Erik Jendrisek

Club

Xanthi

Position

Forward

Nationality

Slovakia

Date of birth

1986-10-26

Birthplace

Trstená, CSSR

Height

1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)

Weight

72.56

Signing / transfer fee

Signed

Erik Jendrišek (born 26 October 1986) is a Slovak footballer who plays for Xanthi as a forward.

Club career
Ružomberok
Jendrišek was the best youth player in Slovakia during the 2002–03 season. Playing as a professional with Ružomberok between 2003 and 2006, he scored 30 goals in 56 league games. In 2006, he won the Slovak league and cup double with the club, also being the country's top goalscorer for the 2005–06 season with 21 goals, alongside Róbert Rák.

Hannover
In the summer of 2006, Jendrišek was signed by Hannover 96 on a season-long loan deal with the option of a permanent deal at the end of the season. He made his competitive debut for the club on 9 September 2006 in the first round of the 2006–07 DFB-Pokal, coming on as a substitute in their 3–2 away win at Dynamo Dresden. He went on to make his Bundesliga debut on 23 September 2006 in a 1–1 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen, once again coming on as a substitute. However, he never managed to find his place as a first-team regular with Hannover, finishing the season with only nine Bundesliga appearances on his tally, all of them as a substitute.

Kaiserslautern
On 30 May 2007, Jendrišek moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern on a three-year contract. He made his Kaiserslautern debut on 4 August 2007 in their 4–0 away win against SV Wilhelmshaven in the first round of the 2007–08 DFB-Pokal. His league debut for Kaiserslautern came on 13 August 2007 in the club's opening match of the season, a 1–1 draw at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach. He quickly established himself as a regular with the club, scoring five goals in 16 league appearances during the first half of the season. He also recorded three assists during that period of the season.

The second half of the season, however, was not very successful for him as he failed to score any goals in ten league appearances, only recording one assist. Additionally, he was temporary suspended from the club's first team by coach Milan Šašić over lack of discipline. Instead of accepting a fine and return to first-team action, he chose to be relegated to the club's reserve team, where he played four fourth-division games during March and April 2008. He later apologised and accepted the fine. In his last match for the reserves, he scored a hat-trick in the team's 5–2 away win at TuS Mechtersheim. Shortly thereafter, he permanently returned to first-team action.

In Kaiserslautern's opening match of the 2008–09 season, a 3–3 away draw at Mainz 05, Jendriš