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Will Nico Schlotterbeck stay or not? It is clear that the chief of defense will hardly be replaceable. Regardless of the whereabouts of the 22-year-old central defender, the question arises as to which positions the Breisgauer still have to upgrade for the European business. A mind game.
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The Bundesliga is entering the home straight. SC Freiburg is in fifth place and will probably qualify for international business. Whether it will even be the Champions League for coach Christian Streich’s team remains to be seen. It is clear that SC Freiburg is having an outstanding season – not least because they reached the DFB Cup final in Berlin on May 21st.
A look at the squad
SC Freiburg has always had its own philosophy when it comes to developing players. In addition to the regular players, talented youngsters or the second team also get a chance to prove themselves at the highest level in the Bundesliga. This includes central defender Kiliann Sildillia. The 19-year-old French U20 international has already made five Bundesliga appearances.
Right-back Hugo Siquet made his debut in Germany’s top division against FC Bayern. The 19-year-old is a Belgium Under-21 international and is a promise for the future.
Left winger Noah Weißhaupt was also able to recommend himself through the second team and has already played ten Bundesliga games. The 21-year-old midfielder Yannik Keitel has already established himself in the Bundesliga. He was on the pitch in twelve Bundesliga games. It’s similar with lightning fast Kevin Schade. The German U21 international has already played 21 Bundesliga games and scored four goals.
Also in the coming season, one or the other unknown face will certainly get a chance from the sponsor Streich in the first team. The second team of the SC is playing a solid season in the third division – with 43 points, the team is in the middle of the field.
Fresh blood for the SC
The size of the squad will certainly be decisive for the coming season. In the current season, SC invested 9.5 million euros in new players – 5 million in midfielder Maximilan Eggestein and 4.5 million in right-back Hugo Siquet. On the revenue side, this stood at 14.55 million euros. Record acquisition Baptiste Santamaria (€10m) went to Stade Rennes for €14m.
The rumor mill is churning
Defensively and offensively, new staff would look good on the SCF. The possible sale of Schlotterbeck will probably flush around 20 million euros into the coffers of the Breisgauer. The 23-year-old Greek central defender Dimitrios Nikolaou is traded as his successor. The Spezia Calcio left-footed player is said to be available for an amount of between two and three million. However, Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart should also be interested. However, it is also conceivable that the replacement in the form of brother Keven Schlotterbeck will come from within the family.
Defensive midfielder Eric Martel is also interesting. The 19-year-old is very popular with several Bundesliga clubs. The youngster is currently on loan from RB Leipzig to Austria Wien. After three and a half years in the RBL youth team, Martel was loaned to Vienna in winter 2021 to take his first steps in the professional business with Austria. His plan worked out perfectly, because the 19-year-old has matured into a regular player at the traditional club.
In midfield, the name most often mentioned is that of Amadou Diawara. The highly talented defensive midfielder switched from SSC Napoli to AS Roma two years ago for 21 million euros within the Italian league, but was not able to convince there. Now a loan with a purchase option for Freiburg would be conceivable. However, whether the Romans play along is another matter.
Offensive in focus
However, the offensive in particular should be the focus of the summer. SC is good defensively – with just 37 goals against, Freiburg has the third-best defense in the league. Offensively, however, they are lagging behind the top four – the top scorer for Freiburg is Vincenzo Grifo with nine goals at the moment.
The 21-year-old American Brenden Aaronson is probably priceless. According to Transfermarkt.de, his market value is 20 million euros. However, the flexible attacking midfielder would suit the Breisgauers well. However, if the jewel of FC Salzburg changes, then it will probably go to a bigger club.
An alternative for the offensive would certainly be Gabriel Vidovic. FC Bayern Munich’s homegrown player should probably be a candidate for a loan. In the Bavarian state capital, they think big of the dangerous talent. In 28 games in the Regionalliga Bayern, Vidovic has already scored 18 goals.
Another alternative is Jamie Leweling from Greuther Fürth, who has already been relegated. The Germany Under-21 international may only have 5 league goals this season, but Fürth have also only scored 25 goals in total. With his speed and his strong physique, the attacker brings an element with him that the Freiburg team is currently lacking. Leweling could act around Lukas Höfler as a hanging tip and, above all, pose problems for high-quality international defenses with his speed. The market value of the 21-year-old is around 4.5 million euros. Due to the relegation, however, Leweling could also become cheaper.
A possible departure
Another candidate for a change in the summer is Schlotterbeck and the South Korean Woo-yeong Jeong. The 22-year-old moved from FC Bayern’s second team to Freiburg in 2019 and has developed brilliantly since then. Jeong only extended his contract with the Breisgauers long-term just before Christmas, but according to consistent media reports, the Bavarian club has a buyback clause of almost ten million euros in the summer.
Adventure Europe
The European adventure will be a great challenge for the SC. A look back: In the 1994/95 season, successful coach Volker Finke took SC to Europe for the first time. 3rd place in the Bundesliga – outstanding. But in the following season, the club couldn’t cope with the double burden, and the Breisgau-Brazilians 1.0 lost their heart with Rodolfo Cardoso. The Breisgauer wobbled more badly to eleventh place, the following year they were 17th and relegated.
The next adventure came in 2001/2002. Freiburg ended up in 6th place and only failed in the third round of the Uefa Cup narrowly at the eventual winner Feyenoord Rotterdam. The additional European shifts caused the Bundesliga to fall, and as with Karlsruher SC in 1997/98, relegation was at the end of the Uefa Cup season.
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