Football Season Guide

Stuttgart were able to secure an immediate return to the top flight of German football as they put behind their relegation from the Bundesliga by ending last season as champions in 2.Bundesliga. Having been forced to rebuild their side due to mass departures following their relegation, Suttgart were able to end the season top of the pile in the second division under Hannes Wolf and will be looking forward to another successful campaign this time around. The turnover in players has been limited so far as Wolf has managed to hold on to all of the players who had a big hand in their instant promotion with Alexandru Maxim their biggest loss after he was sold to Mainz. Toni Sunjic has been sold to Dinamo Moscow while Suttgart decided not to renew the contracts of Benjamin Uphoff, Borys Tashchy and Florian Klein. Jean Zimmer has been loaned out to Fortuna Dusseldorf. Wolf has added to an already solid base with Holger Badstuber and Dennis Aogo arriving on free transfers to boost the options in the defense while Ron-Robert Zieler will challenge Mitch Langerak for a place in between the sticks. Chadrac Akolo has been their most expensive purchase so far and is expected to start as the first choice on the flanks while Dzenis Burnic, Anastasios Donis, Orel Mangala and Ailton will improve the depth of the squad. Stuttgart did well to bounce back quickly last season and, while avoiding relegation will be Wolf's minimum aim this term, the fact that they were able to retain the core from the last campaign and the new arrivals further boosting the squad, they should be able to challenge for a place in the top half.