MARKUS Schopp is currently undecided on the future of Marcel Ritzmaier, admitting his fellow Austrian must provide ‘much more than he gave us so far.’
The midfielder has returned to Oakwell for pre-season after spending most of the last campaign on loan at Rapid Vienna.
The 28-year-old has played 22 games for the Reds since arriving in January last year.
He has a year left on his contract.
Ritzmaier looked set to rejoin Rapid this summer before Schopp replaced Valerien Ismael as head coach.
He is the most experienced player in his position by six years and the oldest in the squad while he played in the Europa League last season.
He has come off the bench in both friendlies so far but Schopp says he may not be able to guarantee him gametime.
Schopp told the Chronicle: “Marcel had, two years ago, a really good season in Austria.
“He did really, really good.
“It’s all about which formation we will choose, which is a discussion at the moment.
“A player like him has to play and, if he does not play, he is not happy.
“He is an experienced player but I need to figure out if he can fit into our ideas.
“I need to figure out if he can give us much more than he gave us so far.”
