Football Season Guide

Bundesliga II

Germany

Bundesliga II

2023/2024

Holstein Kiel

In

Marko Ivezic (mid) FK Vozdovac; Nicolai Remberg (mid) Preußen Munster; Ba-Muaka Simakala (att) VfL Osnabruck; Lasse Rosenboom (def) Werder Bremen II; Marcel Engelhardt (gk) FSV Zwickau; Aurel Wagbe (mid) VfL Wolfsburg U19’s; Shuto Machino (att) Shonan Bellmare; Carl Johansson (def) IFK Goteborg; Tom Rothe (def) Borussia Dortmund - on loan; Joshua Mees (mid) Jahn Regensburg - end of loan; Nico Carrera (def) FSV Zwickau - end of loan;

Out

Fabian Reese (mid) (k) Hertha BSC; Hauke Wahl (def) (r) FC St.Pauli; Alexander Muhling (mid) (sp) SV Sandhausen; Fin Bartels (mid) (sp) SpVg Eidertal Molfsee II; Julian Korb (def) (sp) Borussia Monchengladbach II; Kwasi Wriedt (att) (sp) VfL Osnabruck - on loan; Ahmet Arslan (mid) FC Magdeburg; Marcel Benger (mid) SC Verl; Simon Lorenz (def) (sp) FC Ingolstadt; Mikkel Kirkeskov (def) (r) released; Aleksandar Ignjovski (mid) released; Stefan Thesker (def) (sp) SKN St.Polten; Robin Himmelmann (gk) (sp) released; Tim Schreiber (gk) (sp) RB Leipzig - end of loan; Marvin Obuz (mid) FC Koln - end of loan; Noah Awuku (att) Eintracht Norderstedt;

It was an underwhelming campaign for Kiel last time out with the club never close to mounting a promotion push but always comfortable enough to avoid any relegation anxiety. There was a feeling things had fallen stale at the club last season and this is evident with big changes in personnel during the summer. For many players, it was time to move on but the loss of captain Wahl and talented winger Reese will hurt. Coach Rapp remains at the helm but failure to start well could see the pressure build on him. Having said that, it could take a little time for the team to gel with many new faces on board. Kiel were poor defensively last season so some new recruits were needed. Young talented left-back Rothe from Dortmund is a shrewd loan signing and it will be interesting to see if he takes his chance. Former Swedish international Johansson is also a smart acquisition at centre-back. There should be more balance in the squad this coming campaign. Ivezic and Remberg will bolster the central midfield options, while there may also be more width to their play with youngster Wagbe brought in from Wolfsburg and Simakala arriving from Osnabruck. Attacker Skryzbski is still on board after an impressive showing last time out, this combined with a fit-again Pichler, Simakala, and Japanese international Machino, Kiel are not likely to be short of goals again this season.

Target

Any promotion push is likely to be a bit beyond Kiel but an improvement on last season is expected. A Top-six finish would be a more than satisfactory outcome for the team from North Germany.