2. Bundesliga 23/24: Early transfers you may have missed
The 2022/23 2. Bundesliga was one of the tightest, and most engrossing seasons ever which saw Heidenheim and Darmstadt gain promotion to the first division. Hamburger SV, once again, fell to the dreaded relegation playoffs where they were beaten 1:6 on aggregate.
Schalke returns to the 2. Bundesliga after winning the league two seasons ago whilst Hertha BSC finished rock bottom.
The 2. Bundesliga farewells Sandhausen and Jahn Regensburg, as well as Arminia Bielefeld whose historic collapse ensures they are only the second team in the last 10 years to succumb to a double relegation.
SV Elversberg makes their first appearances in the 2. Bundesliga along with the returning VfL Osnabrück and relegation playoff winners Wehen Wiesbaden.
With teams preparing to build their squads for next season, some squads have already announced some free transfers. Here are five early transfers you may have missed.
Dennis Srbeny to Greuther Fürth
Greuther Fürth had a less than satisfactory season last time out. After the slow start under Marc Schneider, Die Kleeblatt managed to salvage their season under Alexander Zorniger. The early impression post the final matchday of the season was one of rebuilding. The squad had some good pieces such as Branimir Hrgota and Andreas Linde, but the squad had plenty of deficiencies that needed to be addressed.
One area being looked into was Fürth’s production in the final third, and, having made an early inroad into finding a solution through Paderborn’s Dennis Srbeny. Srbeny has dealt with injury, form dips and the inability to score first team minutes at Paderborn. His one and only good season in Paderborn came in the 20/21 season, where Srbeny scored 16 times following Paderborn’s relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.
Last season was a struggle for Srbeny, he only managed four goals from 33 appearances and failed to make a meaningful impression on coach Lukas Kwasniok. Srbeny is trying to reclaim the magic, whilst Fürth are in need of a consistent goal scoring threat.
Charalampos Makridis to VfL Osnabrück
Osnabrück promotion to the 2. Bundesliga was one of inspiration and the never giving up attitude. When they were on the canvas, Tobias Schweinsteiger’s side picked themselves up and found a way to score twice in stoppage time to secure promotion. Die Lila-Weißen have done many good things over the past year, conning Arminia Bielefeld into thinking Daniel Scherning was the answer to their poor start to the season, and replacing him with someone that possessed far more tactical acumen was a stroke of genius.
But, with all that being well and good, Osnabrück must structure a squad that is capable of following the path laid before them by the three sides that gained promotion last season and survived. One player they will hope can bring additional strength in the attacking third is Jahn Regensburg’s Charalampos Makridis. Makridis comes on a free after Jahn’s relegation to the 3. Liga.
Makridis possesses good individual quality on the ball, high work rate and has proven to be another offensive threat through creative passes into the box or as a goal-scoring threat.
Janik Bachmann to Hansa Rostock
Hansa Rostock’s long road to survival started just nine games out from the end of the season. Alois Schwartz had done it before with Sandhausen just the year prior, and after losing their first three games, Hansa turned it around winning five of their last six and securing survival on the penultimate matchday of the season. With Schwartz given the keys to the ship for another two years, he has a real opportunity to build a squad the “Hansa way”.
One of his first signings is to bring someone quite familiar to the Schwartz style of football, and that’s former Sandhausen midfielder Janik Bachmann. Bachmann is a Swiss army knife type player, he can play in a variety of different positions in midfield, offering strong offensive skills whilst never neglecting the importance of his defensive responsibilities.
This could be shrewd business from Hansa Rostock, improving the supply chain in midfield might help one of the weakest attacks in the league. Expect more business from Hansa, especially in attack.
Xavier Amaechi to Magdeburg
Xavier Amaechi is someone with immense talent, but one way or the other, he hasn’t been able to make an impression in Hamburg. Thus, he moves to Magdeburg, a club that can certainly take advantage of Amaechi’s skillset. Magdeburg had an impressive return season to the 2. Bundesliga finishing 11th.
In large part, Magdeburg’s success can down to the tactical brilliance of Christian Titz and his ability to bring out the best in players like Jason Ceka, Tatsuya Ito and Baris Atik, ensured an exciting and identifiable footballing brand.
Amaechi does face a lot of competition by joining Magdeburg, with the aforementioned trio of attacking players. But, one thing to get excited about is how Titz will find Amaechi’s strengths and use those to the advantage of his team. Something Tim Walter was unable to do.
Magdeburg do need to address the gremlins in defence, they were one of the worst defensive units in the leagues. But, in many ways Titz’s best form of defence is attack and the Amaechi signing does suggest this thought.
Ba-Muaka Simakala to Holstein Kiel
Turbulent, this might be the only way to describe last season for Holstein Kiel. This isn’t something you’d say about a team finishing in mid-table, however, the peaks and troughs of the 22/23 season were vast. A big issue heading into the new season is finding replacements for Fabian Reese (Hertha BSC) and Fin Bartels (retirement). But they may have found a hidden gem in Ba-Muaka Simakala.
Simakala joins from promoted Osnabrück where he had a lightning second season in the 3. Liga. In 37 league appearances, Simakala scored 19 goals, second most behind ironically on loan Holstein Kiel midfielder Ahmet Arslan who scored 25 times for Dynamo Dresden.
To many, this seems like a typical Kiel signing. A diamond in the rough who has had to earn their place within football, toiling away in the lower divisions before getting their opportunity to shine. Simakala is a dynamic attacking option, and if he can gel with last season's top scorer Steven Skrzybski and a healthy Benedikt Pichler. Kiel might have an extremely dangerous, and versatile attacking force.