Football Season Guide

Hamburger SV enjoyed a comfortable campaign last season as they finished in a respectable 10th place in Bruno Labbadia's first full season in charge of the club. Unlike the previous two seasons where Hamburg flirted with relegation before securing their safety via the playoffs, they were rarely troubled last season and had all but wrapped up their safety with a couple of games to spare. Hamburg though have not wasted much time in improving their squad over the summer and have spent big in the transfer window. Filip Kostic has been their most expensive signing, with the winger coming in from relegated Stuttgart and is expected to be the first choice on the left wing, an area where Labbadia struggled last season. Alen Halilovic has also arrived from Barcelona and the midfielder represents something of a coup for Hamburg who have managed to get the highly promising midfielder on the cheap and will be providing a quality alternative to Aaron Hunt who struggled with injuries last time around. Hamburg have also improved their depth by bringing in Bobby Wood and Luca Waldschmidt while Christian Mathenia will be challenging Rene Adler in between the sticks. Hamburg have made way for the new arrivals by clearing out the deadwood with Kerem Demirbay and Zoltan Stieber being sold while Gojko Kacar, Ivica Olic, Artjoms Rudnevs, Jaroslav Drobny and Ivo Ilicevic have not had their contracts renewed. The new signings seem to be settling down quickly with Hamburg enjoying a relatively successful pre-season which saw them lose just once and notch up encouraging results over Stoke City and Cagliari. With Labbadia backed heavily in the transfer market, expectations are high at Volksparkstadion and both the fans and the board will be demanding at least a top half finish this season though they do have enough quality to even emerge as surprise challengers for a European qualification spot.