By Roberto Lamprecht
After the cup-off (9:10 nE) in Braunschweig and the 1:3 derby bankruptcy at Union, Hertha reacted and finally wanted to sort things out. There is reinforcement on the offensive.
BZ learned: The Dutchman Jean-Paul Boëtius (28), recently without a club, has reached an agreement with Hertha. He comes on a free transfer.
The attacking midfielder and Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz (43) appreciate each other from their time together in Mainz.
In return, Hertha’s attacking midfielder Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (22) is moving to Antwerp for 4.5 million euros.
It is clear, however, that more has to happen at Hertha in order not to fall into relegation problems immediately after the horror start.
How does manager Fredi Bobic (50) want to turn things around after the false start? He is reducing the squad!
Bobic in a “double pass” on Sport1: “There will definitely be more departures than newcomers here. We have to slim down, get the personnel costs down.”
There is no new money from investor Lars Windhorst. Bobic: “The shares have been sold, the money has flowed. That’s the end of it. At the moment we can only finance ourselves from transfer surpluses.”
Hertha BSC
Defense boss Dedryck Boyata (31), striker Krzysztof Piatek (27) and left-back Maxi Mittelstädt (25) were all shaved out of the squad in the derby.
Should leave Hertha if possible: Herthas Dedryck Boyata (l) and Krzysztof Piatek Photo: picture alliance/dpa
They should go, also so that another striker can come!
Despite the false start, Bobic believes in his team: “If the team develops the way we want it to – and they bring the quality that lies dormant in it onto the pitch together – then I usually see us in a safe midfield position.”