Football Season Guide

Borussia Monchengladbach

In


Thomas Cvancara (att) AC Sparta Prague; Franck Honorat (mid) Stade Brestois; Julian Weigl (mid) SL Benfica; Fabio Chiarodia (def) SV Werder Bremen; Robin Hack (mid) Arminia Bielefeld; Maximilian Wober (def) Leeds United - on loan; Grant-Leon Ranos (att) FC Bayern II; Lukas Ullrich (def) Hertha BSC; Rocco Reitz (mid) Sint-Truidense VV - end of loan; Moritz Nicolas (gk) Roda JC - end of loan;

Out


Jonas Hofmann (mid) (k) Bayer Leverkusen; Marcus Thuram (att) (k) Inter Milan; Ramy Bensebaini (def) (r) Borussia Dortmund; Lars Stindl (att) (r) Karlsruher SC; Jordan Beyer (def) Burnley; Conor Noß (mid) FC Blau-Weiss Linz; Jonas Kersken (gk) Arminia Bielefeld - on loan;

It was a case of a ‘same season, different manager’ for Gladbach last time out. There were flashes of brilliance under Daniel Farke, but a lot of the campaign was underwhelming. The Foals away form was the main issue and they finished just below mid-table in tenth. There has been another change in management during the close season with Farke being replaced by former Leverkusen boss Geraldo Seoane. Whether this will bring an upturn in fortunes remains to be seen, but some stability is necessary for The Foals to progress. There has also been plenty of movement on the personnel front but an overhaul of the squad was probably needed. Stindl, Hofmann, Bensebaini, and Thuram have been excellent servants to the club but it was probably time for them to move on even if it might make the team weaker overall. Gladbach needed to strengthen in attack even before the loss of Stindl and Thuram so it's no surprise that four of their recruits have come in that area. Striker Cvancara is the club's most expensive signing of the summer and has the potential to do well on the scoring front. The Czech international is a commanding figure but also has plenty of pace to get in behind defences. There has also been depth added to the flanks. The pacy Honorat can play on both sides while Robin Hack has shown glimpses of his quality at previous clubs Arminia Bielefeld and Nurnberg. The defence is still a possible weakness for Gladbach, especially with the departure of leading figure Bensebaini. Young duo Ullrich and Chiaroda are inexperienced despite their potential but Wober is a decent loan signing having played in the Premier League with Leeds United.

Target


The expectation will be for Gladbach to challenge for Europe but this will be difficult after the losses of key players. However, there is a new boss and hopefully a hungry young side, so it certainly isn't out of the question.