Josha Vagnoman

Josha Vagnoman

Vagnoman with VfB Stuttgart in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Josha Mamadou Karaboue Vagnoman [1]
Date of birth	(2000-12-11) 11 December 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth	Hamburg, Germany
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.87 m) [2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	VfB Stuttgart
Number	4
Youth career
2009	SC Poppenbüttel [3]
2009–2010	Hummelsbütteler SV
2010–2018	Hamburger SV
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2022	Hamburger SV	64	(5)
2018–2019	Hamburger SV II	10	(4)
2022–	VfB Stuttgart	56	(6)
International career‡
2017	Germany U17	3	(0)
2018	Germany U18	1	(0)
2018	Germany U19	2	(0)
2019	Germany U20	1	(0)
2019–2023	Germany U21	15	(0)
2023–	Germany	1	(0)
Medal record Representing   Germany UEFA European Under-21 Championship Winner 2021
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:28, 15 December 2024 (BST) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:13, 28 June 2023 (UTC)

Josha Mamadou Karaboue Vagnoman (born 11 December 2000) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart and the Germany national team. He developed through the academy of Hamburger SV and has represented Germany at youth level.

Club career

Hamburger SV

Early career

Vagnoman joined Hamburger SV in 2010, and went through the different youth levels at the club. In February 2018, following impressive performances in the youth teams, newly appointed head coach Bernd Hollerbach promoted him to the HSV first-team squad for the forthcoming campaign. ^{[4] [5]}

On 10 March 2018, Vagnoman made his first-team debut in the Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich. He came off the bench in the 70th minute, replacing Walace in a 6–0 home loss. ^[6] He became the youngest player to ever play in the Bundesliga for Hamburger SV when he debuted at the age of 17 years and 89 days. ^[7] Under new coach Christian Titz, Vagnoman did not make more first-team appearances that season. However, he made 20 appearances in the Under-19 league for HSV, scoring two goals.

2018–20

Prior to the 2018–19 season, Vagnoman signed a new two-year contract with Hamburger SV, making him a permanent part of the first-team squad before his eighteenth birthday. ^[8] Before the winter break, he made four appearances in the 2. Bundesliga for the club, making one start. Coach Titz and his successor, Hannes Wolf, preferred Gōtoku Sakai and Douglas Santos on the two back positions during this period.

In the latter part of the season Vagnoman saw slightly more playing time. He ended the season with 11 league appearances for the first team, adding to that another seven appearances and one goal for the reserves in fourth tier Regionalliga Nord.

At the beginning of the 2019–20 season, Vagnoman was benched under new head coach Dieter Hecking and mostly appeared for the reserves. As part of the Hamburger SV II team, he made three appearances in the Regionalliga Nord in which he scored three goals. After regular right-back Jan Gyamerah suffered a fibular fracture in mid-September, ^[9] Vagnoman replaced him in the starting lineup in the following league game and made five straight appearances, in which he scored one goal. In October, he suffered a foot injury in a DFB-Pokal matchup against VfB Stuttgart which ruled him out for several months. ^[10] In his absence, Khaled Narey took over as the third player to appear at right-back before Jordan Beyer arrived on loan during the January transfer window. ^[11] In April 2020, Vagnoman recovered from his injury, and signed a four-year contract extension during the COVID-19 league suspension. ^[12] When the league was resumed in mid-May, Vagnoman returned to the starting lineup as a right-back in a 2. Bundesliga match against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. ^[13] He finished the season with 16 Bundesliga appearances in which he scored one goal. ^[14]

2020–22

On the first matchday of the 2020–21 season, Vagnoman was in the starting line-up under the new head coach Daniel Thioune for the game against Fortuna Düsseldorf (2–1 win), but in the following week of practice he suffered a tear in the outer ligament and an inner ligament strain in the left ankle. ^[15] This ruled him out for a few weeks and afterwards was placed on the bench behind Jan Gyamerah on his return on the fifth matchday and in the following games. Due to an injury to Gyamerah, Vagnoman returned to the starting line-up on 5 December 2020 in a 1–0 home loss to Hannover 96, and was a regular starter until the end of the first half of the season, scoring 2 goals. ^[14] In the 4–2 win against Eintracht Braunschweig on 23 January 2021, Vagnoman was replaced at half-time after suffering a torn ligament in his right ankle. ^[16] He made his comeback a month later. Due to a thigh strain, however, he missed the last two matches of the season. ^[17] Vagnoman ended the season with 24 domestic league appearances, in which he scored 2 goals. ^[14] HSV finished fourth for the third time in a row and once again missed promotion. ^[18]

