How Leeds United loanee Sebastiaan Bornauw has 'convinced' Hamburg he can replace £50m star
Leeds United loanee Sebastiaan Bornauw has high expectations at HSV Hamburg.
The centre-back joined the German side on an initial season-long loan for the 2026-27 campaign in the summer.
The deal has a buy option in the region of £3.8million for the Bundesliga outfit, who are pleased to have the defender on their books.
Leeds only signed Bornauw from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg last year after promotion, spending around £5m to land his services.
Daniel Farke wasn't overly keen on the 27-year-old, who made just 12 Premier League appearances, with more than half of them being from off the bench.
But Hamburg feel like they have struck gold with Bornauw, as the latest is shared on the Leeds loanee.
Hamburg 'convinced' Sebastiaan Bornauw can replace £50m star
Bornauw has slowly been getting up to speed with Hamburg after initial fitness issues.
The Belgian has now made three starts for the German outfit, playing 90 minutes in all of them.
Hamburg had the luxury of having Luka Vuskovic on loan from Tottenham Hotspur last season, but the centre-back returned to his parent club in the summer.
However, Hamburg feel they will be just fine with Bornauw.
On Wednesday, Bild revealed: "It was one of HSV's most challenging tasks: finding a successor for defensive star Vuskovic. Hamburg are convinced they have found him in Bornauw.
"HSV are delighted to have the defender on loan from Leeds until the summer. Bornauw is regarded as outspoken, a good teammate and, above all, a real winner.
"His mentality, determination and energy are now also expected to inspire his teammates. That is exactly what the club's bosses are hoping for."
Interestingly, Bornauw has conceded a total of seven goals in his first two Bundesliga matches for Hamburg, playing the full game in a 5-0 drubbing to Mainz.
But the German outfit still clearly have full faith that the Leeds star can replace the hole that Vuskovic has left.
The only regret Daniel Farke will have with Bornauw
Bornauw was not the only defender to leave Elland Road in the summer, as Pascal Struijk joined Brighton.
This forced the Whites to act in the transfer market, sealing the £34m signing of Tarik Muharemovic, who has already hit the ground running in LS11.
Nico Elvedi was also brought to the club, but there are still only four natural centre-backs at Leeds.
Joe Rodon is one of them, and his current injury is forcing Farke to play James Justin at centre-half.
If the Whites were to suffer another defensive blow, Farke could really be struggling, but that's where Bornauw could have helped out.
Either, Leeds won't be loosing too much sleep over Bornauw right now after his poor start for Hamburg, despite what the German club feel about him.