By Andrew Lord
30 June 2022
This preview will be constantly updated until the 2022/23 season begins.
Union Berlin
Union Berlin has qualified for the UEFA Europa League after finishing in fifth place in the Bundesliga last season. The club has signed the American striker Theoson Siebatcheu from BSC Young Boys for a fee of €6 million and 21-year-old forward Jamie Leweling from Greuther Fürth for €4 million.
Diogo Leite has joined the Union Berlin from FC Porto on a season-long loan. The 24-year-old centre-back gained Europa League experience last season on loan to Braga.
The club has invested the income from the sale of Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who has joined English Premier League club Nottingham Forest for a fee of €20.5 million. Marcus Ingvartsen has also left the club, signing for Mainz 05 in a €2.3 million deal, while Nigerian forward Anthony Ujah has been released by the club and is now a free agent. Left-back Bastian Oczipka has left the club to join Arminia Bielefeld on a free transfer.
Union Berlin won five games out of seven pre-season matches. The club beat Viktoria Berlin 3-1, Magdeburg 4-1, followed by a 1-0 loss to Eintracht Braunschweig. Union Berlin then beat Bohemians Dublin 1-0, recorded a 1-0 win over Dynamo Budweis, drew 3-3 with Udinese Calcio and beat Nottingham Forest 1-0.
Union Berlin face Chemnitzer FC in the first round of the German Cup on 1 August 2022 and begin the Bundesliga season with a derby against Hertha Berlin at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on 6 August 2022.
Freiburg
Nico Schlotterbeck has left Freiburg, signing for Borussia Dortmund for €20 million and his replacement will be Matthias Ginter, who returns to the club where he began his career, joining Freiburg on a free transfer from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Freiburg has also signed Ghanaian international Daniel-Kofi Kyereh from St. Pauli for €4.5 million. The attacking midfielder will be hoping to join a long list of Ghanaian players, who have achieved success in the Bundesliga. Japanese attacking midfielder Ritsu Doan has also joined the club from PSV Eindhoven for a fee of €8. million
Freiburg has signed Austrian striker Michael Gregoritsch from Augsburg in a deal which sees Bosnian forward Ermedin Demirović move in the opposite direction. According to Kicker magazine, the deal will be a straight swop with no transfer fees involved. Gregoritsch scored nine goals in 25 Bundesliga games last season, while Demirović scored just two league goals in 31 games.
Ritsu Doan has joined Freiburg from PSV Eindhoven in a deal worth €8 million. The 24-year-old Japanese international is no stranger to the Bundesliga having spent the 2020/21 season on loan at Arminia Bielefeld, scoring five goals in 34 league appearances.
The club has also been given a boost after last season’s top scorer Vincenzo Grifo signed a contract extension, although Freiburg has not released any information about the contract duration.
However, striker Lucas Höler will miss the start of the season due to a metatarsal fracture. The 28-year-old scored seven goals in the Bundesliga last season.
Trainer Christian Streich is confident that the club will continue to be active in the transfer market: “We will be signing more players. The squad will be bigger as we will play six more games next season. We are not afraid of the situation.”
In five pre-season friendlies, Freiburg recorded a 0-0 draw against SV Elversberg, a 4-3 win over FC St. Gallen, a 3-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano, beat Stade Rennes 1-0 and drew 3-3 with RC Strasbourg.
Freiburg play newly promoted Bundesliga 2 club Kaiserslautern in the first round of the German Cup on 31 July 2022. In the first Bundesliga game of the season, Freiburg face an away fixture against FC Augsburg on 6 August 2022.
Cologne
Despite only finishing in seventh place in the Bundesliga last season, Cologne will enter the play-off stage of the Europa Conference League, which will take place over two legs on 18 August and 25 August. As Leipzig and Freiburg both reached the final of the German Cup, eight Bundesliga clubs will represent Germany in European competitions next season.
Cologne has signed Armenian forward Sargis Adamyan from Hoffenheim for €1.5 million. The 29-year-old made just 13 Bundesliga appearances last season and spent the second half of the season on loan to Club Brugge, where he scored six goals in 16 games.
Cologne has also signed centre back Luca Kilian from Mainz 05 for a fee of €2 million, forward Steffen Tigges from Borussia Dortmund for €1.5 million and Eric Martel from RB Leipzig in a €1.2 million deal.
Anthony Modeste has signed for Borussia Dortmund for €5.1 million, while midfielder Salih Özcan has left the club, joining Borussia Dortmund in a €5 million deal, centre-back Yann Aurel Bisseck has joined Danish Superliga club Aarhus for €670,000 and left-back Jannes Horn has been released.
