Stevens signs for St Pauli | OneFootball

Brentford defender Fin Stevens has signed for Bundesliga side St Pauli on a permanent transfer.

Stevens joined the B team in 2020 and progressed through the club’s system, earning promotion to the first team in 2022.

He made nine appearances for Thomas Frank’s side, which included one outing in the Premier League.

Stevens was on loan at Oxford United last season, where he featured 34 times in League One and played his part in their promotion-winning campaign.

He will now move across the continent to Germany to play for top-flight side St Pauli, who won promotion under now-Brighton and Hove Albion Fabian Hürzeler last term.

“This is an excellent move for Fin,” said Brentford director of football Phil Giles.

“He did well at Oxford last season but realistically was in need of at least one more loan before he would be in competition for a full-back role in our first team.

“Sometimes it is therefore better for a player, and better for the club, if that player continues to develop and grow in a new environment with different demands and opportunities.

“Fin is another product of the B team to move to a good level overseas and we wish him good luck with the next phase of his career.”

Stevens signed for Brentford B as a 17-year-old, having spent the first part of his career in Arsenal’s Academy and at non-league side Worthing.

He made his debut for the Bees as a substitute for Saïd Benrahma in a 3-0 EFL Cup fourth-round victory over west London rivals Fulham a few months after joining the club.

The versatile youngster was an unused substitute on 30 occasions during the 2020/21 campaign, including at Wembley Stadium when the club won the Championship play-off final against Swansea City. He also won Brentford B Player of the Year at the end of that season.

The following term, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Southampton, as well as featuring three more times across the two domestic cup competitions.

Stevens’ progress was recognised with a promotion to the first-team squad and a new five-year contract heading into the 2022/23 campaign.

Stevens joined Championship club Swansea City on a season-long loan on the final day of the summer transfer window, but he made just five substitute appearances before being recalled in January 2023.

He returned to west London for the second half of the season and made four appearances during the B team's Premier League Cup-winning campaign.

The 21-year-old joined League One side Oxford on loan for the duration of the 2023/24 season and impressed in his 36 league appearances during a term which, following victory in the 2023/24 League One play-off final, culminated in promotion to the Championship.

Stevens, who has 17 Wales Under-21s caps, became a full international for the Dragons this summer, having been called up for a pair of friendlies in June 2024. He started both games against Slovakia and Gibraltar.