Bundesliga News

2. Bundesliga:
Darmstadt find Anfang successor, Aue sign the second youngest coach in the league

By Matias Bengolo   @scpaderbornen

44 days to go until the opening weekend in the 2. Bundesliga; teams are starting to rack up signings in preparation towards the crazy season. Here are your weekly updates for each team:
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SV Werder Bremen


The drama of Markus Anfang had ended. Attention moves on to players departing from the Weser Stadium. Most notably it is expected that Josh Sargent and Milot Rashica won't be apart of Werder's 2. Bundesliga squad. Frankfurt are reportedly interested in Rashica - sporting director Markus Krösche nearly signed him last summer in Leipzig - however the release clause isn't feasible for Eintracht. Krösche won't have more than 10 million euros to spend, according to Kicker. Werder have also made their first signing since relegation, former German U20 player Anthony Jung moves from Danish champions Brondby IF to Bremen.


Incomings: Anthony Jung (Brondby IF), Kebba Badjie (own U23), Johannes Eggestein (LASK, loan ends), Stefanos Kapino (SV Sandhausen, loan ends), Niklas Schmidt (VfL Osnabrück, loan ends), Thore Jacobsen (1. FC Magdeburg, loan ends).

Departures: Davie Selke (Hertha BSC, loan ends), Niklas Moisander (contract end), Theodor Gebre Selassie (contract end)



FC Schalke 04


When are there not rumors at Schalke? Currently, the Gelsenkirchen club look to sell Amine Harit to help the financial situation, as there is still the chance of a 6-point-deduction. Mark Uth is also reportedly on the move away from the VELTINS-Arena. Schalke have also confirmed that Huntelaar and Kolasinac will leave. Hertha are set to win the race for Suat Serdar. Schalke have made some of their own moves too, completing five signings including Thomas Ouwejan.

Incomings: Thomas Ouwejan (AZ Alkmaar), Marcin Kaminski (VfB Stuttgart), Victor Palsson (SV Darmstadt 98), Simon Terodde (Hamburger SV), Danny Latza (1. FSV Mainz 05), Markus Schubert (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan ends) , Sebastian Rudy (TSG Hoffenheim, loan ends), Jonas Carls (Vitoria Guimaraes, loan ends), Ozan Kabak (Liverpool FC, loan ends), Ahmed Kutucu (Heracles Almelo, loan ends), Rabbi Matondo (Stoke City, loan ends) , Florian Flick (own U23), Rabbi Matondo (Stoke City, loan ends)


Departures: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (unknown), Jonas Carls (SC Paderborn), Weston McKennie (Juventus Turin, signed on after loan), William (VfL Wolfsburg, loan ends), Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal FC, loan ends), Nabil Bentaleb (End of contract), Goncalo Paciencia (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan ends), Frederik Rönnow (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan ends), Kilian Ludewig (RB Salzburg, loan ends), Benjamin Stambouli (contract end), Bastian Oczipka (contract end), Alessandro Schöpf (contract end ), Shkodran Mustafi (end of contract)

Holstein Kiel


After the heartbreak in the relegation-playoffs, Holstein Kiel remain in the second division. According to Kicker, Kiel have made a contract extension offer to current coach Ole Werner. They will lose three important players in the summer, most notably striker Janni Serra to Arminia Bielefeld.

Incomings: Marcel Benger (Borussia Mönchengladbach II), Makana Baku (Warta Posen, loan ends), Lion Lauberbach (FC Hansa Rostock, loan ends), David Atanga (FC Admira Wacker Mödling, loan ends), Daniel Hanslik (1. FC Kaiserslautern , Loan ends), Philipp Sander (SC Verl, loan ends), Timon Weiner (1.FC Magdeburg, loan ends)

Departures: Jae-Sung Lee, Jannik Dehm, Janni Serri (out-of-contract), Dominik Reimann (FC Magdeburg)

Hamburger SV


HSV will be without goalkeeper Sven Ulreich as he returns back to Bayern on a free-transfer. According to Kicker, HSV expect sales to drop more than 60 million euros.

