However, plenty of fans and pundits alike have questioned whether he is the right person to lead Man United in the absence of Harry Maguire.

Boris Rupert reporting from SIGNAL IDUNA PARK

Fabian Otte: “New experiences give you new energy” Fabian Otte will be coaching the United States...

As the transfer window draws to a close, Dikeni Salifou has been loaned out to Juventus’ Primavera side. The 20-year-old came to an agreement with Werder and representatives from Juventus to make the move to northern Italy. 

Phillip Tietz: “I was really pleased to get my first start. The atmosphere was really amazing. But at the end of the day, it’s not about me as a player, it’s about winning. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do that today. We knew what we would have to deal with and that Bochum would play lots of long balls. We also went into the lead twice but the equalisers both came too quickly. This being said, we shouldn’t just focus on the negatives; it’s positive that we scored goals at home again and played with a good mentality. We have to build on this now.” 

However, this also gave Flick a chance to toy around with how to use some of Germany’s top youngsters — including Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.

“Fisnik is a talented player with a highly interesting striker profile. In the last Regionalliga season alone, he consistently drew attention to himself by scoring 14 goals. Also, due to his unfortunate injury in pre-season and the highly competitive situation in his position, the prospect of much playing time with us does not exist,” said Pirmin Schwegler, the Head of Professional Football at TSG. “In his case in particular, it is now fundamentally important to play matches at the highest-possible level. So we have now found a solution that makes sense for everyone involved. We’re confident that he will successfully take the next steps in his development in Vienna and then go on the attack again with us after his loan spell,” Schwegler explained.

RBL kick off their campaign with a trip to Young Boys

An overview of what’s on the agenda for VfB’s players during the international break, including continental qualifiers and the Asian Games.

After nine years in the Wolfsburg jersey, Koen Casteels will leave the club at the end of this season. Both sides have agreed not to renew the goalkeeper’s contract, which runs until 30 June 2024. The 31-year-old Belgium international, who joined VfL in January 2015, has been the Wolves’ number one for seven years and was also captain of the team in the 2021/22 campaign.