Even though defending the title in the handball Bundesliga has become a long way off for Füchse Berlin, Bob Hanning still has a big sporting goal this season. Meanwhile, the managing director is working on the squad of the future – and planning the transfer of power.
- Füchse Berlin only have an outside chance of defending their title in the handball Bundesliga this season
- Managing director Bob Hanning “firmly” believes in winning the Champions League
- Meanwhile, Hanning is working on world selections for the coming years
- Former player Paul Drux should follow in the managing director’s footsteps
Bob Hanning has a clear sporting goal for the current 2025/26 season: “We have had an outstanding Champions League season so far, won nine out of ten games and are definitely in the quarterfinals. And we know that we can’t face Magdeburg and Barcelona for the time being because they dominate their groups, so we can get to the Final Four through the quarter-finals,” said the Füchse managing director in an interview with rbb. “I can’t say why I believe that, but I firmly believe that we will win the Champions League this season.”
The title defense in the handball Bundesliga is for the reigning German champions However, it has recently moved into the distance. The Foxes Berlin are currently in fifth place (22:8 points), while SC Magdeburg (29:1) is ahead and is the heavy favorite to win the title. Realistically, according to Hanning, the capital city team would have to tick off the German championship this season.
Pytlick will strengthen the Foxes from 2027 – talks with Dika Mem are ongoing
Nevertheless, the Füchse boss’s statements regarding the Champions League – and the Berliners’ most recent transfer moves – are an expression of a new, evolved self-image. In short: Hanning and the foxes are working on a world selection.
Last February, two-time world handball player Mathias Gidsel extended his working paper with the Füchsen early until 2029. At the beginning of December, the Berliners announced that the Danish Olympic champion Simon Pytlick – Gidsel’s compatriot – to be signed from the 2027/28 season. And according to Spanish media reports, the French world champion and Olympic champion Dika Mem, currently in the employ of FC Barcelona, is also about to move to the Spree – by 2027 at the latest [sportbild.bild.de].
“The status quo is that Dika Mem knows that we like him [verpflichten] want; “We have had several discussions with him and there is an offer on the table,” Hanning told rbb. “He can accept that or choose something else.”
Drux should follow Hanning: “As I always dreamed of it”
In a team with world handball player Gidsel, the best backcourt in Europe could soon appear in the Max Schmeling Hall. A successful transfer of Mems would be Hanning’s next stroke of genius – and probably one of his last.
Because a former Füchse player will soon follow in his footsteps: Paul Druxthe A knee injury forced an early end to his career in October 2024. “I said from the beginning that I was signing my last five-year contract. That was almost two and a half years ago,” says Bob Hanning, with the club since 2005, about the approaching end of his Füchse era. “Paul Drux will come to us now and then last year [Hannings finalem Vertragsjahr bei den Füchsen; Anm. d. Red.] work with me on an equal level as a member of the management and then take over my job. Just like I always dreamed and wanted.”
With material from Lukas Witte
Broadcast: rbb|24, December 11, 2025, 6:10 a.m
