Newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 have announced the signing of Junior Diaz from 1. FSV Mainz 05 on a two-year deal.
Hugely experienced player
Between 2012 and 2015, Diaz made 57 appearances for Mainz but was ultimately not awarded a new contract at the 05ers.
Before joining Mainz for £655,000 in 2012, Diaz had spells at Polish side Wisla Karkow and Club Brugge, where he featured a total of 142 times at the two sides.
At national team level, Diaz has played 75 times for Costa Rica, scoring just the one goal. The defender has represented his country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where they won the hearts of many with their success story, and most recently at the Gold Cup - Costa Rica bowed out in the quarter finals after a 1-0 defeat to eventual winners Mexico.
The 31-year-old is well renowned as being a left back, however at 6 ft 1 the Costa Rican can play at centre-back if needed, where he played twice for Mainz.
Plenty of new arrivals in Darmstadt
Diaz becomes Schuster’s sixth signing of summer, joining the likes of Mario Vrancic, 26-year-old from Paderborn, Fabian Holland, who signed from Hertha BSC for £245,000, and Luca Caldirola, an Italian defender on-loan from Werder Bremen.
The Darmstadt manager spoke of his delight to add more experience to his squad, "Junior Diaz will be a tremendous asset to our team." He added, "With his Bundesliga experience, he's just one of those players that we need. In addition, he has already proved his class on the international stage."
The transfer has been a long-time coming; the Costa Rican was away at the Gold Cup up until mid-July and then the experienced full-back was on holiday with his family. Yesterday he was seen at Darmstadt’s Stadion am Böllenfalltor. Junior Diaz will battle it out for the left-full back position along with fellow new signings Holland and Konstantin Rausch.