Tottenham’s forgotten man enjoying his game at last

When Hoffenheim signed Heurelho Gomes on loan at the end of the January transfer window, fans of the Brazilian might have expected yet another long spell on the subs bench. The Germans were going through a poor season in the Bundesliga but had an established goalie in full international Tim Wiese.

However, Gomes was put straight into the side and his debut performance helped Hoffeheim to  a 2-1 victory over Freiburg – their first in the league since the third of November.

Speaking to Bundesliga.com, Heurelho spoke about his early days in Germany.

“I didn’t really have much time to think about it,” Gomes said.

“What helped was that I had talked to Gylfi Sigurdsson, a former Hoffenheim player at Tottenham, about the club before. The discussions with Hoffenheim’s representatives went well. They seemed to have faith in my ability.”

Since that opening win, Hoffenheim have suffered a narrow defeat away to Hannover and it seems the most the side can hope for is to stay in the relegation play off place, ahead of the bottom two places and an automatic drop.

“To be honest, right now I’m not thinking about relegation,” Gomes added.

“We have 13 more games to play and plenty of points to gain. I’m sure we can still catch the teams ahead of us.”

Asked if he had thought about staying beyond the end of the season, Heurelho concluded.

“I’ve not even been here two weeks, so I’m not going to talk about that at the moment. I have a contract at Tottenham, but I have a loan agreement for the next four months here in Hoffenheim and will do everything I can do to help this club stay in the league. I’m not thinking any further ahead.”

By most accounts, the Germans are pleased with Gomes’ early performances but what future can the 32 year old hope for? Much could depend on Hoffenheim and whether they avoid the drop and if they do, perhaps our keeper’s career at the Lane could finally be over.