CFO Frank Wettstein commented:

"The drop in sales for HSV that has already been realized or is still to be expected as a result of Corona amounts to more than 60 million euros"

Incomings: Sebastian Schonlau (SC Paderborn), Xavier Amaechi (Karlsruher SC, loan ends), David Bates (Cercle Brugge, loan ends), Aaron Opoku (SSV Jahn Regensburg, loan ends)

Departures: Aaron Hunt (end of contract), Simon Terodde (FC Schalke 04)

Fortuna Düsseldorf


Christian Preußer will be the new Fortuna coach. F95 are currently working on contract extensions, Adam Bodzek and Raphael Wolf are their main targets to lock-in for the future.

Sporting director Uwe Klein confirmed the rumor:

"I'm in conversation with both Raphael Wolf and Bodzek and is confident that they will also be available to us in the next season."

Incomings: Nicklas Shipnoski (1. FC Saabrücken), Felix Klaus (VfL Wolfsburg, signed on after loan), Jamil Siebert (own U19), Daniel Bunk (own U19), Jean Zimmer (1. FC Kaiserslautern, loan ends)

Departures: Alfredo Morales (New York City FC), Kevin Danso (FC Augsburg, loan ends), Luka Krajnc (Frosinone Calcio, loan ends), Brandon Borrello (SC Freiburg, loan ends), Kenan Karaman (contract end), Gökhan Gül ( End of contract), Anton Mitryushkin (end of contract)



Karlsruher SC


Karlsruhe will be hoping to build on last season as the 1909 German champions finished 6th in the 2. Bundesliga. They may, however, be without main scorer Philipp Hofmann as Hamburger SV reportedly want him to replace Simon Terodde. There are now a couple of rumors to help KSC, striker Marvin Cuni is reportedly on the wish-list, with the Bayern II player also building more interested parties with his 19 goals in the Regionalliga Südwest last season.

Incomings: Leon Jensen (FSV Zwickau), Marvin Pourie (1. FC Kaiserslautern, loan ends)

Departures: Sven Kronemayer (Astoria Walldorf, loan), David Pisot (contract end), Alexander Groiß (contract end), Babacar Gueye (contract end), Kevin Wimmer (Stoke City, loan ends), Xavier Amaechi (Hamburger SV, loan ends), Philip Heise (Norwich City, loan ends), Janis Hanek (end of contract)

SV Darmstadt 98


Markus Anfang will not be at Darmstadt next season and they've found a replacement in former Eintracht Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht. He will take over the Lillies from next season, his contract until 2023. Werder's problems aren't solved yet, though. Serdar Dursun, who scored 27 goals this season, will be leaving on a free transfer. Union Berlin are reportedly leading the race for the 29-year-old.

Incomings: Frank Ronstadt (FC Würzburger Kickers), Philipp Tietz (SV Wehen Wiesbaden), Jannik Müller (Dunajska Streda), Morten Behrens (1. FC Magdeburg), Emir Karic (SCR Altach), Braydon Manu (Hallescher FC, loan ends) , Leon Müller (RW Koblenz, loan ends)

Departures: Victor Palsson (FC Schalke 04), Serdar Dursun (end of contract), Carl Klaus (end of contract), Florian Stritzel (end of contract), Patrick Herrmann (end of contract), Felix Platte (SC Paderborn), Christian Clemens (end of contract), Alexander Vogler ( Contract end), Seung-ho Paik (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC), Immanuel Höhn (contract end), Silas Zehnder (Viktoria Aschaffenburg), Samuele Campo (FC Basel, loan ends), Lars Lukas Mai (FC Bayern Munich, loan ends), Nicolai Rapp (1. FC Union Berlin, loan ends)

1. FC Heidenheim


Frank Schmidt will continue as Heidenheim coach for the 14th consecutive season. FCH will "go to the limits" for attacker Tim Kleindienst, they want to bring him back to the Voith-Arena for the fourth time in five years. Negotiations with KAA Gent are underway. On the other hand, Heidenheim legend Marc Schnatterer moves to SV Waldhof Mannheim. Schnatterer completed 457 games in the 2. Liga, 3. Liga and regional leagues for FCH, scoring 122 goals, the offensive player ran Heidenheim's attack for the past 13 years.

