How Freiburg are quietly rebuilding their entire front-line

Julian Schuster's team have been one of the busiest in the transfer market this summer. And for good reason too.

When it comes to the summer transfer window, the Bundesliga’s rumour mill is often dominated by Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Sure, the odd Bayer Leverkusen transfer picks up traction and RB Leipzig’s revolving door of prospects arriving or leaving on blockbuster moves to the Premier League certainly garners interest. But beyond that, very few deals in the German top-flight tend to make any ripples on the grand ocean that is European football’s summer transfer window.

And Freiburg wouldn’t have it any other way. While some German clubs clamour for international attention with flashy US tours or incessant social media campaigns, the “Brazilians of Breisgau” often do their best work when nobody is looking and tend to perform at their peak when entirely underestimated. For former head coach Christian Streich it was a badge of honour to often bat away the many and incessant nuisances of modern life. And under his successor, Julian Schuster, not much has changed.

However, while Freiburg may not wish to disturb the calm waters of the Bundesliga or draw too much attention to themselves, that doesn’t mean they haven’t been hard at work. And while the German newspapers froth at the mouth over Bayern’s hunt for a new left winger or speculate over the future of Xavi Simons and Benjamin Sesko, Freiburg have quietly gone about upgrading their squad.