After a long slump: This HSV player could really hurt FC | OneFootball

When a club threatened with relegation brings in a player on loan for a key position for half a year, they naturally hope for immediate help—and certainly not for the player to say a few weeks later: "I'm a young player who still needs to develop. I'm not a finished product." And yet, HSV might have done everything right with their winter loan. At least, if history repeats itself.

Damian Downs' young career has already been marked by massive highs and lows. After the striker quickly made the leap from FC's youth ranks to the pros, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a derby against Gladbach, delivered the winning 3-2 goal against Union Berlin on the penultimate matchday of the 23/24 season—sparking the loudest FC goal celebration since May 2017—and was then relegated in dismal fashion with the team in Heidenheim just a week later. 

The next high was supposed to follow in the subsequent season. The 21-year-old was the starting striker for almost the entire season in Cologne and played a crucial role in helping the team secure promotion with twelve goals. But even this high was followed by a painful low. 

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So, the US international moved to FC Southampton in the English Championship last summer. After Downs provided an assist in his very first match, nothing else went right. Initially, the eight-million-euro man only got a few minutes on the pitch as a substitute, and later he wasn’t even in the squad. The notoriously scathing criticism, combined with the insults he had to endure on the island, even led him to put all his social media channels on ice to this day. 

Although the tall striker has been back in Germany since the beginning of this year, he still hasn’t quite managed to overcome this low. In his seven Bundesliga appearances for HSV, the native of Lower Franconia has yet to contribute a goal or an assist. Even though there are few signs of an imminent upswing, Downs is exactly the type of player you’d expect to be able to turn things around. 

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The reason for this is simply his mental attitude and the fact that he has already proven this ability several times in his young career. Before the top match against his former club from Cologne, the Hamburg player gave an interview that made you doubt whether you were really dealing with a 21-year-old. Speaking to the portal 'come-on-fc.com' about his horror time on the island, Downs said: "It was a very good experience. Personally, but also in footballing terms. It was a very instructive and therefore a good time for me."

Instead of struggling personally with the sporting downturn, the hate, and self-doubt, Downs seems to have already gained a healthy distance from the low point of his career just a few months later and is ready for the next high. 

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And yet, of course, he now needs to deliver. The goal-getter only has until the end of the season to make his case at Hamburg. Considering the hefty purchase option, which according to media reports is said to be around ten million euros, a goal against his former club wouldn’t be a bad way to finally end the downswing and kick off the next high. 

When asked what his goal for the weekend would be, Downs’ answer was clear: "Score a goal and win," the US international told 'come-on-fc.com'. And although a goal would at least symbolically mark the end of the slump, one thing is absolutely clear for the former Cologne player if he scores: "I don’t have to celebrate then."

Scooter and the HSV fans would probably take care of that for him if necessary. 

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

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