Mannheim's sporting director Jochen Kientz commented on the transfer:

"We are very happy that we were able to win an absolute quality player in Marc. In addition to his playful skills, he brings a lot of experience and mentality to the team. Marc has been the captain in Heidenheim since 2011, which speaks for his leadership qualities on and off the pitch."

Incomings: Patrick Schmidt (SV Sandhausen, loan ends), Jonas Brändle (SG Sonnenhof-Großaspach, loan ends), Gökalp Kilic (SSV Ulm, loan ends), Tim Seifert (own youth), Paul Tschernuth (own youth)

Departures: Diant Ramaj (Eintracht Frankfurt), Marc Schnatterer (end of contract), Tim Kleindienst (KAA Gent, loan ends), Maximilian Thiel (end of contract), Oliver Steurer (end of contract), Kevin Ibrahim (end of contract)

SC Paderborn 07


Lukas Kwasniok takes over from Steffen Baumgart, who will succeed Friedhelm Funkel as FC Köln coach ahead of next season. Paderborn start to strengthen with the young signings of Jannis Heuer from VfL Wolfsburg II and are close to bringing in Fabrice Hartmann on a loan from RB Leipzig.

Incomings: Jannis Heuer (VfL Wolfsburg II), Jonas Carls (FC Schalke 04), Chris Führich (Borussia Dortmund, was previously on loan), Felix Platte (Darmstadt 98), Marco Schuster (Waldhof Mannheim), Luca Marseiler (SpVgg Unterhaching) , John Iredale (VfL Wolfsburg, II), Rifet Kapic (FC Sheriff, loan ends), Pascal Steinwender (VfB Lübeck, loan ends), Adrian Oeynhausen (RW Ahlen, loan ends), Antony Evans (Crewe Alexandra, loan ends), Jesse Edem Tugbenyo (Sportfreunde Lotte, loan ends), Pascal Steinwender (VfB Lübeck, loan ends)

Departures: Christopher Antwi-Adjei (VfL Bochum), Jayden Bennetts (contract end), Sebastian Schonlau (Hamburger SV), Chima Okoroji (SC Freiburg, loan ends), Svante Ingelsson (Udinese Calcio, loan ends), Chris Führich (Borussia Dortmund, Loan ends), Aristote Nkaka (RSC Anderlecht, loan ends), Chadrac Akolo (SC Amiens, loan ends), Nicolas Bürgy (BSC Young Boys Bern, loan ends), Sebastian Vasiliadis (contract end), Marcel Heller (contract end)

FC St. Pauli


St. Pauli's impressive second half of the season saw 'Kiezkicker' rise from relegation candidates to a comfortable mid-table team. The skill of Rodrigo Zalazar will be no more as the Uruguayan moves back to Eintracht Frankfurt, for coach Timo Schulz it will be about carrying on the late-season form and making St. Pauli a force again. Three signings have been announced and the latest has been Jakov Medic, his release clause was activated.

Incomings: Jakov Medic (SV Wehen Wiesbaden), Lars Ritzka (SC Verl), Nikola Vasilj (Zorya Lugansk), Eric Smith (KAA Gent, signed after loan), Marvin Senger (1. FC Kaiserslautern, loan ends), Kevin Lankford (SV Wehen Wiesbaden, loan ends), Yi-young Park (Türkgücü Munich, loan ends), Jakub Bednarczyk (Zaglebie Lubin, loan ends), Ersin Zehir (VfB Lübeck, loan ends), Maximilian Franzke (1.FC Magdeburg, loan ends)

Departures: Svend Brodersen (end of contract), Florian Carstens (SV Wehen Wiesbaden, permanent change after loan), Leon Flach (Philadelphia Union), Daniel Buballa (end of contract), Ryo Miyaichi (end of contract), Omar Marmoush (VfL Wolfsburg, loan ends), Dejan Stojanovic (FC Middlesbrough, loan ends), Rodrigo Zalazar (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan ends), Tore Reginiussen (end of career)



1. FC Nürnberg


An average season for the Bavarian's saw the 36-year-old coach Robert Klauß take charge, the former striker led Nürnberg to 11th in the table with help from top-scorer Manuel Schäffler and central-midfielder Johannes Geis who ended up with seven assists. The signature of Christopher Schindler from Huddersfield Town is a big boost for Klauß' side as he gives much-needed promotion experience. Nürnberg haven't made many acquisitions, and on Tuesday it was announced that midfielder Hanno Behrens was moving to Rostock on a free-transfer.

