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Vancouver Whitecaps are adding another player from Germany

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Aug 20 2025, 12:08 am
Vancouver Whitecaps are adding another player from Germany
@HSV/X

The Vancouver Whitecaps are adding another player from Germany.

Two days after Thomas Müller made his BC Place debut, Daily Hive can confirm reports that Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster has reached a deal in principle with Bundesliga club Hamburg.

Centre back Sebastian Schonlau is on his way to Vancouver, and will arrive on Wednesday to complete a medical examination, per Marlon Irlbacher of Sky Sport in Germany.

Schonlau has made 102 appearances with Hamburg since 2021, serving as the team’s captain in the second division of German professional soccer. The 31-year-old helped Hamburg get promoted last season, allowing the club to play in the Bundesliga for the first time since 2018.

The 6-foot-1 defender from Warburg, Germany has also played for SC Verl and SC Paderborn during his club career, which saw him suit up for matches in each of the top four levels of German professional soccer.

The transfer fee to get Schonlau is in the “low six-figure range,” per Sky Sport, and his new contract with the Whitecaps will run until 2027.

Adding a centre back before the transfer window closes Aug. 21 was vitally important for the Whitecaps. Ranko Veselinović suffered an ACL tear last month, which will keep the Serbian centre back out for the remainder of the season.

Veselinović represents one of three major injuries the Whitecaps have endured this season, with Canadian left back Sam Adekugbe also suffering a season-ending injury.

Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld hasn’t played in over five months, though head coach Jesper Sørensen said this morning in an interview with Sportsnet 650 that he is “optimistic” that the Scottish international will return before the end of the season.

Vancouver remains in good shape in the MLS standings, though they’ve slipped to third place in the Western Conference following Sunday’s draw against the Houston Dynamo.

Up next for the Whitecaps is a Saturday-night match against St. Louis SC at BC Place.

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