After the worst Bundesliga placement of its own history, RB Leipzig was dug up properly. Successfully? The team check illuminates the transfers, the goals, which is already going well and the construction sites.
Make the past season quickly forgotten, return to the top of the Bundesliga and return to Europe. The destinations at RB Leipzig read so short and crunchy for the season starting on Friday (August 22, 2025) with a guest appearance at Bayern Munich. So simple and so complicated. Because after a mega break, the lawn ballers have some mega construction sites that are not yet closed.
So it went last season
A brief review: The past season ended RB Leipzig in seventh place and thus to mediocrity as far as ever in the nine-year Bundesliga history. The qualification for the European Cup was missed for the first time since the promotion in 2016. trainer Marco Rose After more than 900 days in office and 124 games had to clear the chair in March. Interim coach Zsolt Löw Could only win two of eight games and even missed the third -class European Conference League with seventh place.
At the end of a long coaching search that has been going on since April with half a dozen medially discussed candidates, the Ex-bremer Ole Werner committed as a trainer. The order: The return to the much-cited RB-DNA. Means: A rejuvenated, reduced squad should place RB in the Bundesliga top-4 with high intensity and a clever mix of pressing and possession of the ball.
The new RBL trainer Ole Werner.
The squad – the change
The squad is currently still far from the desired 26er size. Shortly before the start of the season, 34 player cars crowded in the parking lot at the training center. Among other things, the squad size has led to the posse that, for the sorted but not yet migrated, Timo Werner was not available for a sponsor electric vehicle – which is why the former international with an output red sports car, Italian brand drove to training.
There are three prominent names under the twelve exits: with striker star Benjamin Seskowho has switched to Manchester United, around 80 million euros were taken and thus brought in a large part of the sum, the RB must generate in summer. Club legend Yussuf Poulsen brought in significantly less, his move to Hamburger SV fell victim to young and fast strikers. There was also a goalkeeper Janis Blaswich After a year of Salzburg loan towards Leverkusen.
Sesko switched to the Premier League
There is a lot of offensive power among the six real newcomers. Midfielder Ezechiel Banzuzi (20 years) and attacker Yan Diomande (18 years) already showed in the first competitive game, the Dedive 4: 2 in the DFB Cup in Sandhausentheir offensive class. Also Johan Bakayoko (22), Andrija Maksimovic (18) as well Romulo (23) are an investment in a strong offensive future of lawn ball athletes. So far, however, only the Cologne resident has been Max Finkgräfe (21) brought.
Who is still coming – who is going?
The big question in squad planning is whether the Dutch Superstar Xavi Simons the Leipziger still leaves. Premier League club FC Chelsea is said to be on the 22-year-old. The Londoners still have to make room in their own, quite large squad. Even a Rochade with the former RB star Christopher Nkunku, which was practically sorted out at Chelsea, is discussed in the media.
Leipzig’s manager Marcel Schäfer said shortly before the start of the season that Xavi would not necessarily be hunted off the farm for financial reasons: “This is not a must,” said Schäfer of the “Sport Bild” (Wednesday edition, August 20, 2025). “He wants to prove himself at the highest level. And if it is economically sensible, we are open. But only then …”
Eljif Elmas, Timo Werner – and also for Amadou Haidara and Kevin Kampl, the days in the jersey with the bulls on the chest could definitely be cleared their parking lot on the Cottaweg.
In any case, there should be a central defender on the might arrive list. With Willi Orban, El Chadaille Betshiabu and Castello Lukeba, coach Ole Werner has only three specialists. An alternative would certainly make sense for the 32-year-old Orban, who missed 31 games in the past two seasons due to injuries.
Where is RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner going?
That is going well
The offensive engine of the Leipziger is running. The newly formed team has a lot of potential. Many opportunities in preparation and also in the DFB Cup can also be found here. In addition, the new coach Ole Werner seems to have found a good speech to the team.
The construction sites
Fourth division Sandhausen showed the construction sites mercilessly in the cup game: The defensive is not yet resilient-before the Bayern game at the start of the season, the RB fans should definitely go the famous flatter. As simple as Sandhausen’s regional league offensive combined through the Leipzig defensive-what are the only thing that done by Bavaria’s Harry Kane or Premier League newcomer Luis Diaz?
A construction site is also the exploitation of opportunities – the Werner team left too much in preparation. And finally, RBL’s final weakness led to the historically bad Bundesliga cutting off: In the pre-season, RB only ranked 13th in the pre-season, tenth in the goals.
The conclusion
The Leipzig team has a lot of potential – this also includes the trainer, who has already shown in Kiel and Bremen that he was able to form a competitive team with modest means. However, he has not yet proven whether he can work at a top level and with young people. If the newly assembled team grows together in many positions grows together into one unit, RB can achieve the goal of Champions League qualification. But that’s not sure. Because the construction sites are large and the player parking lot on the Cottaweg are still overcrowded.
Dirk Hofmeister
