Hannover 96 have signed André Hoffmann from second division side MSV Duisburg. The 19-year-old defensive player (born February 28th 1993) has agreed a contract running until June 30th 2016 and will wear the number 15 shirt for the Reds. The transfer fee is undisclosed.


37 appearances for Duisburg

Hoffmann has been with MSV since 2002, completing the jump from the youth team into the first team setup and has made 37 appearances in the 2. Bundesliga, scoring one goal. The youngster was born in Essen and is 1.88m tall and weighs 82kg. He will wear the number 15 shirt for the Reds, taking over from Henning Hauger, who won’t be returning to Hannover after a loan spell at Norwegian first division side Lilleström SK. Hauger will instead be playing his football with Swedish first division team IF Elfsborg.

“Player with great potential”

“André Hoffmann is a player with great potential; someone who we think is capable of taking the next step in his career with us. He has real ability, both in central defence and as a defensive midfielder, and has also proved his worth with Germany’s youth setup”, explained Jörg Schmadtke, sporting director for Hannover 96.

“André has the potential to make his mark with us. In my view, he is a player who is full of motivation and character, and was a captain in youth sides for good reason. I’m delighted that he’s chosen to come to 96”, said manager Mirko Slomka. The current U20 international has also been awarded the German Football Association’s Fritz Walter Medal twice: He received the silver award in 2012 for the U19s category, as well as for the U17s in 2010.

Part of the training camp

Hoffmann will train with his new team-mates for the first time at 10.00 CET on Friday morning. Then on Saturday, the club will fly out to their training camp in the Algarve, Portugal (ROBINSON Club “Quinta da Ria”), where they will stay up until Sunday, January 13th 2013.