FIRST TEAM
08/01/2019

TSG talent Baumgartner pens long-term deal

In preparation for the new season, Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim have made another personnel decision that bodes well for the future: the contract of the Austria U21 international Christoph Baumgartner, who turns 20 today, has been prematurely extended by two years and will now run until 30 June 2023.

"Baumi is an extremely talented player with great technique and a good eye for space going forward. That consistently allows him to find solutions in tight in-game situations and he poses a goal threat on top of that," said Alexander Rosen, the director of football. Baumgartner, who signed his first professional contract with TSG Hoffenheim in January 2018, already spent some time with the senior squad during pre-season a year ago but was then moved to the U23 squad with a view to his development, although he did make his Bundesliga debut against Werder Bremen on Matchday 33 of the 2018/19 season. He has been a firm fixture in the TSG senior squad since January. "He's a player with a great deal of potential but one who still needs time and he will get it," said Rosen, who then explicitly reaffirmed the fact that "we're consistently pursuing the strategy of integrating talented youngsters from our own academy into the professional squad and continuing their development there".

Baumgartner moved to the TSG Academy from the youth set-up at Austrian Bundesliga club SKN St. Pölten in the summer of 2017. The midfielder enjoyed a remarkable return in his debut season with the U19 squad, scoring nine goals and notching 15 assists. He was then promoted to the U23 side, where he made 14 appearances in the Regionalliga Südwest and found the net five times. To date, he has made only two Bundesliga appearances. Baumgartner has represented Austria in every youth category and was part of the squad that travelled to the U21 European Championships in Italy and San Marino this summer.

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