Incomings: Kilian Fischer (Türkgücü Munich), Lino Tempelmann (SC Freiburg, loan), Florian Hübner (1. FC Union Berlin), Mats Möller Daehli (KRC Genk, firmly signed after loan), Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town), Taylan Duman (Borussia Dortmund II), Lukas Schleimer (1. FC Saarbrücken, loan ends)

Departures: Hanno Behrens (end of contract), Lukas Mühl (end of contract), Georg Margreitter (end of contract), Andreas Lukse (end of contract), Iuri Medeiros (SC Braga, firmly signed after loan), Dominik Steczyk (Piast Gliwice, firmly signed after loan), Christian Früchtl (FC Bayern Munich, loan ends), Sarpreet Sing (FC Bayern Munich, loan ends)

FC Erzgebirge Aue


Aue found their new coach on Monday. Aliaksei Shpilevski, who's had German football experience coaching in Stuttgart and Leipzig, goes to Aue as a head-coach with a contract until 2024. He becomes the second-youngest coach in the 2. Bundesliga, Kiel coach Ole Werner is just two months younger than the new Aue boss.

FCE president Helge Leonhardt was quoted on the new appointment:

"Despite his young age, Aliaksei is already very experienced and has worked in various positions in various youth training centers as a responsible coach in the Bundesliga. After several intensive discussions, we were able to determine that he fully identified with the values ​​of our association. We also reached agreement on the approach to the strategic development of our professional team."

Incomings: Soufiane Messeguem (VfL Wolfsburg II), Ramzi Ferjani (FC Nitra) and Anthony Barylla (1. FC Saabrücken)

Departures: Calogero Rizzuto (end of contract), Louis Samson (end of contract), Kevin Harr (end of contract)



Hannover 96


Hannover have a new coach and also now a man next to Jan Zimmermann. Jens Jansen is an old friend of Zimmermann and was his assistant at 1. FC Germania Egestorf / Langreder before his time in Havelse. It is his first full-time job in football, though. Jansen has been employed full-time at the Lower Saxony Basketball Association since 2014.

"It is something special for me in future to do what I have passionately practiced as a part-time job in future - in the city where I was born and grew up." Jens Jansen cannot wait for his new challenge.

Incomings: Sebastian Stolze (Jahn Regensburg), Sebastian Ernst (SpVgg Greuther Fürth), Ron-Robert Zieler (1. FC Köln, loan ends), Leo Weinkauf (MSV Duisburg, loan ends), Tim Walbrecht (SV Wehen Wiesbaden, loan ends )

Departures: Genki Haraguchi (1. FC Union Berlin), Josip Elez (end of contract), Niklas Tarnat (end of contract), Marlon Sündermann (end of contract), Michael Ratajczak (end of career), Kingsley Schindler (1. FC Cologne, loan ends), Jaka Bijol (CSKA Moscow, loan ends)

SSV Jahn Regensburg


Mersad Selimbegovic and Jahn Regensburg were arguably very lucky to survive a possible relegation-playoff last season and improvement to the squad is duly needed. Most importantly defensively, and they have found a new keeper. Thorsten Kirschbaum, a 34-year-old Swiss, joins Regensburg on a two-year-contract. Kirschbaum has a lot of experience: he's played for SV Sandhausen, Energie Cottbus, VfB Stuttgart, FC Nürnberg, Bayer Leverkusen and most recently in the Netherlands at VVV-Venlo.

"You take something with you from every station in the course of your career and you never stop learning." Kirschabum on Regensburg's website.

