Justin Hoogma will return to Heracles Almelo immediately, the Eredivisionist announces. The 23-year-old defender comes over from TSG Hoffenheim, which rented him out to Greuther Fürth in the past six months with little success. “It is wonderful to be here again,” says Hoogma, who will sign until mid-2026, on the Heracles website.
Heracles sold Hoogma to Hoffenheim in 2017 for an amount of an estimated 2.7 million euros. There the mandekker was unable to conquer a basic place. After two successful rental periods at FC St. Pauli and FC Utrecht, Hoogma was loaned to Greuther Fürth for the past half season. That rental period was not what he had expected, Hoogma had few playing minutes and, in his own words, is now ready for stability: “Stability was something I was looking for. I no longer wanted to be rented out and sign somewhere for a long time. I am very happy that I can do that at this beautiful club, where I have great memories. I think with the experience in multiple competitions I can add something here.”
And so Hoogma is overjoyed to be back. “It feels like nothing has changed. It’s great to be here again. I had a great time in Almelo and it feels good to be back.” Hoogma made his debut with Heracles in the 2015/16 season and immediately played all 34 league matches with the club the following season. “It actually happened very quickly then. I came in the winter, in my first season we immediately achieved European football. In my second season I played a whole season in the base and then the interest came from Hoffenheim.”
Tim Gilissen is extremely satisfied with the signing of Hoogma. “This was a real opportunity for us,” said the technical director. “Justin is a player who comes from here and knows the region. He started his career here and knows the club. In addition, he has a strong personality, he brings experience from the past years and he has football qualities to take us forward in the coming years. By binding him for a long time, we add a stable factor.”
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