Admin I Thursday, June 27, 2024
HAMBURG – Alexander Blessin has been appointed coach of promoted Bundesliga club St Pauli Hamburg, the team said on Thursday.
The club didn’t confirm the length of the contract, but media reports said he signed a three-year deal at last season’s German second division champions in a move from Belgium’s Royal Union Saint-Gilloise.
Blessin, 51, would succeed Fabian Hürzeler who has joined Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
“The club stands for clear values and ambitious work in professional sport, so coaching the team in the Bundesliga after a long time in the second division is a fantastic assignment,” Blessin was quoted in a club statement.
His Saint-Galloise contract was until 2025, and the reports said that St Pauli will have to pay a takeover fee of less than €1 million ($1.07 million).
Blessin is little known in Germany. He played seven Bundesliga matches for VfB Stuttgart and as a coach was in charge of RB Leipzig’s under-17 and under-19 teams before going abroad to Belgium’s Oostende and Italy’s Genoa.
He came to Saint-Gilloise last year and led them to a first Belgian Cup title in more than a century and second in the league in the past season.
“In Alexander Blessin we’ve been able to win a coach with international experience for St Pauli. He possesses extensive tactical knowledge and has worked at the highest level in Belgium and Italy and on the European stage,” sporting director Andreas Bornemann said.
