Ex-Cologne player comments on rumors
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St. Pauli’s Marcel Hartel is the most valuable second division professional who will now come onto the market for a free transfer at the end of the season. His contract expires after three years at the club and talks with the Kiezkickers will resume in April. The 27-year-old confirmed this on the TV station “Sky“and at the same time did not rule out a move to the traded interested party Borussia Mönchengladbach, the rival of his youth club 1. FC Köln.
With Stindl & Hartel: Most valuable second division players with contract expiring in 2024
“I was born in Cologne and played there from youth level to professional level. If I were to move to Cologne’s rivals Gladbach, some wouldn’t be happy about it, but others would be in favor of it. It can go either way. “Nowadays there are enough players who have also played for their rivals,” said Hartel. He would therefore claim that a move to Gladbach is “not impossible”. However, he “haven’t heard anything yet” about the foals’ interest. Gladbach has been associated with Hartel for months, and league rivals Eintracht Frankfurt are also said to have the offensive player on their list.
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Hartel moved to the FC youth team in 2002 as a six-year-old and made the jump to the first team in 2016. He made eight professional appearances within a year before moving to 1. FC Union Berlin. Hartel ended up at St. Pauli in 2021 via the further station Arminia Bielefeld. This season he scored 16 goals and eleven assists in 27 games, making him by far his team’s best scorer. In addition, the former DFB junior reached the highest market value of his career in December: 3 million euros.
St. Pauli’s sports director Andreas Bornemann explained in the Transfermarkt interview in November that Hartel knew “what he has in us. His abilities have become particularly visible to us over the past two years.” They want to convince him “that his journey doesn’t have to end here.” St. Pauli is on the verge of being promoted back to the Bundesliga after 2010. The Hamburgers are at the top of the table before the 24th matchday and have a seven-point lead over the relegation place, which is currently occupied by their city neighbors HSV.
FCSP sports director Andreas Bornemann in a TM interview
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