Promotion hero Marvin Friedrich has returned to Berlin-Köpenick and has signed a permanent deal from FC Augsburg.

Friedrich is the 11^th transfer to 1. FC Union Berlin this summer — following Julius Kade, Florian Flecker, Moritz Nicolas, Robert Andrich, Sheraldo Becker, Marcus Ingvartsen, Anthony Ujah, Keven Schlotterbeck, Neven Subotic and Suleiman Abdullahi who also signed long-term after his loan spell from Eintracht Braunschweig.

Born in Kassel, the centre back developed at the academy of Schalke. He helped Germany win the U19 European Championships before signing for Augsburg in 2016. Friedrich joined Union in 2018 and quickly became a starting player at the heart of the defence. Under Urs Fischer’s guidance, he formed a brilliant partnership with Florian Hübner and didn’t miss a minute of football for the Köpenick club last season. He was elected to the team committee and was vice-captain throughout the season. In the relegation play-off against VfB Stuttgart, Friedrich’s equaliser in the first leg was the decisive goal to lift Union into the Bundesliga.

“I’m just happy to be back at Union. I felt extremely comfortable here in the last year-and-a-half and have a lot in common with the club. The last season was outstanding for all of us, now I really want to be part of the first Bundesliga team of 1. FC Union Berlin. I’m grateful to all those responsible that they made this transfer possible and I look forward to continuing to be a part of the Union family,” said the 23-year-old who led the club as captain on the pitch against Stuttgart.

“Marvin has continued to develop during his time at Union, has also taken a lot of responsibility and was a key player for our solid defence last season. We all agreed in the club that we wanted to have Marvin in our squad for the future in order to take those first steps in the Bundesliga,” added Oliver Ruhnert, 1. FC Union Berlin’s Director for Professional Football.

Friedrich has put pen-to-paper on a contract until June 30, 2022 and the deal is valid for Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga competitions.