Hamburg set to bring Stefan Posch back to the Bundesliga | OneFootball

The Hamburger Abendblatt reports that Hamburger SV are set to bring Austrian centre-back Stefan Posch back to the Bundesliga. After recently dropping interest in Southampton’s Armel Bella-Kotchap, the newly promoted Bundesliga outfit continues to seek more assistance in central defense. The German paper reports that Hamburg and Posch have agreed to personal terms.

A return to German football makes a great deal of sense for the 28-year-old. Prior to the 2022/23 campaign, Posch’s entire professional career took place in Germany. Rising up through the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim ranks, Posch made his debut (as a starter no less) in October 2017. The now 44-times-capped international went on to amass 109 German top flight appearances.

A loan (and later sale) to FC Bologna finally saw Posch depart Sinsheim. Last season did not go terribly well for the centre-back. Bologna loaned him out to Atalanta Bergamo during the second half of the campaign. Posch made a combined 19 Serie A appearances for his two clubs, never managing to get his name on the scoresheet.

The history of Posch’s market valuation is indeed an interesting one. Mercurial swings have seen the player’s market value go from peak-to-trough multiple times. Hoffenheim sold Posch to to Bologna for €5m in January 2023 when he was estimated to be worth €15m.

After hitting a €7m low with Bologna, Posch doubled his value back up to €14m with quality Serie A performances. Last year brought another drop. Posch now maintains an estimated €8m value. This would still make him the most valuable player in the HSV squad.

What sort of deal HSV board-member-for-sport Stefan Kuntz ends up swinging for Posch shall prove still more interesting. Over the course of the next week, the Hamburg administrative team will engage in some high-stakes negotiations with Bologna.

Posch is entering the final year of his contract.

GGFN | Peter Weis