That was sovereign: As a climber in the Bundesliga stopped the VfB Stuttgart The class easily came in ninth. The second year is known to be the harder one – especially since VfB has lost some of its quality. Regular goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was for 15 million euros sold to Borussia Dortmund, Nicolas Gonzalez placeholder image switched for 23 million in Serie A at Fiorentina. The winger only made 15 appearances due to various injuries, but scored six goals and provided two assists.
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After many years with very expensive player contracts, the people of Stuttgart are dependent on the money. The outsourced football department made a whopping 56 million euros in loss between March 2020 and June 2021. “That was the most important thing in order to make the club economically healthy, and it means: protecting our employees, protecting salaries, maintaining the ability to act economically,” said sports director Sven Mislintat regarding transfers. With the coal in the cash register, VfB no longer has any pressure to hand over Sasa Kalajdzic. The striker scored 16 goals last season, putting himself on the shopping list of Liverpool FC and AC Milan. According to Mislintat, even an offer of 30 million would “not be enough.”
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Only a fraction of the income was invested in new players. goalkeeper Florian Müller came for five million euros from Mainz, Christian Führich for three million from Paderborn. The winger broke his collarbone in preparation and will miss the start of the season.
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VfB relies on talent and signed the 19-year-old Naouirou Ahamada after his loan from Juventus Turin, with Omer White from Fenerbahce Istanbul a 17 year old gem. The transfer of the 18-year-old also took place on Tuesday Moussa Cisse known from Paris Saint-Germain. The most experienced player in the squad is Daniel Didavi at 31.
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The preparation of the young VfB squad was extremely bumpy: Kalajdzic and two other professionals became professionals at the end of July tested positive for Corona. There are also major injuries. In addition to Führich, coach Pellegrino Materazzo will have to do without Oral Mangala (muscle injury), Momo Cissé (foot injury) and Silas Katompa Mvumpa (cruciate ligament tear) for a longer period of time. There was great fuss about the latter. In both previous seasons, the striker had gone under the name Silas Wamangituka – and with it under false identity – played. The reason should be dubious machinations of his former player agent. The German Football Association (DFB) suspended the attacker for three months and fined him 30,000 euros.
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Sports director Mislintat coach and Materazzo have done a great job so far. Both will now be extremely challenged to master the difficult second season.
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SPORTBUZZER-Columnist Michael Rummenigge has a lot of confidence in the Swabians and particularly praises the athletic leadership around Mislintat and Matarazzo: “VfB can be one of the big surprises. I already liked them last season and now have to confirm their performance in the second Bundesliga year. With manager Sven Mislintat and coach Pellegrino Matarazzo they have two top people who can even make it to get even more out of it. Maybe VfB will have a season like last Union Berlin.
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