1. FC Union Berlin

Porto is home for Diogo Leite. He made his first steps in football in Matosinhos, a suburb of Porto. At Leixoes SC, Leite was there only until his eighth birthday before one of Portugal’s biggest clubs made their move. Other than a stint at Padroense at U17 level, Leite was part of the FC Porto setup all the way through. Leite went on to win the U17 European Championships with Portugal and scored in penalties against Spain in the final. 

1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow; Ryerson, Jaeckel, Heintz, Knoche, Gießelmann; Schäfer (Kemlein 79), Khedira, Haberer (Öztunali 65); Becker (Skarke 65), Siebatcheu

The ballot is open from Friday 22 July at 12:00 until Sunday July 24 at midnight. Winners can go through and complete their purchase from Wednesday 27 July.

To start the week, the players took part in a morning session with a focus on tactics. Urs Fischer tested his players out in both a back-three and back-four formation in a 11-v-11 format. The remaining players took part in a Football Tennis game on the smaller adjacent pitches.

Born in the Norwegian capital Oslo, Thorsby’s career quickly gathered pace as a youngster. At 15, he was picked up by Staebek’s U19 side and he made his top-team debut against Molde FK at the age of 17. Teams across the continent took notice of the talented midfielder, but it was the Netherlands that would become his next destination. Thorsby signed for Heerenveen at 18 and became a regular feature in the matchday squad. He would go on to play 130 times for the Eredivisie club, a run of games which put him into the heart of Norway’s national team. At age 21, Thorsby made his full Norway debut against North Macedonia.

“Keita has already proven that he has what it takes to be a Bundesliga player. With the loan, he has the chance to get more playing time at a good level and to develop even further,” added Oliver Ruhnert, 1. FC Union Berlin’s Managing Director of Professional Football.

Ahead of their return to the Premier League, Steve Cooper has looked to strengthen his squad with influence from abroad. Union’s record goalscorer in the Bundesliga Taiwo Awoniyi was one of the first announced this summer, while Moussa Niakhate from Mainz and Omar Richards from Bayern have followed.

“Michael has familiarised himself very well over the past two years and has shown that he can transfer and contribute his valuable experience as a long-time player at Union to other areas as well. I’m delighted to have his support and am sure that our already proven cooperation will become much more intensive in the future,” said Oliver Ruhnert, 1. FC Union Berlin’s Managing Director of Professional Football.

1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow, Jaeckel (Leite 45), Khedira (Schäfer 60), Haberer (Michel 60), Gießelmann (Ryerson 60), Haraguchi (Seguin 60), Becker (Leweling 60), Trimmel (Skarke 60), Knoche (Kemlein 82), Heintz (Doekhi 45), Siebatcheu (Behrens 60)

After a 5th place in last year‘s tournament, the team of coach Daniel Schulz, a former Union player, wants to join the final round on Sunday this year. Union‘s Under 17 team finished the Bundesliga Nord/Nord-Ost on position nine, the biggest succes last season was the win of the Berlin Cup in May.