Lennard Maloney has agreed to extend his contract with 1. FC Union Berlin for a further two years. The new deal is valid for either Bundesliga or 2.Bundesliga competition.

The 19-year-old central defender has developed through Union’s own academy system since joining the club in 2012. A regular for Germany’s U18 and U19 squads, Maloney committed to the United States, the country of his father’s birth last year. He appeared for the US U20 national team and made his first-team debut for Union on April 1 last year against Greuther Fürth.

This past year, the defender has balanced his professional career with his school education as he looks to obtain a qualification for university. As the football season draws to a close, so does Maloney’s school education.

“It’s a great honour to continue playing at 1. FC Union Berlin. After an extremely challenging year with a demanding double burden, I would now like to take off and give everything to confirm the club’s confidence in me. For me, as a young player, it is now important to get more experience and constantly improve,” said Maloney.

“Lennard is a young player with lots of potential. Still a school pupil, he had to share his energy until now between professional football and his high school qualifications. We are excited to see how he will develop when his full focus is on the sport. Then it’ll be important for him to get game time,” said Oliver Ruhnert, Managing Director for Professional Football at Union Berlin.