Humility after the climb
© Imago
The most visited stadiums will be available in the Bundesliga season 2025/26 at BVB, FC Bayern, VfB Stuttgart, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburger SV. After seven years in the 2nd league, however, the HSV knows exactly that for the time being, you will only get involved in fans. “We have to accept that we cannot compete with Augsburg, Berlin, Freiburg and Mainz in the next season,” sports director Stefan Kuntz told the “Time“-Magazine.
“These clubs are ten or 15 years in the Bundesliga and have developed a large financial basis. We have to get there again,” said Kuntz, who started the red pants at the end of May 2024. “It would be absolutely wrong to move away just a centimeter from our way, which is shaped by humility and work. So we would deliberately drive something on the wall again.” As a climber with a squad value that is currently 52.3 million euros, you would also be far from FC Augsburg (119 million), Union Berlin (113 million), SC Freiburg (166 million) and FSV Mainz (153 million).
A transfer offensive is planned for the summer, which is to be found without the financial support of HSV fan and investor Klaus-Michael Kühne. “The quality in the Bundesliga is brutal. But I believe that we will find the right mix. A mix between service providers, leaders, regular players and young players,” said Kuntz.
Working papers at HSV: 7x end of contract 2025 and 9x end of contract 2026
Kuntz does not want to rule out the commitment of a big name if “he helps us sporty, helps us in terms of character and fits our philosophy.” The free transfer from Bayern Thomas Müller (35) is too old for the HSV and, as realistic, Kuntz ‘the following transfer request is also similar: “So I would take Florian Wirtz!” How much money the HSV can invest in new players is still open. However, the budget will almost double from 23 million to over 40 million euros. The higher TV funds make up a large part. However, the salaries of HSV professionals will also increase.