On the so-called "Deadline Day" of the Bundesliga, Mainz 05 signed 22-year-old striker Jhon Cordoba on a one-year loan with an option to buy from FC Granada. The Colombian only scored four goals in 26 matches for the Spanish club last season.

Late replacement for moved Shinji Okazaki

Before season starts, Mainz 05 sold their Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki to the Premier League side, Leicester City.

During the pre-season, the German club signed 24-year-old Florian Niederlechner from 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Heidenheim. Another new striker, 22-year-old Yoshinori Muto from FC Tokyo, arrived and so did Maximillian Beister, who joined the club from Hamburger SV, but is still injured.

Despite a brace from the new Japanese forward on last matchday against Hannover 96, Mainz felt the need to sign a new striker and they got one with the Colombian. He will start training after international break, as he is currently with Colombia's Olympic squad.

His career stats before Mainz 05-move 

Before his move to Mainz, the 1.88m tall striker played for Granada, where he scored four goals in his last 26 matches.

Only one season earlier, he moved from Mexico to Spain and sealed a permanent move to Granada. After which he was loaned out to Espanyol one season beforehand. For Espanyol, he also lacked a goalscoring edge; in 33 appearances he only scored four goals. 

During the time when he played for Mexican club Chiapas FC just once in 19 games.

Thoughts on new signing 

Sporting director Christian Heidel said that "Mainz have been scouting Jhon [Cordoba] for a while". He added that Cordoba is the "exact type of striker the club wanted to bring into the squad".

Also coach Martin Schmidt was delighted and thinks that: "Cordoba is the perfect player for Mainz 05, who will fit in with the style of Mainz's play and will help the team with his physical presence."

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Pascal Martin
VAVEL author since June 2015. Sportswriter-to-be. Twitter: @pascalmrt87