Football Season Guide

Hannover

In


Derrick Kohn (def) Willem II Tilburg; Louis Schaub (mid) FC Koln; Max Besuschkow (mid) Jahn Regensburg; Havard Nielsen (att) Greuther Furth; Fabian Kunze (mid) Arminia Bielefeld; Phil Neumann (def) Holstein Kiel; Enzo Leopold (mid) SC Freiburg II; Toni Stahl (gk) Energie Cottbus; Ekin Celebi (def) VFB Stuttgart II; Eric Uhlmann (mid) RB Leipzig U19’s; Antonio Foti (mid) Eintracht Frankfurt - on loan; Leo Weinkauf (gk) MSV Duisburg - end of loan; Franck Evina (mid) Viktoria Koln - end of loan;

Out


Linton Maina (r) (mid) FC Koln; Marcel Franke (r) (def) Karlsruher SC; Philipp Ochs (sp) (mid) SV Sandhausen; Mike Frantz (sp) (mid) Saarbrucken; Lawrence Ennali (mid) RW Essen; Niklas Hult (r) (def) released; Dominik Kaiser (r) (mid) released; Marc Lamti (sp) (def) released; Marlon Sundermann (sp) (gk) released; Mark Diemers (r) (mid) Feyenoord - end of loan; Simon Stehle (att) Viktoria Koln - on loan;

It was another underwhelming campaign for Hannover last time out, finishing in the bottom half of the table for the second season running. The club even flirted with relegation at times but a fairly decent end to the season saw them comfortably survive. The problem for Hannover, since they fell from the top flight, has largely come down to poor recruitment in both coaching and playing staff. This summer, however, feels different. Stefan Leitl is the new man in charge of the club and guided his former club, Greuther Furth, to promotion two years back. Hannover has also been busy bringing in new faces during the transfer window as they look to address the weaknesses of the previous season. The club was one of the lowest scorers in the division last term so goals are needed. Havard Nielsen could be the answer as he joins boss Leitl from Furth. There could be more incomings to the attack before the window shuts, but in other positions, the club looks ready to go. Phil Neumann and Derrick Kohn are good additions in defence, while Fabian Kunze, Max Besuschkow, and Louis Schaub bring strength and quality to the midfield. Coach Leitl is expected to change the style of play to a more free-flowing attacking style, so expect Hannover to be more entertaining this season. It may take a while for them to adapt to this and that could be a problem early on in the campaign.

Target


Promotion - It could be a long shot for Hannover to return to the top tier but they have a promising coach in charge and plenty of quality on the pitch, a top-six finish is more likely but anything more isn’t completely out of reach.