Transfer Window

Compared to any previous saves, this has been one of the busiest transfer windows that I’ve ever done. With no money, we resorted to free transfers and loans. We also had to released and sell players as our finances were not in a great place.

Let’s take a look.

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Transfers – OUT

In total we sold 12 players, 10 from the first team and 2 from Verl II. Most of the players above did not want to stay at the club due to the lack of playing time. It only felt right for them to move to greener pastures. Julian Stockner, Nico Hecker, and Matthias Haeder were move to Verl II since their abilities had declined. We also released Steffen Lang and Aygün Yildirim.

I treated this massive clear out as a fresh start…

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Transfers – IN

It was the perfect time to rebuild a squad for the future. With room in the wage bill, and barely any players left in the squad, I worked tirelessly with our DoF Bertels and the scouting team. Per our Club Vision, we were told to focus on signing players under the age of 23. Let’s take a look at the 13 players that were able to snatch.

Pre-Contracts:

– Florian Krüger joins us from Erzgebie Aue. He will be our new starting forward. (In IRL, he has been putting great numbers for Erzgebie, 8 goals and 5 assists in 17 games so far this (20/21) season. He’s mainly played up top or on the left wing) Makes me happy to have picked him on for free.
– Mamadou Doucouré joins us from Borussia Mönchengladbach. He’s a product of the PSG academy. He will slot in at CD(L). He’s highly susceptible to injuries, but solid when able to play.
– Kilian Senkbeil joins us from Bayern II. He will partner with Mamadou Doucouré as a BPD(R). He can also cover as RB.
– Philipp Sander joins us from Holstein Kiel after showing some decent performances last season. He comes in as a squad player.
– Cristian Frydek joins us from Sparta Prague and will be a starter. (I completely forgot to take his screen shot… oops)

Loans:

– Joe Hodge comes back to us, this time on a year loan from Man City.
– Paul Glatzel, joins from Liverpool. He will partner with Florian Kruger when using our 442 and will rotate when needed.
– Sidi Sané (Leroy Sané’s little brother) joins from Schalke. He caught my eye last year while on loan at 1860 München.
– Angelo Brückner joins from Bayern II. He will start at right back.
– Luca Netz joins Hertha Berlin. He will start at left back.
– Felix Gebhardt joins from Basel. He will be our first-choice keeper.

Youth:

– Bahaa Abdelhaim joins our U19 team after being released by Norwegian club øygarden. He will be training as a CWB(A).
– Wang Zhijiang joins our U19 team after being released by Spanish side 26 de Febrero. He will be training as a Complete Forward (A).

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Pre-Season

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Squad – 2021/2022

Paul Glatzel, Florian Krüger and Zlatko Janjic will lead the line this season, all three are capable of covering in multiple positions when needed. Our wings are looking much better with the arrival of Sidi Sané. If Justin Eilers performs nearly as good as he did last year then we’re in decent place to call up young Billy Jones into the team. Midfield has been strengthen with more depth and quality. We’re missing a center back but we’re hoping to we can register young Ian Robinson once he turns 17yo.

This might be Nico Hecker‘s and Sergej Schmik‘s last season with the first team. I’m trying to move them as backroom staff but no budging. Robin Brüseke will now be our backup keeper. I will be scouting through the first half of the season for some young German keepers to bring in on a pre-contract.

Here’s a look at our first team squad for the season:

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Next post will recap our 21/22 season. I’m debating on splitting the post in to two parts or not. Let me know what you think.

I appreciate everyone who has shown support over the last few weeks, Thank you!

Best,
José