Reported Leeds United target Stephan Ambrosius has rejected the chance to sign a new contract at Hamburg with his current deal due to expire at the end of the season, according to the Hamburger Morgenpost.
The goals of summer signing Simon Terrode have certainly played a major role in lifting Hamburg five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga 2 table after just six games. But the importance of this 21-year-old centre-back should not go unnoticed.
Local lad Ambrosius has been hugely impressive during his breakthrough campaign at the Volksparkstadion, averaging three successful tackles and 4.2 clearances per game.
An 89 per cent pass completion rate will also have caught the eye of Marcelo Bielsa, one of the game’s true purists.
Ambrosius is already in the middle of a tug-of-war between the national teams of Ghana and Germany and there is also growing uncertainty about his immediate future at club level.
The former St Pauli youngster is due to become a free agent in July and, according to HM, he has rejected the chance to sign a new deal until 2024 complete with a substantial pay rise.
Ambrosius currently earns a paltry (at least in football terms) £3,500-a-week.
GhanaSoccerNet reported in October that Leeds’ director of football, Victor Orta, wants to sign Ambrosius in January after failing over the summer.
Orta is famed for snapping up under-the-radar talents from mainland Europe and, in that sense, Ambrosius is very much a typical Leeds signing.
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