In the 2021–22 pre-season, Vagnoman tore a muscle fiber, which meant that he missed the first two games of the season. ^[19] On the third matchday of the season, Vagnoman came on as a substitute for Jan Gyamerah, but again fell out with torn muscle tendon. ^[20] He was expected to be sidelined for two months. ^[21] He returned to first-team practice in late January 2022 – around 5 months after suffering the injury. ^[22] On 27 February, he made his competitive return in a 3–2 home loss in the Nordderby to Werder Bremen, coming off the bench in the 82nd minute for Moritz Heyer. ^[23]

VfB Stuttgart

On 9 July 2022, VfB Stuttgart announced the signing of Vagnoman on a four-year contract. ^[24] He made his competitive debut for the club on 29 July, starting in a 1–0 away win over Dynamo Dresden in the DFB-Pokal. ^[25] On 7 August, he made his Bundesliga debut for Stuttgart, starting on the opening matchday in a 1–1 home draw against RB Leipzig. ^{[26] [27]} He sustained an ankle injury during practice on 27 September, again sidelining him for an extended period. ^[28] He returned to training one month later, ^[29] but ankle issues kept him from returning to full strength as new head coach Bruno Labbadia took over the reins in December 2022. ^[30]

International career

Eligible for both Germany and Ivory Coast, Vagnoman has represented Germany at every age group from under-17 to under-20 level. In October 2017, he was included in the squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship as an alternate to the injured Kilian Ludewig. ^[31] He made three appearances in the tournament for the under-17s.^{[ citation needed ]}

In March 2018, Vagnoman made one appearance for the German under-18 team, and played another two matches for the German under-19 team in November 2018. He ended as runner-up to the Fritz Walter Medal in August 2019 in the under-19 category, behind Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn. ^[32] Since September 2019, Vagnoman has been part of the Germany under-20 team.^{[ citation needed ]}

On 17 March 2023, he received his first official call-up to the German senior national team for the friendlies against Peru and Belgium. ^[33]

Personal life

Vagnoman was born and raised in Hamburg, the son of an Ivorian father and a German mother. ^[34]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 15 December 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			DFB-Pokal		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hamburger SV	2017–18 [35]	Bundesliga	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2018–19 [36]	2. Bundesliga	11	0	2	0	—		—		13	0
	2019–20 [37]	2. Bundesliga	16	1	1	0	—		—		17	1
	2020–21 [38]	2. Bundesliga	24	2	1	0	—		—		25	2
	2021–22 [39]	2. Bundesliga	12	2	3	0	—		2 [a]	0	17	2
	Total		64	5	7	0	—		2	0	73	0
Hamburger SV II	2018–19	Regionalliga	7	1	—		—		—		1	0
	2019–20	Regionalliga	3	3	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		10	4	—		—		—		10	4
VfB Stuttgart	2022–23	Bundesliga	25	3	4	0	—		—		29	3
	2023–24	Bundesliga	18	2	2	0	—		—		20	2
	2024–25	Bundesliga	13	1	1	0	5 [b]	1	—		19	2
	Total		56	6	7	0	5	1	—		68	7
Career total			130	15	14	0	5	1	2	0	151	16

1. Appearances in Bundesliga relegation play-offs
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 28 March 2023

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Germany	2023	1	0
Total		1	0

Honours

Germany U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2021 ^[40]

Individual

• Fritz Walter Medal U19 Silver: 2019 ^[41]