Incomings: Konrad Faber (SC Freiburg II), Thorsten Kirschbaum (VVV Venlo), Aygün Yilderim (SC Verl), Federico Palacios (MSV Duisburg, loan ends)

Departures: Tom Baack (SC Verl, loan), Albion Vrenezi (end of contract), Jan-Marc Schneider (end of contract), Sebastian Stolze (Hannover 96), Oliver Hein (end of career), Aaron Opoku (Hamburger SV, loan ends)

SV Sandhausen


Sandhausen stayed above the water and out of the relegation-playoffs by a single point last season and the pivotal 2-0 win at home to Regensburg kept them afloat. They are trying to get back onto land with the signings of Carlo Sickinger and Cebio Soukou from 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Arminia Bielefeld respectively.

Incomings: Carlo Sickinger (1. FC Kaiserslautern), Cebio Soukou (Arminia Bielefeld), Patrick Drewes (VfL Bochum), Christian Kinsombi (KFC Uerdingen), Anas Ouahim (1. FC Kaiserslautern, loan ends)

Departures: Stefanos Kapino (SV Werder Bremen, loan ends), Patrick Schmidt (1. FC Heidenheim, loan ends), Nikolas Nartey (VfB Stuttgart, loan ends), Diego Contento, Sören Dieckmann, Besar Halimi, Philipp Heerwagen, Philipp Klingmann, Gerrit Nauber, Ivan Paurevic, Alexander Rossipal, Robin Scheu, Emanuel Taffertshofer, Nikos Zografakis (all contracts end)

SG Dynamo Dresden


Dresden are back! The Saxony club won the 3. Liga by four points and return back to the 2. Bundesliga after a season away. The last time that Dresden were promoted back from the 3. Liga was in 2016/17 and they finished 5th.

Incomings: Vasil Kusej (Usti nad Labem, loan ended), Simon Gollnack (Usti nad Labem, loan ended), Phil Harres, Jonas Kühn (own U19)

Departures: Julius Kade (1. FC Union Berlin), Jonathan Meier (1. FSV Mainz 05, loan ended), Marvin Stefaniak (VfL Wolfsburg, loan ended), Leroy Kwadwo, Niklas Kreuzer, Justin Löwe, Marco Hartmann, Stefan Kiefer, Maximilian Großer (all contracts end)



FC Hansa Rostock


Hansa are back in Germany's second division for the first time since 2011/12 as a barren run in the 3. Liga finally comes to an end for the Eastern Germany team. Their first newcomer is one with 2. Bundesliga experience. Hanno Behrens moves from Nürnberg to Rostock with 183 games of experience, scoring 31 goals as a midfielder.

Hansa's sports director Martin Pieckenhagen talked about the new signing:

"Hanno has already proven his qualities in the two top divisions in Germany and has always carried a lot of responsibility both on and off the field. He knows the 2nd Bundesliga very well and with his enormous experience fits perfectly into our requirement profile."

Incomings: Michel Ulrich (Berliner AK, loan ended), Theo Martens (own U19)

Departures: Paul Wiese (Virginia Cavs, previously loaned to Bonner SC), Lion Lauterbach (Holstein Kiel, loan ended), Max Reinthaler, Nils Butzen, Korbinian Vollmann, Erik Engelhardt, Philip Türpitz (all contracts end)

FC Ingolstadt 04


Ingolstadt did it the hard way in the relegation-playoffs for the third consecutive season, but this time they were successful with a 4-3 aggregate win over VfL Osnabrück. They return back to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time since 2018/19.

Incomings: Maximilian Wolfram (FSV Zwickau, loan ended)

Departures: -



As for the relegated sides, 3 are out as Würzburger Kickers and Eintracht Braunschweig are down in their first season back and VfL Osnabrück make way for Ingolstadt.

The 2. Bundesliga is set for possibly the best season the league has ever witnessed. Big names Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen join Hamburger SV to try get themselves back to the big-time again. Reminder: only two clubs are promoted automatically and there is absolutely no guarantee that the big clubs will dominate. You can follow the 2. Bundesliga on Bulinews as there will be weekly columns on the site. Bulinews is the perfect place to keep up-to-date with Germany's second division.

All transfer data found from the Official 2. Bundesliga website.


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