go. I took the risk, it was my decision to leave and after that I was six months without a club.

“I had an agent in Austria but our relationship wasn’t good, he didn’t find me anything and nobody wanted me.

“He never explained why he couldn’t get anything, it was a weird situation.

“It was a very strange situation to go from playing in the Europa League to having no club. I thought after that I would get opportunities, but it never happened.

“Some of my friends told me I should just give up, get a normal job working 40 hours a week somewhere and play football part-time in the lower leagues.

“But I told them ‘no way, never’ because I believed in myself. That was never going to happen.

“I know that time will come in the future, hopefully in ten