Quickly integrated thanks to Teuchert & Co
©TM/IMAGO
Marcel Hartel has had an eventful year. The 28-year-old midfielder led FC St. Pauli to promotion to the Bundesliga with 17 goals and 13 assists. No other player had more goals in the 2nd Bundesliga. But instead of going to the upper house with Hamburg, Hartel decided to leave Germany and join St. Louis CITY SC on a free transfer. Transfermarkt.us spoke to Hartel about the differences between the second division and the MLS, a failed move to Columbus Crew, his decision for St. Louis and his ambitions for the coming season (to the English original).
“I was very respected by the whole club and was very successful. “I played the best season of my career and that’s why it was very difficult for me to say goodbye to St. Pauli,” says Hartel. But after an incredible season with the Hamburgers, it was time to try something new. “America was always a place I wanted to be. I just wanted to get out of Germany and experience what it’s like in other countries. Experience other cultures. The total package that St. Louis offered was just perfect.”
However, Hartel almost didn’t end up at Missouri State but at another MLS team. As Transfermarkt reported at the time, Columbus Crew was the favorite to sign the free transfer professional. The crew had submitted an offer in the region of $1.5 million. “I was initially in talks with Columbus,” Hartel confirms the story. “These were very good. You have a very good trainer (Wilfried Nancy; editor’s note) with whom I had very good conversations. But ultimately there was a misunderstanding about some details and the deal fell through.”
The question was whether it would be a transfer with Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) or whether Hartel would sign a designated player contract. The former can be used to push the base salary below the salary cap while still paying the player more. Either way, a DP contract entitles you to a higher salary. For such deals, in which the salary is topped up with TAM from the upper limit, each club has a fixed amount of millions available.
St. Louis was able to offer Hartel a designated player contract
For St. Louis, the question of contract design did not arise. The team, which first competed in the MLS in 2024, signed Hartel as a designated player until June 2028 with an option until the end of the year. The contract will pay him around $2.2 million per season, according to the MLSPA Salary Guide.
Hartel didn’t know much about St. Louis before he landed there. “But through Lutz Pfannenstiel (sports director; editor’s note) I was able to gain some valuable insights before I even visited the city for the first time,” he says. Previously, three Germans, Cedric Teuchert (27), Eduard Löwen (27), Ben Lundt (29) and the Swiss Roman Bürki (34) were already in the squad, and Jannes Horn (27) has now also been signed. This made integration easy when the Cologne native arrived in Missouri.
© imago – Marcel Hartel in the St. Louis jersey – in his first half of the year he collected eleven scorer points in 13 competitive games
“It was easy for me because we have a lot of players who speak German with whom I was able to talk about what it’s like in St. Louis. What it’s like to live in this city. I spoke to Cedric a lot, he came to the club shortly before me and was able to scout everything. It was also beneficial for my family to have other German speakers there. My wife and daughter were also quickly integrated.”
Hartel had made sure in advance that the club was a good fit for him on the field. “I watched videos and before I signed, I looked closely at the club and the environment and only made the decision after I had seen everything. The most important thing was to find out if this was a place where my family could feel comfortable. And as you can see, we feel very comfortable now.” It paid off for Hartel that the club’s style of play suits him – he didn’t have time to adjust to the MLS after his summer transfer, when the league was in full swing . But he didn’t need them either: the former St. Paulian scored three goals and five assists in nine games of the MLS regular season.
Hartel: “Our goal is 100 percent to reach the playoffs”
These numbers suggest that there is not a huge difference in quality between the two leagues. For Hartel, however, there is another important factor that is completely different in the MLS and that is repeatedly highlighted by European players: “The biggest difference is the travel. Traveling away from home is very stressful for the body and mind. Flying up to four hours and then having a time difference to St. Louis takes some getting used to. If you can even get used to it.” Hartel is also of the opinion that the MLS is a little ahead of the 2nd Bundesliga in terms of quality. “Some of the teams we dealt with play at Bundesliga level. The quality of the league is excellent.”
St. Louis learned the hard way in the club’s second year of existence. After dominating the Western Conference in its first season, CITY didn’t even make the playoffs in 2024. Hartel and the team want to make up for this weak season in 2025. “Our goal is 100 percent to make the playoffs. Last year the team had a lot of ups and downs at the start of the season. Undoubtedly, expectations were higher than what happened on the field. But you notice that after the summer transfers – me, Teuchert, Simon Becher and Jannes Horn – the trend immediately went up. We were able to maintain the upward trend until the end of the season, even if it wasn’t enough for the playoffs. But we will be better this season.”
Will Hartel be able to repeat his 17 goals and 13 assists from his last year at St. Pauli? “First of all, I think we have a very good team that supports me very well on the pitch,” he answers the question – he doesn’t want to commit to a specific goal share goal. “We work well together as a team. I won’t give numbers, but you can see in the few games I’ve played that I can help the team with goals and assists. How many there will be? It’s hard to say, but I will do everything I can to be successful.”
Interview and text: Manuel Veth
