St. Pauli complete Banks signing, Blessin to be introduced today

FC St. Pauli's rumored permanent purchase of Scottish attacker Scott Banks is through. The 22-year-old was unveiled as a new signing yesterday. St. Pauli and Banks' parent club of Crystal Palace agreed not to divulge the transfer fee. The Scottish youth international maintains an estimated market worth of €300,000 in the latest transfermarkt update. 

Banks found himself sidelined for most of the 2023/24 season after incurring an early ACL tear, but still registered an assist following his late comeback. After being loaned out three times by his parent club, the youngster lodged a request with Palace to allow him to settle down permanently in the German top flight. 

"It was my express wish to stay at FC St. Pauli," Banks noted in a club-released statement, "I have the feeling that I'm not finished here yet and - at the same time - that I'm in the right place for the next step in my development."

"Scott already proved at the start of last season that he can make our game even more unpredictable with his skills," club sporting director Andreas Bornean added, "The perseverance with which Scott worked to get back on the pitch after his serious injury also deserves recognition."

In other St. Pauli-related personnel news, Germany's preeminent footballing publication reports that the Hamburg-based club's negotiations with Union SG for the transfer of head-coach coach Alexander Blessin have yielded an agreement. Kicker journalist Sebastian Wolff reports that a base transfer fee of €750,000 (which can rise to €1 million with bonuses) enabled the Kiezkicker to sign Fabian Hürzeler's replacement.