As a fan of Energie Cottbus, this was an interesting bit of news. After being mired in the Regional league for several seasons, Cottbus just achieved promotion to Bundesliga 3 (3.B) for next season.
VfB had some players out on loan last season and one wonders whether they will be fitted into the squad for this season. Wahid Faghir - striker went on loan to SV Elversberg (2.B) Juan-Jose Perea - striker went on loan to Hansa Rostock (2.B) Luca Pfeiffer - striker went on loan to Darmstadt 98 Matej Maglica - CB on loan to Darmstadt 98 Thomas Kastanaras - striker on loan to SSV Ulm 1846 (3.B) Mo Sankoh - stiker on loan to Heracle Almelo (Dutch Eredivisie) Omer Bayez - midfielder on loan to Hatyaspor (Turkish 1st division) Jovan Milosevic - striker on loan to FC St. Gallen (Swiss 1st division) A lot of strikers in that group.
Here are the in-transfers so far for 2024-2025. Club Transfer sum Jamie Leweling Union Berlin €5.00m Jeff Chabot 1.FC Köln €4.00m Anthony Rouault Toulouse €3.00m Leonidas Stergiou FC St. Gallen €2.00m Ramon Hendriks Feyenoord €700k Nick Woltemade Werder Bremen free transfer Yannik Keitel SC Freiburg free transfer Justin Diehl 1.FC Köln free transfer Stefan Drljaca Dynamo Dresden free transfer Fabian Rieder Stade Rennais loan transfer
VfB are in competition with Trabzonspor to bring in Nigerian defender Jordan Torunarigha from Belgian side KAA Gent. He was born in Germany and his market value is €5m.
VfB are negotiating with FC Augsburg for Bosnian forward Ermedin Demirović (26 yo), who would cost in the region of €26m. His stats last season (33 matches) were 15 goals and 10 assists.
Lots to come between now and the end of August. I think we've done okay replacing Anton and Ito, and there are a lot of promising young talents now in the fold. Some guys are coming back from injury or loans. We knew we were going to get raided, but overall, we're still in good shape. Still nothing on Guirassy since he failed his physical, at least that I've been able to find, but I'm going to assume that deal will get done at some point over the summer. The key for me is Deniz Undav. He wants to stay. BHA are holding out for more money, but I'm going to assume that deal gets done too. He's the guy we need the most. Furchtlos und Treu!
We picked up Demirovic from Augsburg, so as long as we can hang on to Deniz we'll be okay in the attack. Maybe not quite as dynamic, but on the other hand, we may have caught lightning in bottle last campaign. It was definitely a breakout year for Guirassy. I have to say, so far, I like where we are. We didn't get poached quite as badly as I feared. We made some good moves of our own. I'm getting excited.
Both Valencia and VfB Stuttgart are interested in Inter Milan striker Martin Satriano (23 yo from Uruguay), who was on loan at French club Brest last season. He had 4 goals and 4 assists across 33 matches in which Brest qualified for the Champions League. Inter are looking for something between €7m and €10m.
Heavy discussion of our VfB in the latest Gegenpressing podcast. It's about us for the first 18 or 19 minutes before they get into Bayern (blech). Spoiler: I've chatted with Stefan Bienkowski on Substack about our situation, and we see eye-to-eye about Deniz being the real key. But the entire discussion is worth the time. So is the rest of the episode. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mBW1DzSDBotW8mcoL7DJ4?si=ffK_UL4bTAOKcaHPM_uypg
Good start today. I just watched the first half of the friendly in Heilbronn, everyone looked good and fit and happy to be out there. I think Demirovic will work out fine. Silas and Leweling each bagged one before I had to bail and get some work done. And the kit looked great. I'm stoked. There's nothing quite like the Bundesliga, and we should be in the thick of things again. Let's GO.
It was on YouTube, on the team channel. It was in German, but I didn't mind even though I don't speak the language (I can pick up bits and pieces in print, but not when it's spoken). I'm not sure if they'll stream the friendlies from Japan, though. Here's the one from the other day: https://www.youtube.com/live/x17Ryv5HYIo?si=TP5dbqjrXdeDCqrf
It looks like VfB had a successful tour of Japan, playing matches against Kyoto Sanga (3-5 win) and Sanfrecce Hiroshima (2-5 win). The J League is in the middle of their season, so these were sides that are in form. Goal scorers in the two matches were: Justin Diehl Moussa Cisse (2) Kastanaras (2) Omar Beyaz Leweling (set up by Silas) Raimund Stiller Woltemade Skimpy reporting on those matches but there were highlights of the Kyoto match. On Saturday, August 10, VfB are playing Athletic Bilbao.
Yep, we got our guy. I'm over the Moon. We would have been all right, but now we're going to push the top of the table hard (with the usual caveats: player health and a little luck). https://www.vfb.de/en/vfb/latest/news/professionals/2425/deniz-undav-verpflichtung/ Busy time lately, but I'll be back tomorrow (Saturday, 8.9) to discuss. I like our roster.
VfB beat a very good Athletic Bilbao squad 4-0 in their final friendly last Saturday. Players and subs Alexander Nübel Angelo Stiller (Undav 84') Ermedin Demirovic (Nick Woltemade 74') Frans Krätzig (Maxi Mittelstädt 58') Silas (Fabian Rieder 58') Pascal Stenzel (Moussa Cissé 84') Atakan Karazor (Yannik Keitel 74') Justin Diehl (Chris Führich 58') Jamie Leweling (Wooyeong Jeong 74') Jeff Chabot (Anrie Chase 84') Anthony Rouault (Ramon Hendriks 84') Goals: 11th minute: A corner from the left-hand side finds the unmarked Jeff Chabot, whose free header deflects somewhat fortuitously past Athletic goalkeeper Alex Padilla via the back of Silas. 14th minute: Justin Diehl sends a ball across the face of goal from the left flank, and Demirovic gets the final touch to double VfB’s lead. 49th minute: Silas dispossesses Adama Boiro inside the Athletic half and sets off on a solo run before firing home to make it 3-0. 79th minute: Chris Führich’s cross finds Wooyeong Jeong, whose header lands at the feet of Woltemade. The attacker slots home from close range to complete the scoring. And it looks like Chris Führich is still with the club.
With the dust now settled, I like the looks of our squad. The key was getting Deniz back, of course. But even with the departures, I think we'll be a match for anyone, and then some. I can't wait to get this show on the road, as they say.
Yes, indeed! Wit the signing of Undav, Silas looking like he's getting his scoring touch back, and some defensive reinforcements, we may still have a team. The 4-0 defeat of Athletic (see above - thanks, Teak!) gives me confidence for the start of the season.
MILLOT! And man, I thought Demirovic was going to get that header, too. Great ball in. Do we want to do game threads for the Bundesliga season? I was going to start one, but I didn't want to gunk up the forum.
Tremendous half. We're going to be fine with Demirovic. That was a heck of a shot off the woodwork. Very physical player.
If you want to make a separate thread for games (I would suggest an ALL games, league or cup, thread), please be my guest!