Hamburg’s head of youth development Bernhard Peters believes the Bundesliga side must try and keep young talents such as Jann-Fiete Arp at the club.
Chelsea made an offer to the 17 year old in the summer in an attempt to bring the German youth star to Stamford Bridge but the offer was rejected by the player, who described the move as too much of a risk.
Speaking on German radio station NDR (quotes via the Hamburger Abendblatt), Peters is hopeful the club are establishing a strategy to keep players such as Arp at the club for the long term, rather than cashing in on their young talent:
“Fiete is very well run by his counsellor and his parents, so I’m not worried because he fits in well with HSV and should be made to relax here. HSV needs such identifiable figures [such] as Fiete. We must stand for a strategy, have a good youth concept and increasingly bring young, talented players into this team, especially in times when you can no longer pay astronomical transfer fees.”
Arp has broken into Hamburg’s first team over the past month. The German under 17 international has started the last four matches in the Bundesliga, although he has not scored since the 3-1 win over Stuttgart at the start of November. Still, his prolific goal scoring record at youth level demonstrates he has great potential for the future.
