Speaking to Sport Bild, VfB Stuttgart CEO Alexander Wehrle confirmed the club will look to avoid the usual exodus that clubs experience after one good season.
When asked about the make-up of the squad, Wehrle said: “We want to keep our team largely together and broaden the squad a little. If service providers leave us, the transfer income will be reinvested to the most. But we will certainly not take full risk. We want a squad that we can also afford the season after next, if we don’t play internationally. It’s about growing healthy.”
Wehrle adds that playing in the Champions League next season will be a big bonus for potential keeping players: “The Champions League, these are, unemotionally speaking, bonus games for us. You can play Champions League with us, in a great team, under a very good coach. However, if only the money decides, we respect if someone wants to play Champions League elsewhere.”
Stuttgart finished this season in second place after they overtook Bayern Munich on the final day with a 4-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Their qualification for the Champions League also sees them return to the competition after a 14-year absence.
The biggest question mark is the futures of Sehrou Guirassy and Chris Führich who have attracted interest from not only within the Bundesliga but abroad as well. While VfB have already begun working on adding depth to their squad for next season after the loans of Leonidas Stergiou and Jamie Leweling were made permanent and the club are in the process of announcing the free transfers of Nick Woltemade, Yannik Keitel and Justin Diehl.
VfB are also said to be working on making Deniz Undav’s loan permanent as well as securing the signing of 1.FC Köln defender Julian Chabot.
Stuttgart will want to improve greatly on this season as they showed that they have the quality to compete with the best teams in the league.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
