After the first half of the season, Hamburger SV is behind SV Darmstadt in second place in the 2nd Bundesliga and is therefore in the middle of the promotion race. Two players will be under observation at the Hanseatic League for the next six months.
Both Sonny Kittel and Tim Leibold are playing for a new contract with HSV in the second half of the season. The “kicker” reports on Thursday.
Kittel was on the pitch in every game in the first half of the season, but didn’t score once. The former youth international has had to switch to the wings more and more in recent games because Ludovit Reis and László Bénes were seeded on the ten.
HSV professionals Kittel and Leibold play for their future
The problem with this: With Bakery Jatta, Jean-Luc Dompé, Ransford Königsdörffer and Kittel, Hamburg coach Tim Walter has a choice of four players for two positions.
After all, Kittel collected five assists, but those responsible at Hamburg do not want to hold talks about a possible contract extension for the time being.
The same applies to Tim Leibold: The 29-year-old is still dealing with the consequences of his cruciate ligament rupture in October 2021 and has not yet managed to return to his best form from the 2019/20 season, when he scored 16 assists.
The left-back has only played in four games this season. Leibold has been suffering from a torn muscle fiber since the beginning of October.
Do Kittel and Leibold end their HSV careers with promotion?
Kittel and Leibold came to Hamburg in 2019 and quickly established themselves as top performers. Last summer, they and their teammates narrowly missed promotion.
In the current season, HSV is again one of the top favorites for promotion. After a successful start to the season, the team was only able to win three out of six games before the winter break.