Leo Ostigard has been hailed as a cult hero at St Pauli – and his team’s best current outfield player.

Albion’s young Norwegian defender is impressing on loan in 2.Bundesliga.

Now top German football magazine Kicker have included him among their pick of the talent from the second tier.

Kicker have collated a ranking of the top outfield performers for each club, judged on their own player ratings.

Ostigard is the pick of the talent for St Pauli.

He previously ranked only behind fellow Norwegian Mats Moller Daehli, a midfielder who moved on to Genk in January.

“I’ve fallen in love with St Pauli,” Ostigard said.

Kicker adds: “He has attained cult status at the neighbourhood club.

“The 20-year-old Norwegian has been a discovery at the Millerntor but the model athlete’s days at FCSP are numbered.

“His loan from Brighton and Hove Albion ends in the summer.”

Albion could be in for an interesting summer as they weigh up their defensive options with Matt Clarke and Ben White also heading back from loans.

Kicker’s ratings are done in reverse – the lower the mark, the better the performance.

So Ostigard’s average score of 3.08 per match does not mean an awful lot in isolation.

Fabien Klos is top of the pile with a rating of 2.60.

The Arminia Bielefeld striker is also the top scorer in the division with 16 goals.

Viktor Gyokeres, also on loan from Albion to St Pauli, has a ranking of 3.54, helped by his six goals in 17 games.

Former Albion defender Uwe Huenemeier, now playing in the top-flight with Paderborn, spoke to The Argus early in the season.

Back then, he praised Ostigard’s calmness on the ball, strength in tackles and his willingness to keep it simple.

Speaking yesterday, he added: “I have seen a couple of games.

“It looks like he is enjoying his time in Hamburg.

“He adapted well to the physical football in the second division, even though St Pauli isn’t playing that well. Good and calm with the ball, comfortable to travel with it.

“So, all in all, a really good step forward for him in a difficult league and situation.”

Amateur talent-spotters might also be interested in some of the other players who top the ratings for their clubs.

They include Stuttgart attacking midfielder Daniel Didavi, Holstein Kiel midfielder Jae-Sung Lee and Nuremberg’s 21-year-old attacking prospect Robin Hack.

Back in our own second tier, Clarke is not doing badly at all with Derby.

Having recovered from a knee injury he, like Wayne Rooney, has been a big part of their push up the table.

White’s form at Leeds has been well documented.