Hamburg clinch Berg deal

Groningen receive record fee for Swedish striker

By Gerrit van Leeuwen   Last updated: 17th July 2009  

Hamburg clinch Berg deal

Berg: Hamburg new boy

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Hamburg have completed the signing of Marcus Berg from Groningen, with the Swedish striker signing a five-year contract.

The Bundesliga club had spent the past fortnight locked in talks with Groningen over a deal for the top scorer at the recent European Under 21 Championship.

Negotiations appeared to have broken down due to the failure to settle on a fee, but Groningen have accepted an offer which brings in a club record amount for the Dutch side.

Groningen also revealed that Hamburg do not want the transfer fee to be made public, while the two clubs will play a friendly in either 2010 or 2011.

Berg, who had been linked with a string of clubs across Europe, is happy to have joined Hamburg and is eager to make his mark.

"I am pleased that everything is now perfect," Berg told the club's official website.

"HSV is a top club in the Bundesliga and I want good performances and goals to help ensure that we will be as successful as possible."

New Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia is confident that Berg can continue his impressive goalscoring form in Germany after netting 44 times in 69 games for Groningen.

Labbadia said: "I am very glad that we have signed Marcus Berg. He is a striker who has a desire to score goals.

"That's what he has done in the past three years and impressively proved that at the recent European U21 Championship."