Marcel Schäfer on squad planning, transfers and pre-season

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RB Leipzig

·9 Juli 2025

Marcel Schäfer on squad planning, transfers and pre-season

Clear objectives, a new head coach, and all eyes on the road ahead: As part of Ole Werner’s official presentation as RB Leipzig’s new head coach, Managing Director for Sport Marcel Schäfer spoke about the decision to appoint Werner, his expectations for the season ahead, and the challenges of squad planning.

The key quotes from Ole Werner

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Marcel Schäfer on appointing Ole Werner:

“We’re absolutely delighted to have Ole on board as our new head coach and part of the RBL family. He’s still a young coach, but he brings plenty of experience. In the past, he’s helped teams and individual players develop significantly.In our many conversations, he impressed us both in terms of footballing ideas and on a personal level. We found we shared a lot of common ground – how we understand football and what we want to achieve over the next few years. I’m completely convinced by Ole, and confident that we’ll master this new phase together and make it a success.”

…on the search for a coach:

“We’ve followed Ole’s development very closely in recent years. He helped both Holstein Kiel and Werder Bremen overperform. Last season, Werder finished on the same number of points as we did here in Leipzig – and they consistently played attractive football under his leadership.Overall, we looked closely at three coaches and held detailed talks with all of them. From the start, we had a strong belief in Ole. We saw a clear profile, a clear plan, and many shared values. In the end, we chose Ole because we’re confident that, in this setup, we can meet the challenges ahead together.”

…on the squad and the season’s goals:

“Reshaping the squad won’t happen overnight. What’s clear is: we won’t go into the new season with the current squad as it is. We want to strengthen in key areas and bring in one or two new players.Our target is to head into the new campaign with a group of 25 to 26 players. The coaching team has already seen some changes, and there have been a few adjustments around the squad as well. We’ll take a targeted approach to the transfer market – carefully evaluating what makes sense for us and what’s possible.We’re ambitious and confident. Our goal is to return to European competition next year. That’s our standard as a club, and we’ll do everything we can to show a different face and a new style of football. By the end of the season, we want to be back on the European stage.”

...on pre-season preparations:

“Last summer was a real challenge. Many players were involved in the Euros and had little to no time for pre-season. We really felt the effects of that as the first half of the season went on. That’s also why we scheduled the Brazil tour straight after the end of last season – to give the players more time to recover ahead of the new campaign.We’re convinced we need to present a very different physical profile this time around. We want to play with high intensity, and that requires a strong physical base.From our point of view, the summer schedule is ideal. We have time to rehearse patterns, stabilise our system, and fine-tune our playing style. I’m confident that we’ll head into the season with a very strong team – one capable of challenging for the European places.”

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