Hamburger SV 2025/26 season preview: Transfers, pre-season, predicted lineup & predictions | OneFootball

It finally happened. For a while, it looked like HSV are never going back to Bundesliga, a league they have played in every season until their relegation in 2018. Back among the big boys, the first objective should target avoiding an immediate return to 2. Bundesliga.

Including two defensive reinforcements on the same day, Hamburg are doing their bit on the transfer market to be in a position where they achieve survival. The responsibility now falls on Merlin Polzin to provide a memorable Bundesliga experience for the club’s new generation of fans.

How was their 2024/25?

Even the campaign that ended HSV’s Bundesliga hiatus was far from perfect. They couldn’t even win half of their games, and there was managerial sacking in the middle of the season as usual. A week before the final Hinrunde game, where they beat Greuther Fürth 5-0, Polzin’s Hamburg were in eighth place.

The young coach was initially hired on an interim basis after Steffen Baumgart went four games without a win, in a run that included defeats in Elversberg and Braunschweig. With the highly competitive nature of the league, Hamburg climbed to the top spot after the narrow win over Köln in their first game of 2025.

There were scary moments here and there, as usual, but HSV never dropped outside the top two since that victory. Promotion confirmed with a 6-1 win over Ulm, but, in a Hamburg’s true sense, that wasn’t even straightforward. Ulm, who were fighting relegation, scored the opener and they missed a penalty to retake the lead before their eventual blowout.

The Coach

In theory, Polzin is not on par with some of the coaches who tried their best to win promotion with HSV. Dieter Hecking and Horst Hrubesch (interim) are huge figures in German football. Hannes Wolf is currently working with Germany’s youth team. Daniel Thioune and Tim Walter also arrived at Volksparkstadion with big expectations.

But, all of them failed at the last hurdle. Baumgart’s energetic approach couldn’t provide the solution as well. In the end, Polzin convinced the bosses during his second stint as an interim coach.

Polzin only played for his local team before entering the coaching world at the age of 21. Fittingly, it was Hamburg that first believed in him with a role in their academy. He would then work his way into HSV’s first team alongside Thioune, a relationship that started with Osnabrück’s U17 team.

When Thioune was fired with only three games left in the 2020-21 season, Polzin stayed at the club. He continued with the role of assistant coach under Walter and Baumgart before his big break. The 34-year-old is the youngest coach in the Bundesliga this season.

Transfers

The big concern was replacing 2. Bundesliga top goal-getter Davie Selke. The once highly-rated striker only spent a season at Volksparkstadion, but he leaves as a Hamburg legend who played the lion’s share in their return to the promised land.

Rayan Philippe and Yussuf Poulsen joined the club to replace the 30-year-old who heads to Turkish Süper Lig’s Başakşehir. Poulsen is a Bundesliga veteran thanks to his time in Leipzig, while Philippe had a breakthrough season in Braunschweig last term.

As Ransford Königsdörffer’s proposed move to Nice failed to materialize, as things stand, Ludovit Reis is the only other key member of the squad who will not be with them this season. The signings of Nicolai Remberg and Nicolás Capaldo aim to address this issue.

Meanwhile, center-back Jordan Torunarigha (Gent) returns to German football, while Bayern’s loanee Daniel Peretz will provide competition in the goalkeeping position for Daniel Heuer Fernandes. On Thursday, HSV completed two more signings as Warmed Omari (Rennes) and Giorgi Gocholeishvili (Shakhtar) signed on initial loan deals.

Pre-season preparations

Hamburg’s preseason started with two wins against amateur clubs before successive defeats to Copenhagen, Sturm Graz, Olympique Lyonnais and RCD Mallorca. The 4-0 loss to Lyon in front of 45,757 home fans leaves a bitter taste in the club's season-opening event. Jordan Torunarigha was sent off in the final friendly in Mallorca.

Predicted XI

Peretz; Gocholeishvili, Schonlau ©, Torunarigha, Muheim; Dompé, Remberg, Copaldo, Pherai, Sahiti; Poulsen

HSV fans aren’t happy with their team's preseason, but the lineup in Mallorca could be far from the one that will start the Bundesliga opener. Immanuel Pherai, Yussuf Poulsen and Jean-Luc Dompé are working towards their returns from injury. Meanwhile, Königsdörffer could still leave the club as HSV might not fancy losing him on a free next year.

Fixture summary

Hamburg will travel to fifth-tier FK Pirmasens in the first round of the DFB-Pokal next weekend. Their most recent Bundesliga game was against Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2018, and they will face that club again in the opening weekend, but it’ll be away from home this time around.

The next two games would also have great significance. Hamburg will face FC Bayern after the return of the fierce derby against St. Pauli and the first international break of the season. They will also be on the road on the final matchday, playing against Bayer Leverkusen.

Expectations & Prediction

There is no two ways about it. Hamburg’s goal this season is to avoid a nervy finale. After spending seven seasons in 2. Bundesliga, there won’t be any pressure to challenge the big boys on their return to first-tier football. On that note, a midtable finish would be classified as a huge success.