Player signing

By: Chris | November 14th, 2007

Yesterday HSV announced the signing of Nigerian U17 Macauley Chrisantus. He was previously playing for the Nigerian side FC Abuja. You can read the original story here (it’s in German–I translated it with Babelfish). He was also being pursued by LOTS of clubs, including Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U, Real Madrid, Ajax, Marseille and Lyon (his boyhood favorite are Arsenal–his hero, Thierry Henry).   The article quotes HSV sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer as saying the club’s “concept” impressed Chrisantus’s family and advisors, and that HSV are positioned to sign him to a long term contract. HSV are hoping to get an exception from FIFA to allow Chrisantus to play with the club prior to 1 July 2008. 

Chrisantus is one of the most exciting young players in the world and his signing is a tremendous coup for HSV. Nigeria won the U17 World Cup in Korea in October and Chrisantus recorded 7 goals and 2 assists in the tournament. He is the Nigerian Adidas Golden Boot winner and the silver winner of the Golden Ball from the U17 World Cup.

Category: Team News

Tags: Hamburg SV, Nigeria, Team News, U17 World Cup

« Hamburg SV on board! | Home | Clean sheet, but. . . »

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share

Comments  

• Jan |  November 14th, 2007 at 9:06 am

  
  
  

  Great news for Hamburg. Hamburg has a strong gk, defence and midfield but could really use another decent striker up front. Maybe he will already get some first team playing time this season like Toni Kroos at Bayern.

  Posted from Germany

  

• Chris |  November 14th, 2007 at 9:40 am

  
  
  

  My thoughts exactly. The addition of a quality striker will go a long way toward replacing Van Der Vaart’s scoring when he eventually leaves.

  Posted from United States

  

• Abby |  November 14th, 2007 at 9:51 am

  
  
  

  That’s a pretty big coup for Hamburg. It seemed like every team was after this kid…

  Posted from United States

  

• Inara |  November 14th, 2007 at 3:53 pm

  
  
  

  It’s good that he chose Hamburg. That indicates he has a good head on his shoulders. He’s young and still a kid, and right now he needs guidance, attention, and pitch time, which would be a lot harder to get at a club like Real or Liverpool. Plus at Hamburg, he’ll be at a club with a good infrastructure and talented players, so he can learn from his teammates too.

  Posted from United States

  

• Jan |  November 15th, 2007 at 6:43 am

  
  
  

  It seems that Hamburg also invested the most in the sense, that they visited the parents and explained their whole youth concept to them and their plans to develop the player etc.

  And it definitely helped that Chrisantus will also have a good chance to see some regular first team playing time in the league and in the UEFA Cup/CL(next season?).

  Posted from Germany

  

• Bundesliga Offside Rewind: They’ve given their all - Hamburger SV - The Offside - German Football League Blog |  November 23rd, 2007 at 3:31 pm | Pingback

  
  
  

  [...] Hamburg sign the second hottest young player from this years U17 World Cup. (Hamburg Offside) Category: Hamburger SV, International, Hertha BSC Berlin, Werder Bremen, National Team, 1. [...]

  Posted from United States

  

• Juliet |  November 25th, 2007 at 8:19 am

  
  
  

  A good deal all around — Hamburg will take care of the kid and give him playing time while not exposing him to the pressure of one of the bigger teams. I’m really pleased to see Hamburg making a serious effort to keep the parents involved, because I’m under the impression parents often get shut out of their wunderkind’s careers.

  Posted from United States

  

Comments are closed