Moritz Heyer

German footballer (born 1995)

Moritz Heyer
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-04-04) 4 April 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Ostercappeln, Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back, midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Hamburger SV
Number 3
Youth career
1998–2005 1. FCR Bramsche
2005–2008 TSV Wallenhorst
2008–2014 VfL Osnabrück
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 VfL Osnabrück II 1 (0)
2014–2018 Sportfreunde Lotte 97 (9)
2018–2019 Hallescher FC 36 (3)
2019–2020 VfL Osnabrück 33 (6)
2020– Hamburger SV 101 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:45, 3 December 2023 (UTC)

Moritz Heyer (born 4 April 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. He had previously played for Sportfreunde Lotte, Hallescher FC and VfL Osnabrück.[2]

Career

Early career

In his youth, Heyer played for 1. FCR Bramsche, TSV Wallenhorst and VfL Osnabrück. With the latter, he progressed through the U17 and U19 sides and appeared in the Under 17 and Under 17 Bundesliga. In September 2013, Heyer made his first appearance for the second-team, VfL Osnabrück II, in the fifth-tier Oberliga Niedersachsen.

Sportfreunde Lotte

Ahead of the 2014–15 season, in May 2014, Heyer moved from the Osnabrück U19 team to Sportfreunde Lotte in the fourth-tier Regionalliga West.[3] After not being utilised under head coach Michael Boris, he began making an impact under his successor, Ismail Atalan, at the end of the season, making four appearances, of which two were starts, and he scored a goal.

In the 2015–16 season, Heyer established himself as a regular starter under Atalan in the second half of the season. He contributed with three goals in 26 appearances, of which 18 were in the starting lineup, with the team finishing with the Regionalliga West championship at the end of the season.[4] In the subsequent promotion games against the Regionalliga Südwest champions SV Waldhof Mannheim, Heyer appeared in the 2–0 win in the second leg, which effectively promoted Sportfreunde Lotte to the 3. Liga.[5]

In the 2016–17 season, Heyer, who from then increasingly played in central defense, was again part of the regular starting lineup and made 33 appearances in the 3. Liga, with 23 of them being as a starter, in which he scored two goals. Oscar Corrochano took over as head coach ahead of the 2017–18 season, as Atalan had moved to VfL Bochum. Under Corrochano and his successor Andreas Golombek, Heyer was again mainly used in the defensive midfield and scored three goals in 34 appearances.

Hallescher FC

In the summer of 2018, Heyer signed a one-year contract with 3. Liga club Hallescher FC on a free transfer.[6] Under head coach Torsten Ziegner he almost exclusively played in central defense and made 36 appearances during the season, in which he scored 3 goals. In the sports magazine kicker, Heyer was subsequently one of the top ranked central defenders in the 3. Liga.[7]

VfL Osnabrück

In May 2019, Heyer signed for VfL Osnabrück on a two-year deal, after they had reached promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.[8] Under head coach Daniel Thioune, Heyer was one of the regulars right from the start. He played mainly in central defense, but was also utilised in defensive midfield and as a right-back. In 33 2. Bundesliga appearances, Heyer scored six goals. In kicker he was rated as the third best central defender of the league after the season.[9] VfL Osnabrück finished 13th in the league at the end of the season.

Hamburger SV

"Preferably in central defence. In general, I prefer to play centrally rather than on the outside. But since as a footballer you always want to play in general, I don't really care about the position."

– Moritz Heyer in February 2021 on which position he prefers to play.[10]

On 17 September 2020, one day before the first matchday of the 2020–21 season, Heyer signed a three-year contract with Hamburger SV in the 2. Bundesliga. The move reunited him with his former Osnabrück coach Daniel Thioune.[1] He would initially feature as a centre-back alongside Stephan Ambrosius, but had to replace the injured left-back and captain Tim Leibold on the third matchday. Over the course of the first half of the season, Heyer oscillated between defensive midfield and centre-back when Thioune would utilise a formation with three at the back. From the 14th matchday on, Heyer was used in a 4–3–3 system as the defensive midfielder.[10] Since Leistner and Ambrosius were injured during the course of the second half of the season, Heyer was again mainly utilised as a centre-back. As an all-rounder, Heyer made 32 appearances in the league in which he scored two goals.[11] HSV finished fourth for the third time in a row after a strong first half and a weak second half of the season, as manager Thioune was replaced by Horst Hrubesch for the remaining three games of the season.[12]

Manager Tim Walter took over HSV for the 2021–22 season.[13] After Heyer was initially used in the 4–3–3 formation as a central midfielder, he mainly played as the team's right-back later on. In this position he replaced Jan Gyamerah, who had been a regular starter after the injury of Josha Vagnoman until that point.[14] In April 2022, Heyer extended his contract until 2026.[15]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 May 2022[16]
Club Season League DFB-Pokal Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sportfreunde Lotte 2014–15[11] Regionalliga West 4 1 – 0 0 4 1
2015–16[11] Regionalliga West 26 3 – 1[a] 0 27 3
2016–17[11] 3. Liga 33 2 4 0 0 0 37 2
2017–18[11] 3. Liga 34 3 0 0 0 0 34 3
Club total 97 9 4 0 1 0 102 9
Hallescher FC 2018–19[11] 3. Liga 36 3 0 0 0 0 36 3
VfL Osnabrück 2019–20[11] 2. Bundesliga 33 6 1 0 0 0 34 6
2020–21[11] 2. Bundesliga 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Club total 33 6 2 0 0 0 35 6
Hamburger SV 2020–21[11] 2. Bundesliga 32 2 0 0 0 0 32 2
2021–22[11] 2. Bundesliga 32 6 5 0 2[b] 0 39 6
Club total 64 8 5 0 2 0 71 8
Career total 230 26 11 0 3 0 244 26
  1. ^ One appearance in play-offs for 3. Liga
  2. ^ Two appearances in play-offs for Bundesliga

Honours

Sportfreunde Lotte

References

  1. ^ a b "HSV verpflichtet Moritz Heyer". Hamburger SV (in German). 17 September 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Moritz Heyer". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Neuzugänge zwei und drei: Sportfreunde Lotte". www.sf-lotte.de (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Stegemann, Alfred (1 May 2016). "Fußball: SF Lotte ist Meister der Regionalliga West: Freude ja – Euphorie nein". Westfälische Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Granatowski ballert SF Lotte in die 3. Liga". kicker (in German). 29 May 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Heyer verlässt Lotte Richtung Halle". kicker (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Topspieler - Abwehr - 3. Liga 2018/19" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Moritz Heyer wechselt zum VfL Osnabrück". VfL (in German). 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Topspieler - Abwehr - 2. Bundesliga 2019/20" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  10. ^ a b Heine, Luis (10 February 2021). "HSV-Allrounder: Heyer über Fitness-Geheimnis, Lieblings-Position und Thioune-Hilfe". MOPO (in German). Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Moritz Heyer | Laufbahn | Spielerprofil". kicker (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  12. ^ "HSV entlässt Thioune - Hrubesch neuer Trainer". kicker (in German). 3 May 2021. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Tim Walter ist neuer Cheftrainer". HSV (in German). 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  14. ^ "La Liga oder HSV? Der Stand bei Jan Gyamerah". 90min (in German). 11 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Bis 2026: HSV und Heyer verlängern Vertrag". HSV (in German). 1 April 2022. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  16. ^ Moritz Heyer at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

External links

  • Moritz Heyer at WorldFootball.net
  • Moritz Heyer at Soccerway
  • v
  • t
  • e
Hamburger SV – current squad