SV Werder have tied attacking ace Johannes Eggestein down to a new long-term deal. The 18-year-old has signed a professional contract until 30.06.2019. Sporting director Frank Baumann revealed the news on Thursday. The attacker, who had been top scorer at youth level for the past three years and received several lucrative offers, chose to extend his spell with the Green-Whites.
“We are very happy that Johannes has decided stay on at Werder. He has proven that he’s got enormous talent in the past few years, impressing in our performance centre and in the Germany youth set-up,” remarked sporting director Frank Baumann, who together with his team, achieved a positive outcome to the discussions. “SV Werder has worked long and hard with Johannes. The discussions got off to a good start under Thomas Eichin and Tim Steidten and could now be finalised. Johannes will train with the first team in the future and step up to the Bundesliga,” revealed Baumann with regards to plans for the near future. The 18-year-old, whose brother Maximilian was called up to the first team squad a year ago, will report back for pre-season training on 8th July.
The forward now wants to show that he can compete with the more experienced players. “I know that it’s a big jump up. I want to keep developing step-by-step and get my first taste of professional football. I’m excited to continue my journey here. Werder is a special club and due to its experience with young players and its concepts, has great opportunities for my development,” commented Eggestein.
Werder‘s youth set-up is distinguished by its ability to consistently bring talented youngsters through the ranks. “We have acquired this reputation and it is underpinned by the development of Davie Selke, Maxi Eggestein and Florian Grillitsch amongst others over the past few years. This spurs us on to continue to work even harder,” said Dr. Hubertus Hess-Grunewald, member of the board of directors responsible for the youth academy.
Hannover-born Johannes Eggestein moved to Werder from TSV Havelse’s U17s in summer 2013. Eggestein was crowned top scorer in the U19 Bundesliga Nord/Nordost last season with 33 goals in 26 games and helped Werder to the U19 Bundesliga semi-final. He previously claimed the accolade in both his years playing for the U17s (19 goals in 2013/2014 and 22 goals in 2014/2015). At the 2015 U17 World Cup, Eggestein received the Silver Boot trophy after finishing the tournament as second-highest scorer.
