on 31 August 2013 when he made his debut for the club, starting the match and played 72 minutes before being substituted, in a 4–0 win against Eintracht Braunschweig. Since making his debut for Hamburger SV, Djourou started in the next six matches for the club. In a match against Stuttgart on 20 October 2013, he scored an own goal, as Hamburger SV drew 3–3. However, in a follow-up match against SC Freiburg, Djourou suffered a groin injury once again and was substituted in the 22nd minute, resulting a 3–0 win for the club. It was announced that he would be out for several weeks. It wasn't until on 24 November 2013 when he returned to the starting line-up against Hannover 96, and helped Hamburger SV win 3–1. Having started in the next five matches, Djourou tore his muscle fibre that kept him out for a month. It wasn't until on 8 February 2014 when he returned to the starting line-up, in a 3–0 win against Hertha BSC. Since returning from injury, Djourou regained his first team place for the next two months. This lasted until he, once again, injured his adductors while warming up prior to a 3–1 loss against Wolfsburg on 19 April 2014. Despite this, Djourou returned to the first team and played in both legs of the relegation play-off matches against Greuther Fürth, where a 1–1 draw kept Hamburg retaining their Bundesliga status via an away goal. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he went on to make 26 appearances in all competitions. As the 2013–14 season was coming to an end, Hamburg confirmed on 2 April 2014 that they had activated the buying clause and signed Djourou on a permanent deal. His first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the first round of the DFB–Pokal against Energie Cottbus and played 120 minutes with a 2–2 draw as a final score, resulting in a penalty shootout; and successfully converted the penalty in the shootout to help Hamburg win 4–2 to progress to the next round. Since the start of the 2014–15 season, he continued to establish himself in the starting eleven, playing in the centre-back position. Following the absent of captain Rafael van der Vaart, Djourou captained the club for the first time against Hannover 96 on 14 September 2014, as Hamburger SV lost 2–0. He then captained Hamburger