Brentford man links up with ex-Crystal Palace, Hull City and Bolton Wanderers trio with Bundesliga new boys

Brentford have sold defender Fin Stevens to FC St. Pauli. The right-back has joined the Bundesliga new boys on a permanent deal ahead of the upcoming 2024/25 season.

The Hamburg-based club were promoted from Bundesliga.2 in the last campaign after winning the league title. They were promoted alongside Holstein Kiel.

Brentford have given Stevens, who is 21-years-old, the green light to move over to Germany for a new challenge in his career. St. Pauli have also signed winger Scott Banks on a permanent basis from Crystal Palace this summer.

They have a couple of familiar faces in their ranks such as former Bolton Wanderers winger Dapo Afolayan, whilst ex-Burton Albion and Hull City midfielder Jackson Irvine in their captain. Their manager Fabian Hürzeler left the Millerntor-Stadion to take over at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League and he has since been replaced by Alexander Blessin.

After joining St. Pauli, Stevens has said: "I'm delighted to take the step into one of the strongest leagues in the world with FC St. Pauli. After excellent talks with the club officials I'm convinced the move comes at the right time and my skill set will fit in with the team's style of play. I'm really looking forward to getting to know my teammates, the fans and Millerntor Stadium."

Their Director of Sport Andreas Bornemann has said: "The acquisition of Fin Stevens gives us more depth in the full-back positions and is partly a response to the squeeze we experienced there towards the end of last season. Fin can influence the game at both ends with his dynamism and goes about his work with great determination and maturity for a young player."

Meanwhile, new manager Blessin added: "Fin prefers to play on the right-hand side but can also be deployed on the left. He's a full-back who likes to drive forward and get into deep positions. He anticipates well and is brave and aggressive in the tackle, switching the play quickly after winning the ball."

Stevens was on the books of Arsenal’s academy for 10 years before leaving in 2019. He rose up through the ranks of the Gunners before dropping into non-league for a year at Worthing.

The Wales international, who has two caps under his belt so far in his career, was snapped up by Brentford in 2020. He has been with the Bees for the past four years and has made 10 appearances for their first-team.

The full-back has also had loan spells away from the Gtech Community Stadium at Swansea City and Oxford United to get some experience under his belt. He spent last term with the latter in League One and played 43 matches altogether, 35 of which came in the league, as they won promotion to the second tier under the guidance of Des Buckingham.

Stevens has now left Brentford full-time and will be looking forward to playing against the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach next season.