January 2025 Transfer Primer: Union Berlin | OneFootball

1. FC Union Berlin

Estimated Autumn Transfer Balance = +€2.7 million

What can easily be construed as a premature press of the panic button at Union leaves German football watchers discussing yet another "reset" in Berlin's Köpenick quarter. New FCU managing director Horst Heldt hasn't exactly made life easy for himself this January by adding a pressure-filled search for head-coach to his already long "to-do-list". Even if Bo Svensson's performance record at the end of the calendar year left much to be desired, few will have predicted that such a respected coaching appointment would only end up lasting six months.

Before the current poor-run-of-form commenced, Svensson's Eisernen were as high up as fourth in the Bundesliga table through four match-days. In the final two rounds before the current Bundesliga season officially reaches its halfway point, Union faced entirely beatable opponents in the form of Augsburg and Heidenheim. If Heldt and the FCU front office wished to pull the plug on their Danish gaffer, buying themselves some much-needed time to procure a replacement would have made much more sense.

Some logic buttresses the decision from Heldt and the higher-ups. Oftentimes, one sensed that Svensson brought too many of his old Mainz mindset with him. Union often performed as constrained in some sort of uncomfortable straight jacket that emphasized pacy pressing over organized and compact play aimed at absorbing and countering. Incredibly enough Urs Fischer's imprint still remains with this team well over a year after the Swiss trainer's departure. Irrespective of who has been coaching Union since Fischer left, those us watching them play still observe the same muscle memory.

Switching over to the topic of what can be done about it, pretty much all of the mistakes of the Summer transfer window must be rectified immediately. The three voices in the room this offseason produced an absolute dud. The highly respected Oliver Ruhnert - demoralized by the failure of his respectable "Champions' Lease" strategy last year and likely looking forward to the entirely different next phase of his life - probably didn't speak up much at all. That left a rusty Heldt and ever vocal President Dirk Zingler opting for cautious and surgical moves.

Dead-Weight Ledger = Jerome Roussillon (LB), David Preu (LW), Lucas Tousart (CM), Jordan (LS), Kevin Volland (LS), Ivan Prtajin (CF)

The mere concept of there being three ineffective natural strikers on a Dead-Weight Ledger boggles the mind. Kevin Volland and certified Summer flop Ivan Prtajin have barely featured at all. The downfall of former USMNT international Jordan continues. Somehow, this tall talent possessing all the natural tools simply cannot score goals. We've seen zilch from the Cameroonian American in 13 appearances. Another actor with a classic nine build, Yorbe Vertessen, has scored just once in 15 deployments this year.

One gives Svensson the benefit of the doubt with respect to his decision to try the likes of Benedict Hollerbach and Tim Skarke a go up top in lieu of this quartet. Surely, the experienced trainer could assess on the training pitch that Jordan, Vertessen, Volland, and Prtajin weren't hacking it. Betting that a new coach can suddenly breathe new life into them perhaps isn't the worst wager, but league watchers have every reason to be skeptical. In any event, we shall find out soon enough.

Tom Rothe's emergence - one of the few positives to report as pertains to Union - regrettably leaves the highly popular Jerome Roussillon out of the mix. Mercifully, it appears as if Frenchman Lucas Tousart finally earns a ticket back to his home country. Curses on Jürgen Klinsmann for ever bringing the poor kid to the German capital in the first place! Heldt can score major points with more emphatically-inclined German football fans by helping Tousart end this miserable chapter.

Expiring contracts =  Rani Khedira (DM), Christopher Trimmel (RB)

As if Heldt and Zingler don't have enough to deal with, the leadership corps of this team sit on expiring contracts. The lone remaining player from the 2. Bundesliga days (Trimmel, 37) along with the team's beating heart in the top division(Khedira, 30) probably deserve new deals if for no other reason than the locker room requires some sort of morale boost. A serious problem plaguing the club in both the matter of extensions and signings relates to the fact that planned stadium renovations - not unlike the case with Kiel - leave Union over-leveraged.

Further Needs =  DM, RM, RW, ATTM, SS, LS

Union's financial situation nevertheless remains far less dire than that of their northern neighbors for several reasons. First, Union own their stadium in full. The club still maintains some cash reserves from its participation in the Champions' League and the gate receipts that came with playing in Hertha's Olympia Stadion. Die Eisernen have cleverly structured the expansion of the Stadion An der Alten Försterei around the construction of more standing bleachers. Meanwhile, they can expect more revenue from a forthcoming season spent playing at the Olympia Stadion while renovations are completed.

All of this translates to plenty of financial liquidity to invest in the future of the team. Union supporters (the writer kindly asks readers to disregard the sad recent incident with the flare) always remain loyal and true to their club. Perhaps more so than any other club in German football, the FCU members stand at the ready to volunteer on behalf of their local organization should they be needed. Much of the stadium renovations that brought the venue up to its current standard were completed by uncompensated fans.

While no mega stars are being linked with the club, one expects an active window in which several promising players in the €3-5 million range ink deals. There seems to be a lot behind the Jens Castrop, Dejan Ljubicic, and Reiss Nelson links. Some more quality central defenders should be on the way as well. At least one new striker counts as a must. One already misses Ruhnert and the clever way in which he recruited talent in previous windows. Heldt has some seriously big shoes to fill.

..and he's not off to a great start.

Rumored Links = Taha Altikardes (CB), Santiago Castaneda (DM), Danil Elfadli (DM), Jens Castrop (CM), Dejan Ljubicic (ATTM), Reiss Nelson (RW)