Last Season: 10th
Coach: Gerardo Seoane
Squad Valuation: €187.73m
Stadium: Borussia Park (54,042)
It really is a case of all change at Borussia Mönchengladbach ahead of the new season. Daniel Farke’s failure to advance the Foals last season during his first season in charge cost him his job with the fans increasingly disgruntled with what they were seeing from the team. Gerardo Seoane, sacked by Bayer Leverkusen last year after an abysmal start to the campaign, is the new man at the helm at the Borussia Park, and he has a real task ahead of him.
Players leaving a club is nothing new, but Gladbach have seen four absolute key members of the squad leave this summer, meaning a big rebuild is on the cards for the incoming Swiss trainer with further departures expected. Both the club’s two top scorers last season have left with Jonas Hofmann surprisingly joining Leverkusen and Marcus Thuram moving to Inter. Left back Ramy Bensebaini signed for Borussia Dortmund after not wanting to sign a new contract, while club captain Lars Stindl has returned to his first club Karlsruher SC.
Nico Elvedi has also made it clear that he wants to move on this summer and the club are anticipating offers, while (although injured) the long-term future of midfielder Manu Koné cannot be guaranteed either. Roland Virkus has been busy trying to compensate for the departures by bringing in some quality players, but time will be needed to determine just how successful he has been.
Czech striker Tomas Cvancara has been signed from Sparta Prague to hopefully replicate the goals of Hofmann/ Thuram, while French winger Franck Honorat is intended to provide the ammunition. The fact that Florian Neuhaus has signed a new deal is a big plus and he will be required to take on a leading role as he looks to return to his top form and play his way back into the German national team squad for next summer’s European Championships on home soil.
Maximilian Wöber has been signed on loan from Leeds to compensate for the expected exit of Elvedi, with Japanese start Ko Itakura taking on the job of marshalling the back four. Jonas Omlin settled in well last season when replacing Yann Sommer and the young Swiss keeper has even been made the new captain.
Seoane will be expected to bring through young players from the club’s ranks, but will have the fine balancing act of having to secure the Bundesliga points needed at the same time. The club have finished 10th for two successive seasons and it remains to be seen whether the new coach with a new squad can improve on that this season. The last time the Foals qualified for Europe was back in the 2019-20 season when they finished fourth and a club of this magnitude should have that as their target.
Major signings: Tomas Cvancara (Sparta Prague), Franck Honorat (Brest), Fabio Chiarodia (Werder Bremen), Robin Hack (Arminia Bielefeld), Maximilian Wöber (Leeds loan)
Major departures: Jonas Hofmann (Bayer Leverkusen), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan), Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Dortmund), Lars Stindl (Karlsruhe)
Possible line-up:
Youngster to watch: Yvandro Borges Sanches
The 19-year-old Luxembourg attacker made three brief substitute appearances in last season’s Hinrunde. With 21 caps, he has already played more for his national team than his club side, but hopefully that will change this season with a few more opportunities to impress on the left-hand side of Mönchengladbach’s attacking line.
