Hoffenheim boss again promises to streamline 39-man-squad | OneFootball

Hoffenheim sporting director Andreas Schicker has promised immediate “streamlining” of his club’s absurdly large 39-man-roster. A squad of such size is unheard of in the Bundesliga. The Sinsheimers – who narrowly avoided relegation last season and only have the league and cup to contest this year – have desperately been trying to shed players since the end of last season.

Schicker has made this specific promise before, but hasn’t exactly executed her the course of the summer. German youth international Joshua Quarshie remains the only departure on the TSG front thus far. Meanwhile, Schicker and staff have brought in four new arrivals: striker Tim Lemperle, defensive midfielder Leon Avdullahu, and defenders Bernardo and Koki Machida.

There continue to be rumors that the Hoffenheim administrative team are targeting still more players. Schicker nevertheless emphasized to reporters at the club’s summer training camp that “one or two loan deals” would help him and the front office reduce this “very, very large squad“.

Hoffenheim’s squad features plenty of obvious deadweight that can be cut. Players such as Haris Tabakovic, Mërgim Berisha, Valetin Gendrey, Arthur Chaves, Stanley Nsoki, Florian Grillitsch, and Attila Szalai are still not likely to generate much interest.

It does appear as if the Kraichgauer can fetch decent transfer fees for talents such as Fisnik Asllani and Anton Stach.There are also a few whispers that Grillitsch and Szalai can be parked in loan locales.

Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu does report that Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa may be interested in bringing the Hungarian centre-back back to Turkey, but such rumors have proved false on multiple occasions in the past.

GGFN | Peter Weis