Team
04.05.20
HSV extends contract with Aaron Opoku until 2024
The 21-year-old academy graduate, currently on loan at Hansa Rostock, has extended his contract which was due to run out next summer.
HSV continues to place its faith in youth, securing the long-term services of striker Aaron Opoku, having extended fellow youngster Josha Vagnoman’s contract a few weeks ago. 21-year-old Opoku’s contract, that originally ran until June 2021, has been extended by three years until the summer of 2024, similarly to the agreement with Vagnoman on the 17th April. The Hamburg native, who moved to HSV from Hamburger Turnerschaft von 1816 in 2011, has been playing on loan at Hansa Rostck in the 3. Liga this season, and will return to Hamburg once the current season is over.
HSV sporting director Michael Mutzel was thrilled to have tied down one of HSV’s most exciting talents long-term. “Aaron is a player who has developed at the club, who was on a good path before his move to Rostock and has made a big step in his development whilst on loan there this season. We’re really happy that he’s committed his long-term future to us, because we believe that rather than him being at the end of the road, he’s just getting started.” Opoku, who himself concedes that he has made big strides on and off the pitch whilst in Rostock (25 games, three goals, five assists), was also more than happy to extend his time at the Volksparkstadion: “I’m delighted. The feeling is very motivating and gratifying, when you realise that you’ve worked hard and have been rewarded for the good work.”
Aaron Opoku-Tiawiah was born on the 28th March 1999 in Hamburg and started his footballing journey with the Hamburger Turnerschaft von 1816, which is based in the east of the city. At the tender age of 12, the German youth international with Ghanaian heritage moved to the academy of Hamburger SV, moving through the youth teams at the Alexander-Otto-Akademie. The winger was able to make his debut in adult football on the 21st March 2018, assisting a goal for HSV’s second team in the Regionalliga Nord against Eutin 08 in his first appearance. Just four months later Opoku suffered a collapsed lung during the warm-up for an under-21 friendly and was out of action for a prolonged period. After completing rehabilitation, the right-footed attacker was able to make 17 appearances in the fourth tier for HSV’s under-21 side, scoring two and assisting three goals, whilst also being called up to the first team squad on six occasions. The youngster’s services weren’t called upon, but that is an ambition that the 21-year-old still possesses: “It would be a dream for me to walk out for my boyhood club in the city of my birth, a team that I’ve been with since the age of 12. I’m very thankful for what the club has given me and look forward to repaying the faith placed in me.”