German second-division club VfL Bochum have confirmed the signing of Estonia captain Karol Mets on a free transfer.
The 33-year-old central defender has agreed a two-year contract after leaving St. Pauli, where he spent the previous three and a half seasons. Mets helped the Hamburg club win promotion as 2. Bundesliga champions in 2024 before spending the following two campaigns in the Bundesliga. St. Pauli were relegated back to the second tier after finishing bottom of the Bundesliga last season, and Mets departed when his contract expired.
Reports in the German media had recently suggested that Bochum head coach Uwe Rösler was looking to recruit a left-sided central defender capable of becoming a key figure in the team. Two players were reportedly under consideration, with Bochum eventually choosing Mets, who has made 104 appearances for the Estonia national team.
“I am very happy to join Bochum. I will have the opportunity to get to know my new teammates during the training camp,” Mets told the club’s media department before travelling with the squad to Austria.
“Simon Zoller, my former teammate, told me a lot of positive things about Bochum, and the stadium is definitely exactly to my taste – compact and with a great atmosphere.
“I am already looking forward to playing there. First of all, it is important to work hard in training because the 2. Bundesliga is a very strong competition.”
Founded as a gymnastics club in 1848 before establishing its football section in 1911, Bochum have won the 2. Bundesliga title four times, in 1994, 1996, 2006 and 2021. The club finished ninth in the second division last season after spending the previous four campaigns in the Bundesliga.
Bochum have three pre-season friendlies remaining before the start of the new league campaign, facing Swansea City, Karl Jakob Hein’s Werder Bremen and Sheffield United. Their 2. Bundesliga season begins on August 7 with a home match against Hertha Berlin.
Bochum become the eighth foreign club of Mets’ career. The experienced defender has previously represented Viking in Norway, NAC Breda in the Netherlands, AIK in Sweden, Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria, Zürich in Switzerland and St. Pauli in Germany.
