Inspired by Lyon: How HSV plan to keep hold of their young talents | OneFootball

Inspired by Lyon: How HSV plan to keep hold of their young talents | OneFootball

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·22 October 2025

Inspired by Lyon: How HSV plan to keep hold of their young talents

Article image:Inspired by Lyon: How HSV plan to keep hold of their young talents

Loic Favé is not only an assistant coach for the professionals but also serves as the sports director in HSV's youth department. He spoke in detail about his work with the talents.

Loic Favé, whose mother is from France, draws inspiration from Olympique Lyon. The seven-time French champion played a friendly match in the summer and won 4-0 after a very impressive performance. However, the 32-year-old was already impressed by the club's work before, as he reported in a podcast of the Hamburger Abendblatt.


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After his departure from FC St. Pauli in December 2022, Favé used the time to travel through Europe and visit various youth academies. The visit to OL particularly stayed in his memory. There, he met Castello Lukeba, who transferred to RB Leipzig for 30 million euros in the summer of 2023. They met again in the Bundesliga on Saturday. "He said that he definitely wants to play for Lyon again someday because he has such a strong connection through the youth work," reported the native of Hamburg.

HSV wants to produce more homegrown professionals

He drew the appropriate conclusion: "If one of our boys ever says that about the campus, we've done a lot right." From Favé's perspective, it is important to have a regional proximity and close relationship with the players. The personal connection to Louis Lemke – a 16-year-old left-back – helped to secure one of the currently greatest talents in HSV's youth for the long term.

"We want to bring Hamburg to a new level, ideally. The better the foundation in Hamburg, the more professionals will come from HSV's youth," emphasized Favé, who maintains close contact with the surrounding clubs. In recent years, the Hanseatics have already succeeded in integrating two players from Hamburg, Otto Stangé and Fabio Baldé, into the first team.

Article image:Inspired by Lyon: How HSV plan to keep hold of their young talents

Photo: Getty Images

To develop professionals more regularly, Favé is very open to new training methods. A visit to AZ Alkmaar, who sensationally triumphed in the UEFA Youth League two years ago, also inspired him. There, insights from neuroscience are integrated into daily training work. At AZ, there is now a 50 to 60 percent chance that a player from the U17 becomes a professional.

HSV, like all other Bundesliga clubs, is far from such a high rate. However, Favé wants to get closer to this level. The foundation for this is the daily work on the pitch: "I love training and believe in the process that long-term development happens through it." Given these words, it seems only logical that the assistant to Merlin Polzin sees his future long-term exclusively on the pitch, in the role of head coach. However, he can also significantly shape HSV from the seemingly second row.

Photo: IMAGO

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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