Defender Leo Østigård has hinted at some resentment towards former club Brighton & Hove Albion, revealing how they stopped him staying at St Pauli.
[Abendblatt](https://www.abendblatt.de/sport/st-pauli/article408524488/fc-st-pauli-leo-oestigard-tsg-hoffenheim.html) have an interview with the defender as he prepares to take on his former club with current side TSG Hoffenheim.
The 25-year-old joined the German side on loan in January from Stade Rennais, the latest in a series of moves for him in recent years.
He started his career with Molde before joining Brighton in August 2018 but spent he following years being sent out on loan, first to St. Pauli, then Coventry, Stoke and Genoa before joining Napoli for €5.5m in 2022.
He then moved to Stade Rennais in July 2024 but has fallen out of favour since the summer and since been moved on to Hoffenheim until the end of the season.
It’s been years of bouncing around Europe, something the defender clearly isn’t happy with as he looks to settle and prove his worth somewhere.
He’d have been happy to stay at St. Pauli five years ago if he could have, but admits Brighton made that impossible for him.
_“I always hoped to be able to play at the Millerntor again at some point. So, it will be a special feeling for me to see the stadium and the fans again,”_ he said.
_“Although it was a difficult season for us at the time, I look back on Hamburg positively this year. I was a young player, and St. Pauli was the first club in Europe to give myself the opportunity to make my first games as a professional. That was the starting point for my career._
_“I really enjoyed the season at St. Pauli, which is why I could imagine staying longer at the time. Unfortunately, as a loan player you don’t always have the choice._
_“Back then, Brighton wanted to see me playing in another league, so that after my time I was given the English championship in Hamburg to Coventry City._
_“So far, I have really enjoyed playing in different clubs in different countries. As a young player, it was perfect for me because I not only learned a lot on the soccer field but also developed myself incredibly as a person._
_“But I am now 25 years old and of course I want to stay in one place for longer. So far, however, this was not possible due to the many loans.”_