Club Haberleri

In the winter of 2021, Zirkzee went to Parma in Italy. After his loan spell there, he had a stint at RSC Anderlecht in Belgium before going to Bologna back in Italy, which is where he’s been for the 2022/23 season that’s been hampered by intermittent injury problems.

Finally, home games in the PreZero Arena again: as of Tuesday (23 July) TSG members have been able to purchase tickets for the season opener against Fulham (10 August) and the three Bundesliga games against Holstein Kiel (24 August/15:30 CEST), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (14 September/15:30 CEST) and Werder Bremen (29 September/17:30 CEST).

After training, the team returned to the hotel, where they completed a joint workshop with sports psychologist Elisa Lierhaus. The day for the players ended with a few treatments and dinner together. 

Unfortunately, the Croatian pair of Kristijan Jakić and new signing Nediljko Labrović, whose entry to South Africa was refused, continued to be unable to join up with the squad. They had returned to Germany to clear up the issue with the relevant authorities, but since no new visa was issued on Monday and no short-term solution was found on Tuesday, FCA decided that the pair will not be making the journey to the training camp in South Africa. Instead, the two players will complete individual training programmes in co-ordination with first-team coaches and will get ready to rejoin team training upon the team’s return from South Africa.

“It’s currently not a problem that I’m coaching in English, the players understand me. But my goal is to be able to coach in German as well,” said Anthony Barry in an interview released on the FC Bayern website (as transcribed by @iMiaSanMia).

“Fisnik is a talented striker who has repeatedly demonstrated his potential with us in recent years. However, due to the competitive situation in our Bundesliga squad, we decided last summer to loan him to Austria Vienna, a club with a long tradition in Austria, so that Fisnik could gain as much match practice as possible at the highest possible level,” says Pirmin Schwegler, head of professional football at Hoffenheim. After an extremely positive start in Vienna, with lots of appearances and good performances, Asllani then had to take a break for a few weeks due to a tendon injury, meaning that he was ultimately unable to get the playing time everyone had hoped for. “Therefore, we have now decided together with him to seek another loan and are firmly convinced that we have found a very good solution for everyone involved with SV Elversberg. We are confident that Fisnik will be able to take the next steps in his development there and then hit the ground running once he returns from his loan spell with us,” added Schwegler.

In a close head-to-head race, the women’s team from Pogon Szczecin secured the Ekstraliga Kobiet title for the first time in the club’s history last season. After 22 match days, Szczecin was level on points with GKS Katowice, but had a better goal difference of 14 goals. As a result, Pogon Szczecin will take part in the Champions League qualifying round this season for the first time. The team will face Swiss champions Servette FC at the beginning of September.

The bar has been set high, with Norway being known for its fascinating landscapes. However, Isak Hansen-Aarøen is a big fan of Zillertal, and not just from a sporting perspective. “It’s a bit like when I go home to see my grandparents,” laughed Hansen-Aarøen, who got to discover the area a fair bit on a light Sunday morning cycle. “It’s very similar with its many mountains and lots of greenery.” 

FCA now have a second left-back in their squad with the signing of Dimitrios Giannoulis. The defender has won 27 caps so far for Greece, and has played 75 times in the English Championship, 18 games in the Premier League, four matches in the Europa League and six Champions League qualifiers.

Pavard hasn’t always found his preference for center-back to right-back met this season, and he had a turn with the injury bug as well. However, so has the rest of the Bayern defense, from Lucas Hernandez to Noussair Mazraoui to even Dayot Upamecano. Through it all Pavard is now a mainstay in Bayern’s back line.