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Stephan Ambrosius stays on board at HSV with new long-term contract

The 22-year-old central defender, who has established himself as a key player so far this season, has extended his contract by three years until June 2024.

Another talented youngster from the HSV academy has committed his long-term future to the club. After the contracts on Aaron Opoku, Josha Vagnoman and Jonas David were extended last summer until 2024, fellow academy graduate Stephan Ambrosius has followed suit. The 22-year-old central defender’s contract, which initially ran out this summer, has been extended by three years until the 30th June 2024.

HSV sporting director Michael Mutzel was particularly thrilled with the agreement reached with the Hamburg native, who has broken into the first-team this season and developed a strong partnership alongside more experienced partner Toni Leistner. “Stephan has worked hard to become a key player for us in the past few months. He fought his way back from a nasty ACL injury and has only improved since then. It’s always a proud moment for the club when a player from the HSV academy plays for the first team. As such we’re very happy that Stephan will stay with us long-term.” The 22-year-old himself was just as pleased with the contract extension: “I’m very happy that the negotiations were fruitful and I’m able to stay at HSV. It was always a dream of mine to play at the Volksparkstadion. Thanks to the appearances I’ve now made, I’ve been able to swap that giddy excitement at the beginning for enjoyment of the game. I always try to give 100% and want to motivate my teammates too. In the future I want to push on with my development and be successful with the team.”

Stephan Ambrosius has been a key member of the HSV squad this season, completing 988 of a possible 1,260 minutes for the Rothosen.

Stephan Kofi Ambrosius was born on the 18th December 1998 in Hamburg and began his footballing journey in the south of the city. After spells at ESV Einigkeit Wilhelmsburg and SV Wilhelmsburg, the younger brother of Michael (born 1996, currently with Germania Halberstadt in the Regionallige Nordost), joined the academy of FC St. Pauli. At the age of 13, the right-footed defender crossed town to join HSV, progressing through the Rothosen’s various age-group teams from then on. On the 31st March 2018 the centre-back celebrated his Bundesliga debut during the 1-1 away draw in Stuttgart, signing his first professional contract soon after and gaining more game time with the under-21s. In December 2018, the 1.83m defender suffered a torn ACL and had to endure a long spell on the sidelines. After his recovery, Ambrosius continued his development with the Regionalliga squad, making his first-team comeback on the last day of the 2019/20 2. Bundesliga season against SV Sandhausen. The 22-year-old has developed into a key part of the backbone of the first-team squad in his full season with the pros, and was rewarded with his first call-up to the German under-21 team in the autumn of 2020. The Hamburg native should hopefully continue this upward trajectory in the next few years with his boyhood club.