Hamburg have officially confirmed the permanent departure of academy product Fabio Baldé, with the 21-year-old completing a move to Ligue 1 side Racing Strasbourg. According to Sport Bild, Strasbourg will pay approximately €7m as a guaranteed transfer fee, with additional seven-figure bonuses potentially increasing the overall package. HSV have also reportedly secured a ten-percent share of the profit from any future sale.
The numbers are in line with previously reported figures. The deal itself represents a significant piece of business for the Bundesliga club. Baldé was currently valued at approximately €5m and who was projected to be a regular starter under Merlin Polzin this season. Baldé becomes HSV’s most lucrative individual sale since Amadou Onana left for Lille in 2021.
Statements on Fabio Baldé’s departure
“Fabio’s path from our youth academy into international football is a great story for everyone involved and hopefully only the beginning with a view towards the coming years,” HSV Board Member for Sport Kathleen Krüger noted in a club statement. “We must continuously develop our young players so that they can generate significant transfer fees when they leave.”
“Fabio approached us with the desire to leave his familiar surroundings in order to take the next step from a sporting perspective,” sporting director Claus Costa added. “Fabio came to see me personally once more and thanked me for allowing the move, but also for the many years we spent together. That speaks for him and was quite an emotional moment for both of us.”
Fabio Baldé on leaving Hamburg
“As a Hamburg boy, it is your great dream to one day be able to play at the Volksparkstadion and for HSV,” Baldé himself said. “I am grateful and proud that I was able to fulfil this dream. I look back on a very formative and wonderful time and will always remain connected to Hamburg and HSV. Now I am really looking forward to the new challenge in Strasbourg.”