1. FC Union Berlin announced on Sunday that they'd handed 17 year-old goalkeeping talent Steve Kroll his professional deal.
The contract is valid for the Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga and will last until 2019, a real show of faith in the highly sought-after youngster.
Kroll has featured 16 times in the Regionalliga Nordost for Union's under-23 side, but has been training with the first team for a while now. He joined the capital club in 2008, as a 10 year-old, from Lichterader BC.
He'll therefore be a big part of head coach Norbert Düwel's aims to reach the Bundesliga by 2017. Düwel spoke to the club's website about the young shot-stopper, "Steve is a very talented goalkeeper. He has coped well and made tremendous progress with the transition into the senior team."
Kroll himself was extremely pleased to have committed his future to Union, "Regular training with the pros and the long-term contract is a big leap of faith, I am very happy. I'll continue to work hard and try to improve myself every day. Eventually I would like to be in goal for the professionals, that's my main aim."
Quotes via fc-union-berlin.de