FC St. Pauli

Kukanda joined the club’s Under-15 side from SV Eichede in 2017. The versatile left-sided player has been a key member of the club’s academy setup since his arrival and an undisputed first-team regular at Under-17 and Under-19 level, scoring seven goals and providing eight assists in 45 Bundesliga youth appearances. He has already gained a first taste of life in the senior squad in a couple of friendlies, making the squad for the game at SC Freiburg on the inauguration of their new stadium and coming on as a substitute against Viborg FF.

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Director of sport Andreas Bornemann: “Nathan is the third member of the 2003 age group to sign professional terms with us after Niklas Jessen and Igor Matanović. He’s already demonstrated his talent at Bundesliga youth level and the task now is for him to stabilise his performances and take the next step in his development. We’ll give him the best-possible support in this.”

Head coach Timo Schultz: “Although Nathan didn’t play in any of my teams during my time at the youth academy, I’ve been following his progress for a long time. He’s a very quick yet rugged player with lots of quality in attack, though he’s already demonstrated his versatility at left-back as well. He made a good impression in the friendlies against Freiburg and Viborg.”

Under-23 manager Carsten Rothenbach:  “The most important thing for a young player is match practice at senior level, which he will get initially with the Under-23s. We see great potential in Nathan and are delighted he’s staying at FC St. Pauli.”

Nathanael Kukanda: “I’m very happy to have made the transition to the senior squad here at FC St. Pauli. For me now it’s about getting as much match practice as possible with the Under-23s and working on my personal development so that I can eventually be an option for the first-team coaching staff.”

Photos: FC St. Pauli