David Bates left Rangers in the summer to join Hamburg on a free transfer and he has spoken to BBC Scotland about his experience so far.
The famous German club had just been relegated from the Bundesliga and was looking to bounce back at the first time of asking.
Things couldn’t have went much better to that end, over the first half of the season.
Bates’ new team currently sit top of the Bundesliga 2, three points clear of nearest challengers St Pauli.
The 22-year-old has been a key part of that success too. He has accumulated 18 appearances so far, helping to register an impressive 10 clean sheets.
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While the recovery of Gideon Jung from long-term injury has seen Bates drop to the bench for the last two league matches, he returned last night to help secure a 1-0 win over Nuremburg in the DFB Cup.
Bates jumped at the opportunity
“I really wanted to do it straight away”, Bates told BBC Scotland of his move.
“Big club, go abroad, get out my comfort zone. It was a chance to experience something different and get games under my belt.”
“You always go to the stadium and its full and the fans are very demanding, like back home. Everyone knows that Hamburg shouldn’t be in the second league and the standards are very high”, he continued.
The centre-back’s performances earned him his first Scotland caps earlier this season. He is sure that exposure to a different style of football has improved his play.
“Over here it’s a completely different style of play, with a lot of technical players and more building it out from the back.”
If he keeps going at this rate, we could see him performing in the German top flight next season!