References

1. "FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 28 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
2. "Josha Vagnoman". Bundesliga. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
3. "HSV-Profi Vagnoman ehrlich: "Da war ich wirklich schlecht"". hsv24.mopo.de. Hamburger Morgenpost. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
4. "Mit Einsatz und Moral Selbstvertrauen sammeln". hsv.de. Hamburger SV. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
5. "HSV: Bernd Hollerbach zieht Talente hoch - Gideon Jung trainiert individuell". 90min.de. 90min. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
6. "Lewandowski macht das halbe Dutzend voll". kicker.de. Kicker. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
7. "Neuer Fünfter: Die jüngsten Bundesliga-Debütanten". kicker.de. Kicker. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
8. "Josha Vagnoman erhält Lizenzspielervertrag". hsv.de. Hamburger SV. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
9. "Schwere Verletzung bei Jan Gyamerah". www.hsv.de. Hamburger SV. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
10. "Josha Vagnoman erleidet Bruch eines Fußwurzelknochens". www.hsv.de. Hamburger SV. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
11. Lustig, Jan; Wolff, Sebastian (14 January 2020). "Fix: Hamburg leiht Gladbach-Youngster Beyer aus". www.kicker.de. kicker . Retrieved 5 August 2020.
12. "HSV verlängert Vertrag mit Josha Vagnoman bis 2024". www.hsv.de. Hamburger SV. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
13. "Greuther Fürth vs. Hamburger SV - 17 May 2020 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Perform Group. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
14. "J. Vagnoman - Profile". int.soccerway.com. Perform Group. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
15. "Trainingsverletzung: HSV wochenlang ohne Vagnoman". kicker (in German). 25 September 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
16. "Doppelter Bänderriss: Vagnoman fehlt HSV mehrere Wochen". kicker (in German). 25 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
17. "Zerrung im Oberschenkel: Vagnoman fehlt dem HSV in Osnabrück". kicker (in German). 12 May 2021.
18. "HSV verpasst erneut den Aufstieg". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 16 May 2021.
19. "HSV-Verteidiger Vagnoman erleidet Muskelfaserriss". kicker (in German). 6 July 2021.
20. "Makienoks Doppelschlag ist für den HSV zu viel". kicker (in German). 13 August 2021.
21. "Muskelsehnenriss bei Josha Vagnoman". HSV.de (in German). 17 August 2021.
22. "Doppelschicht-Dienstag im Volkspark". HSV (in German). 25 January 2022.
23. "Zwei Handelfmeter und viel Dramatik: Bremen nach Nordduell wieder Tabellenführer". kicker (in German). 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
24. "Josha Vagnoman signs for VfB". VfB Stuttgart. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
25. Richmann, Michael (29 July 2022). "Erste Halbzeit im DFB-Pokal gibt dem VfB Stuttgart Hoffnung". SWR (in German). Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
26. Behlert, Manuel (7 August 2022). "Stuttgart gegen Leipzig: Die Aufstellungen zum Spiel". Fussball international – seriös & kompakt (in German). Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
27. "Ahamadas kleine Genugtuung vermiest Leipzig den Auftakt". kicker (in German). 7 August 2022. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
28. Meise, Robin (27 September 2022). "VfB Stuttgart droht erneuter Ausfall von Josha Vagnoman". LigaInsider (in German). Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
29. Maisel, Philipp (25 October 2022). "VfB Stuttgart: Josha Vagnoman mischt wieder voll mit". Stuttgarter Nachrichten (in German). Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
30. "Kein Risiko bei Mavropanos und Vagnoman". kicker (in German). 18 December 2022. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
31. "U 17-WM: Ludewig am Knie verletzt, Vagnoman nachnominiert". dfb.de. DFB. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
32. "Fritz-Walter-Medaille in Gold an Kühn, Bühl und Adeyemi". dfb.de. DFB. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
33. "Vier Rückkehrer und fünf Neulinge für Peru und Belgien" (in German). German Football Association. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
34. "Josha Vagnoman: HSV-Rechtsverteidiger räumt mit links ab". 24hamburg.de. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
35. "Games played by Josha Vagnoman in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
36. "Games played by Josha Vagnoman in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
37. "Games played by Josha Vagnoman in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
38. "Games played by Josha Vagnoman in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
39. "Games played by Josha Vagnoman in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
40. "Germany beat Portugal for third U21 EURO title". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
41. "FRITZ-WALTER-MEDAILLE IN GOLD AN KÜHN, BÜHL UND ADEYEMI" (in German). German Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2020.

External links

• Josha Vagnoman at Soccerway.com
• Josha Vagnoman at WorldFootball.net
• Josha Vagnoman at Soccerbase.com
• Josha Vagnoman at BDFutbol
• Josha Vagnoman at ESPN FC