Trainer Steffen Baumgart has signed a one-year contract extension with the club and has spoken in detail about the aims for the new season: “It is essential that we concern ourselves with performances and not with results. We know that many factors are decisive for results. But we don’t have complete control over a lot of them. We can influence the way we work every day and the level of performance we achieve. If our performances are good over a longer period of time, the results will take care of themselves. That is our internal approach: step by step. Of course, we want to do well in the cup competitions, but our focus is clearly on the Bundesliga. As is the case for many other Bundesliga clubs, the first step is to achieve 40 points as soon as possible. After that we can see how many games are left.“
Baumgart has revealed that while Marvin Schwäbe will start the season as his first-choice goalkeeper, Timo Horn will play in the German Cup games. The Cologne trainer has not yet decided who will play in goal for the Europa Conference League play-offs in August.
The club recorded four victories from six pre-season friendlies. A 12-1 win over TuS Mondorf and a 4-0 victory against Austria Lustenau, followed by a 1-1 draw with GC Zürich, a 2-1 defeat against AC Milan, a 2-0 win over Kickers Offenbach and a 5-0 victory over NEC Nijmegen.
Cologne face Jahn Regensburg in the first round of the German Cup on 30 July 2022 and play Schalke 04 on the first match day of the Bundesliga season at the RheinEnergieStadion on 7 August 2022.
Mainz 05
The club has signed centre-back Maxim Leitsch from VfL Bochum for €3.5 million, Danish striker Marcus Ingvartsen from Union Berlin for €2.3 million, Dutch winger Delano Burgzorg from Heracles Almelo and Dominik Kohr from Eintracht Frankfurt for €1.5 million.
Mainz 05 has also signed playmaker Angelo Fulgini from Angers a fee of €5 million. The Frenchman played a total of 149 games in Ligue 1, scoring 20 goals and contributing 15 assists and is seen as a replacement for Dutch attacking midfielder Jean-Paul Boëtius, who left the club to look for a new challenge when his contract expired in May 2022.
The club has sold a total of five centre-backs: Jeremiah St. Juste has joined Sporting CP in a deal worth €9.5 million, Moussa Niakhaté has signed for Nottingham Forest for a fee of €10 million, Luca Kilian has joined Cologne for €2 million, David Nemeth has moved to St. Pauli for €1.5 million and the Belgian Dimitri Lavalée has returned to his home country to play for Mechelen.
Trainer Bo Svensson has not provided any specific aims for the season, although after finishing in eighth place last season, the club should be looking to challenge for a European spot.
Mainz won two pre-season friendlies out of three fixtures: the 21-0 win over FC Kiedrich and the 4-0 victory against Wormatia Worms, were followed by a 1-0 defeat against Besiktas Istanbul, a 1-0 win over Newcastle United and a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao.
Mainz 05 face Bundesliga 3 club Erzgebirge Aue in the first round of the German Cup on 31 July 2022 and play VfL Bochum away in their first game of the new season on 6 August 2022.
Bochum
Bochum has signed Philipp Förster from VfB Stuttgart for a fee of €300,000. The club has also secured the services of the following players on free transfers: Philipp Hofmann from Karlsruhe, Kevin Stöger from Mainz 05, Jacek Goralski from Kairat Almaty and Jordi Osei-Tutu from Arsenal.
Bochum has also signed Ukrainian centre-back Ivan Ordets on a one-year deal after his contract with Dynamo Moscow was suspended until 2023 by a special rule implemented by FIFA.
Centre-half Armel Bella-Kotchap has left to join English Premier League club Southampton in a deal worth €10 million, Maxim Leitsch has signed for Mainz 05 for a fee of €3.5 million, Sebastian Polter has signed for Schalke 04 for €1.5 million and Danny Blum has been released.
The club has been dealt a blow after it was revealed that Brazilian left-back Danilo Soares will miss the start of the season with a hip injury.
Despite the income earned from the sale of players, Trainer Thomas Reis told Kicker magazine that the financial situation at the club means that Bochum will not be making big money signings and added: “We are working on the third miracle, after winning promotion and avoiding relegation last year.”
Bochum recorded five victories in nine pre-season friendlies. The club beat Wuppertaler SV 2-1, drew 1-1 with FC Monheim, beat FC Bocholt 3-1, recorded a 1-1 draw with Fortuna Sittard, lost 2-0 to SC Paderborn, won 3-2 against Lecce, beat Spezia Calcio 2-1, lost 4-1 against Athletic Bilbao and beat Antalyaspor 6-2.
Bochum play Bundesliga 3 side FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin in the first round of the German Cup on 30 July 2022 and host Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga season opener on 6 August 2022.
© Andrew Lord 2022
German Football 