Most over 30 new arrivals
Union Berlin is no ordinary club. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the stadium, the fans or the president – a different wind is blowing with the “Iron”. Since Oliver Ruhnert took office in the summer of 2017 (initially as chief scout, since 2018 as managing director), the club’s transfer tactics have also occupied a special position in the German professional leagues. Almost every summer is like an upheaval, signing new players who fly under the radar at many other teams. A look at the Transfermarkt database also shows that Union is one of the few clubs that takes Otto Rehhagel’s saying to heart when it comes to newcomers: “There are no young and old players, only good and bad ones.”
No other of the 36 current first and second division clubs has signed as many over 28 professionals as Union Berlin (24 newcomers) in the past five seasons, in the category 30 or older only Hannover 96 has the same number (12). On average, the newcomers to Köpenicker in this period were 25.91 years old, only Hannover (26.38) and FC Ingolstadt (26.03) have even more experience. In terms of the Bundesliga alone, the gap to VfL Bochum (25.68) and FC Bayern (24.96) is considerable.
Most over-30 signings of the 36 first and second division clubs since 2017
While clubs like RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen or VfB Stuttgart have consistently relied on talent for years, Union under Ruhnert took a different path. “We’re looking for experienced players, but we also need newcomers who want to play in the Bundesliga. We need carelessness, speed and stability at the same time,” said the 50-year-old in 2019 “BZ” with reference to the requirement profile of possible newcomers for the first season in the upper house.
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This was followed by transfers like Christian Gentner or Neven Subotic, who came to the capital free of charge in the late autumn of their career and acted as pillars for staying up in the league in the first year. When it comes to the “newcomers” described by Ruhnert, he usually avoids players who are generally known to be talented and are therefore in demand. Instead, he keeps an eye out for clubs from the lower half of the Bundesliga table or second division teams and is looking for seasoned professionals who can take the next step at Union under coach Urs Fischer.
Prime examples of this are Sebastian Andersson, who came free of charge from 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2018 at the age of 26 and then had the best time of his career, or Robert Andrich, who joined Union after stints at Dynamo Dresden, Wehen Wiesbaden and 1. FC Heidenheim finally matured into a Bundesliga professional.
Union Berlin: Squad value has almost tripled since promotion – departures remain the norm
This type of commitment runs like a red thread through the last five years under Ruhnert, who managed to gradually increase the quality of the squad without top talent and large expenditures. With the exception of Taiwo Awoniyi (24), who was brought from Liverpool for 6.5 million euros after a previous loan in the summer, larger transfer fees are an absolute rarity, but the squad value development of the “Iron” is remarkable.
Only co-promoted SC Paderborn (23.7 million) had a lower squad value at the beginning of the 2019/20 season than Union, which was 17th behind the other clubs in terms of market value with 28 million euros. Fortuna Düsseldorf, in 16th place, had more than twice as much squad value to offer with EUR 69 million. Two and a half years later, Union has increased this by over 150 percent to 71.6 million euros (to the statistics).
At the end of December, this statistic would have been even more in favor of the capital club. After the departures of Marvin Friedrich (26) and Max Kruse (33), the squad value fell by around 15 million euros in the last transfer window. The answer to the change of the two top performers was in the typical Union style: Dominique Heintz (28) and Sven Michel (31) came as replacements from the first and second divisions, who were true to position and cheaper, as one was used to from Ruhnert in previous years. Income of 10.5 million euros for players with an expiring contract is offset by expenses of almost 3 million euros.
And yet the departures show one of the biggest problems of the club. Even after the most successful period in the club’s history and the prospect of qualifying for the Champions League in the meantime, regulars are regularly drawn to teams with stronger financial resources. In addition to Kruse (Wolfsburg) and Friedrich (Gladbach), who voluntarily moved from the top to the bottom third of the table, Grischa Prömel will also leave the club in the summer for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
With Prömel, Kruse & Co: The most valuable departures from Union Berlin
At the end of the season, fans can prepare for the next Ruhnert upheaval, which should keep Union at the top of another statistic. Since 2017, none of the current Bundesliga clubs have signed more new players than the “Iron”: Only Eintracht Frankfurt (63), Stuttgart (59) and Greuther Fürth (58) come close to the 69 new signings of East Berlin. “So far it has gone well. ‘Never change a winning team’, as the saying goes. In this case I would say: ‘Never change a winning way’”, says Ruhnert (quoted via “RBB”).
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