Football Season Guide

Bundesliga

Germany

Bundesliga

2025/2026

Union Berlin

In

Andrej Ilic(att) (Lille); Woo-yeong Jeong(mid) (Stuttgart); Ilyas Ansah(att) (Paderborn); Matheo Raab(gk) (Hamburger SV); Stanley Nsoki(def) (Hoffenheim - Loan); Oliver Burke(att) (Free); Dmytro Bogdanov(att) (Dynamo Dresden); Robin Gosens(def) (Fiorentina - End of Loan); Alex Kral(mid) (Espanyol - End of Loan); Livan Burcu(mid) (Magdeburg - End of Loan); Paul Jaeckel(def) (Eintracht Braunschweig - End of Loan); Lennart Grill(gk) (Greuther Furth - End of Loan); Yannic Stein(gk) (Babelsberg 03 - End of Loan)

Out

Benedict Hollerbach9r)(att) (Mainz); Robin Gosens(def) (Fiorentina); Ivan Prtajin(sp)(att) (Kaiserslautern); Paul Jaeckel(def) (Preussen Munster); Kevin Vogt(sp)(def) (Released); Kevin Volland(sp)(att) (Released); Lennart Grill(gk) (Released); Laszlo Benes(sp)(mid) (Kayserispor - Loan); Jerome Roussillon(def) (Released); Alexander Schwolow(gk) (Released); Andrej Ilic(sp)(att) (Lille - End of Loan); Woo-yeong Jeong(sp)(mid) (Stuttgart - End of Loan)

Union Berlin threw away a good start and flirted with relegation for a second season running but a timely change on the sidelines and a fairly strong end to the season ensured they would be finishing just clear of the bottom three. Steffen Baumgart took over from Bo Svensson during the winter break and while Berlin continued to struggle after the league resumed, he did manage to fix the leaky defense as they ended the campaign on a strong note. Baumgart will be hoping for a far more comfortable finish this time around but Berlin head into the season a bit light in the attack following departures of Benedict Hollerbach, Ivan Prtajin and Kevin Volland during the summer. Kevin Vogt and Paul Jaeckel have also left the club though the duo did struggle for minutes under Baumgart so will not be as big as miss as Hollerbach. Berlin have converted the loans of Andrej Ilic and Woo-yeong Jeong into permanent moves while also signing Paderborn attacker Ilyas Ansah, though he is seen more as a project for the future. Oliver Burke also arrives on a free transfer while Stanley Nsoki has been signed on loan from Hoffenheim to improve their options in the defense. Lack of investment during the transfer window could prove to be problematic for Berlin who are once again expected to struggle in the lower end of the league table this season.

Target

Staying well clear of the relegation zone will be the minimum expected out of Baumgart though squad lacks the quality enough to come any close to the top half.