Greuther Fürth 2026/27 season preview: Transfers, pre-season, predicted lineup and season predictions | OneFootball

After spending the last two seasons battling near the foot of the 2. Bundesliga table, Greuther Fürth are a long way removed from the side that earned promotion to the Bundesliga in 2021. The focus has shifted from dreaming of another top-flight return to simply rebuilding the club and restoring stability.

That responsibility now falls to Heiko Vogel, who begins his first full season in charge after taking over midway through last campaign. With a full pre-season behind him and a significantly reshaped squad at his disposal, the hope is that the Kleeblatt can begin climbing back towards the upper reaches of German football.

A look back at 2025/26

It was another difficult campaign for Fürth. Thomas Kleine oversaw a respectable return of three wins from his opening six league matches, but a run of just one victory in the following eight fixtures ultimately cost the former Fürth defender his job.

Heiko Vogel arrived in an attempt to halt the slide and, while performances and team spirit improved, results remained inconsistent. Defensive frailties proved their biggest downfall, with Fürth conceding 68 league goals — the worst defensive record in the division.

A dramatic final-day victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf spared them automatic relegation and earned a place in the relegation play-off against Rot-Weiss Essen. After losing the first leg 1-0 away from home, Fürth responded with a 2-0 victory in the return fixture to preserve their 2. Bundesliga status by the narrowest of margins.

The coach

This season marks Heiko Vogel’s first full campaign in charge, giving him the opportunity to fully implement his ideas after several months of assessing the squad.

Throughout pre-season, the 50-year-old has spoken repeatedly about raising standards, improving every aspect of the team’s performances and demanding greater intensity from his players. His interviews have reflected a clear desire to ensure last season quickly becomes a distant memory.

Transfers

Fürth have undergone one of the biggest squad overhauls in the division this summer.

Fifteen players have departed, including influential figures such as Branimir Hrgota, Philipp Ziereis, Maximilian Dietz and last season’s top scorer Noel Futkeu.

To compensate, the club have recruited 11 new players, blending experienced additions with promising young talent. Among the headline arrivals are Jannis Heuer, Paul Will and Shinta Appelkamp, all of whom are expected to play key roles immediately.

Ins: Christian Ortag, Shinta Appelkamp (free transfers); Florian Hellstern (Stuttgart), Mika Wallentowitz (Schalke) and Krisztián Keresztes (Nyíregyháza) on loan; Jannis Heuer (Kaiserslautern), Paul Will (Darmstadt), Maxim Dal (Mainz), Benjamin Zank (Viktoria Köln) and Ole Pohlmann (Rio Ave) on permanent deals.

Outs: Noel Futkeu (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Dietz (Górnik Zabrze), Reno Münz (Westerlo), Philipp Ziereis (Melbourne Victory), Mathias Olesen (Sønderjyske), Felix Higl (Preußen Münster) and Juan Cabrera (Vaduz) all left permanently. David Abrangao joined Vaduz on loan, while Sayfallah Ltaief, Timo Schlieck, Aiman Dardari and Kayan Varela returned to their parent clubs. Branimir Hrgota, Jomaine Consbruch and Marco John also departed following the expiry of their contracts.

Pre-season preparations

Aside from a surprise 1-0 defeat to Regionalliga side Bayreuth, Fürth enjoyed an encouraging pre-season.

Victories over Eltersdorf (3-0) and Bamberg (3-1) were followed by impressive wins against Zürich (3-2) and Bundesliga outfit Freiburg (3-0), providing genuine optimism ahead of the new campaign.

New captain Felix Klaus was one of the standout performers, scoring four goals across the victories over Zürich and Freiburg.

Predicted starting lineup

Following such extensive squad turnover, Fürth are likely to look very different from the side that ended last season. With so many new arrivals, Vogel has plenty of decisions to make as he searches for his strongest starting XI.

The head coach experimented with several formations during the second half of last season, including the 4-2-3-1, 3-4-2-1, 4-3-2-1 and 4-4-2. A flexible tactical approach appears likely once again, with systems potentially changing depending on the opposition.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1):

Hellstern; Dehm, Keresztes, Heuer, Itter; Bansé, Will; Klaus, Appelkamp, Pohlmann; Srbeny.

Fixture list

Fürth face a demanding start to the season.

They open with a trip to recently relegated St. Pauli before hosting fierce rivals Nürnberg in the Franconian derby at the Sportpark Ronhof on matchday two.

August concludes with an away fixture against newly promoted Energie Cottbus before another stern test at home to Heidenheim in early September.

Expectations and predictions

After successive seasons spent looking over their shoulder, many connected with the club would gladly accept a comfortable mid-table finish free from relegation concerns.

However, expectations from outside the club remain relatively pessimistic, with Fürth widely viewed as one of the leading candidates for another relegation battle.

Replacing key departures will not be straightforward. Defensively, the exits of Philipp Ziereis and Jan Elvedi remove two experienced figures from a back line that, despite conceding a league-high 68 goals overall, actually recorded the fourth-best defensive record in the Rückrunde.

The attack also has significant voids to fill. The departures of Branimir Hrgota and Noel Futkeu leave 25 league goals to replace, placing immediate pressure on the club’s new signings to contribute.

There are reasons for optimism. Vogel has had a full pre-season to shape the squad, several of the new arrivals appear well suited to his ideas, and performances during the summer have been encouraging. Nevertheless, the scale of the rebuild means consistency may take time.

A season of improvement rather than immediate progression seems the most realistic expectation. While Fürth should be more competitive than they were for large parts of last season, they still appear likely to spend much of the campaign looking over their shoulder. Alongside promoted sides Osnabrück and Energie Cottbus, as well as Eintracht Braunschweig, they could once again find themselves involved in the fight to avoid relegation. If there is one reason for optimism, though, it is that Vogel has already shown he can galvanise the squad under pressure and is unlikely to allow them to go down without a fight.