Nordtveit to depart at the end of the season

"Howie is an outstanding individual, an absolute team player and a fundamentally positive character. He has an enormous wealth of experience and has taken on an important role in our team set-up over the past few years. Especially for our young talents, he has always been a strong role model and wise advisor," says director of football Alexander Rosen. "He also has a keen sense for the mood in the dressing room and his unifying presence makes a key contribution to a positive and professional atmosphere throughout the team. He has also always been an important and reliable contact person for the coaching team and me, and his departure will leave a real gap." According to Rosen, the Norwegian was unfortunately slowed down by injuries at the worst possible times in the past few seasons, meaning it was difficult for him to take on an important role on the pitch.

Nordtveit himself had already voiced thoughts some time ago of wanting to return to his native Norway after the end of his current contract. In TSG magazine SPIELFELD, the married family man said: "I have always said to myself that I don't want to be hard on myself in thinking that I should have done certain things differently. I have always given everything and believe that I got the maximum out of my career. Even now, looking back, I can say that it was a fantastic time."  However, he then added: "We still have some important weeks ahead of us. We want to sharpen our focus to turn what is already a good season into a very good one. How things will go for me afterwards remains to be seen."

At the age of 16, Nordtveit left home to join Arsenal. The North Londoners' head coach at the time, Arsène Wenger, had previously watched him play at Norwegian club FK Haugesund. In 2009, after loan spells with UD Salamanca (Spain) and Lilleström SK (Norway), the defender also came to Germany on loan, where he played 19 Bundesliga games for 1. FC Nuremberg. It was at Borussia Mönchengladbach that he matured into a regular starter. He played in 152 Bundesliga matches for Gladbach, scoring ten goals and notching nine assists. He also made twelve appearances in the Europa League and eight in the Champions League. For Norway, he played in all the youth national teams and made his debut in the senior national team on 7 June 2011. He has earned a total of 52 caps to date. He joined TSG in the summer of 2017 from English Premier League club West Ham United. For Hoffenheim, he has so far made 54 appearances in the Bundesliga, three in the DFB-Pokal, five in the Champions League (one goal) and nine in the Europa League. In 2019, the defender was loaned to Fulham in the Premier League for half a season.