Football Season Guide

An inconsistent campaign ended on a disappointing note for Augsburg last season as they fell short of expectations, finishing the campaign in 12th place after having aimed for a place in the top half. Manuel Baum was handed the brief at the start of the campaign to play attacking football, and while Augsburg did show glimpses of their potential going forward, they ended up managing just 43 goals over the course of the season. Baum and Augsburg both will need to do better this time around if they are to stand any chance of finishing in the top half, but they have had a relatively quiet transfer window so far, with the club managing to hold onto almost all of their key players from last season. Marwin Hitz was the only major departure, with the keeper not extending his contract, and instead signing on a free transfer to Borussia Dortmund. Augsburg also pruned the squad somewhat by releasing Shawn Parker, Gojko Kacar, Daniel Opare, Ioannis Gelios and Moritz Leitner while Takashi Usami and Tim Rieder were sent out on loan deals. Marcel Heller represents the only departure to have commanded a fee for Augsburg, with the winger being sold to Darmstadt, and this has hamstrung the club to a degree in the transfer market with very few arrivals who can make an impact on the first team. Andre Hahn and Julian Schieber will be arriving with Bundesliga experience but though they do represent solid acquisitions, they are unlikely to provide marked improvement to the starting lineup. Fredrik Jensen is the other new signing, and Baum will be hoping that he will be able to provide depth to an already effective supporting unit in the attack that consists of Caiuby, Michael Gregoritsch and Ja-Cheol though more signings are needed if Augsburg are to improve on a decent campaign from last season.