Leeds United‘s Sebastiaan Bornauw has been on loan at Hamburg SV since the summer window, and there has been concern around him after his latest setback.
The centre-back joined Leeds United from VfL Wolfsburg in July 2025, upon the Whites’ return to the Premier League. Last season, he struggled for a prominent role, playing 433 minutes in 12 league matches.
Bornauw was unhappy with the limited role under Daniel Farke. In the summer, both Tarik Muharemović and Nico Elvedi arrived at Elland Road.
The centre-back arrivals meant the Belgian dropped further down the pecking order. Therefore, he returned to the Bundesliga on loan in August.
Pushed to secure Leeds United exit
Last month, the 27-year-old revealed he had to fight to leave Daniel Farke’s side for the German club.
He said: “I fought hard at Leeds United to come to Hamburg. I really wanted to play for HSV. There’s an abundance of tradition here, and I like that.”
Last week, Sebastiaan Bornauw said he’s enjoying life in Germany. He’s played 585 minutes in seven matches for his new club and has established himself as their new defensive leader.
On Tuesday, he had to leave the pitch after 45 minutes in Hamburg SV’s 3-1 DFB-Pokal defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. This is because he took a ‘blow to the jaw’ from Eintracht goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
Concern over Leeds United loanee’s fitness
Bild says Sebastiaan Bornauw’s absence was evident as Eintracht Frankfurt scored three goals in the second half.
The Whites owned player trained only on Friday and is not certain of featuring against Eintracht Frankfurt in the league on Sunday.
Hamburg manager Merlin Polzin is clear that he won’t take any risk with the Leeds United loanee.
He said: “Sebastiaan participated in parts of the team training. His participation remains uncertain.”
“His position demands a lot of duels, requiring him to get into a lot of challenges and jump into the air for many tackles. He needs to be absolutely confident that he feels good and stable in these situations to be at 100% in every duel.”
Besides recovering physically, Bornauw has to be mentally ready ‘to throw himself into every challenge without compromise. He’ll have to assess that for himself after the final training session and fitness test on Saturday.’
The uncertainty for tomorrow’s clash shows his setback isn’t serious and should be back on the pitch next week if he were to miss Sunday’s clash.
