Urs Fischer would certainly prefer to do everything as always. According to appearances, the coach of 1. FC Union Berlin also begins the pre-season preparation according to the familiar pattern. On Monday and Tuesday, the professionals of the Bundesliga soccer team will undergo the usual performance tests and medical examinations, and after a first unit on the pitch on Wednesday, they will go to the short training camp in Bad Saarow one day later. So it was also in the past years.
But the extraordinary success also brings changes. The perhaps decisive: Union Berlin is a Champions League contender and is also perceived as such in the industry. "We will have, I think, a slightly different situation than in previous years. I don't know if our squad will be as complete at the start of training as we would like," manager Oliver Ruhnert had predicted weeks ago. And in such a way it came also.
When Fischer to the first units asks, are in Mikkel Kaufmann (FC Copenhagen) and Alex Král (Spartak Moscow) only two new ones there, besides loan player Diogo Leite was firmly engaged - one for Ruhnerts conditions small purchase ratio for at the beginning of July. On the other hand, there is a lot of speculation. National player Robin Gosens is the hottest rumor in Köpenick. Chelsea attacker David Datro Fofana another name that has been traded. They now have to live with these speculations at Union. "We have a very elaborate transfer summer ahead of us. We have many things to decide," said Ruhnert.
Fischer will nevertheless pull through his program undeterred. As absurd as it sounds, despite finishing fourth and storming into the top flight, the first goal of the season in the fifth year of the Bundesliga will again be to stay in the league.
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