In the last few years, the VfB Stuttgart havent been one of Germanys top clubs. The German national champions of 2011 were in a fight against relegation just a few years later. In the end, they had to go down in 2016. With that, a lot has changed in the club. With their relegation they started to focus on young talents from their own academy, players like Sami Khedira, Mario Gomez and Timo Werner all came through the academy into the first-team of Stuttgart. After a few successful seasons, they went to bigger clubs. Joshua Kimmich, for instance, is also a product of the VfB youth academy although he never played for the first-team. With Michael Reschke, their transfer policy changed. In this recruitment analysis, I will show you the different players Stuttgart signed.
Since 2016 Stuttgart have also recruited a lot of foreign talent and given young players a chance to develop. The best example clearly is Benjamin Pavard who played the last two years in Stuttgart and is now linked with a lot of top clubs in Europe after his impressive World-Cup performance. Last year Michael Reschke became their new manager. Before he went to Stuttgart he planned the squad and made transfers for Bayern Munich during Pep Guardiolas time in Munich. He is responsible for players like Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman moving there.
However, hes spent most of his time working for Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen is probably one of the top teams in terms of making intelligent transfer decisions. Over a long period of time, Leverkusen were capable of buying young players cheap and sell them for a much higher price. For example, Arturo Vidal, Heung-min Son, André Schürrle and Julian Brandt are some examples of very intelligent business by Michael Reschke.
Last year Reschke managed to buy Santiago Ascacibar who now is a crucial part of Stuttgart´s starting eleven. During this transfer window, Stuttgart made some interesting moves too. A good mixture of experienced older players and young talents with a lot of talent. In the following piece, I will take a look at some players who will play for VfB Stuttgart next season.
Gonzalo Castro – an old acquaintance
Age: 31
Position: Central midfield, fullback and winger
Transfer fee: 5 million euros
Gonzalo Castro is no unknown name for people who followed the Bundesliga over the last few seasons. Before moving to Dortmund, Castro spent 13 years at Bayer Leverkusen where he began in the youth academy and made his debut for the first team. Over the last three years, he played for Borussia Dortmund. During the campaign of Thomas Tuchel, he was a crucial part in the system of the new Paris St. Germain coach.
In Dortmund he regularly played as a central midfielder who helped to connect attack and defence and was responsible for finding the balance in possession, supporting their deep-lying playmaker Julian Weigl and sometimes he could even play higher-up the pitch to support the attack. However, what makes Castro so valuable is the fact that he can play multiple positions. At Leverkusen, he often was used as a winger due to his athletic abilities and his crossing, but he could also play as a fullback. He is quick, has a high football IQ, good technical abilities and can defend quite well.
At VfB Stuttgart, they could use Castro as a central midfielder next to Ascacibar or he plays as an inverted winger/offensive midfielder in Stuttgart´s 4-2-3-1/4-2-2-2 similar to the role Christian Gentner had last season under Tayfun Korkut.
Pablo Maffeo – Reschke´s top signing
Age: 21
Position: Right-back
Transfer fee: 9 million euros
This transfer could evolve into one of the best businesses Michael Reschke has ever done. For only 9 million euros Maffeo moved from Manchester City to Stuttgart. Last year the twenty-one-year-old right-back was on loan at Girona. There, he played the position of the right wing back in Girona´s 3-4-2-1 and impressed with the speed, technique and game intelligence.
If you watch Maffeo for the first time you immediately notice his speed. He is extremely fast and is therefore hard to beat when it comes to passes behind the lines. Furthermore, Maffeo possesses a strengthen body although he is only 1.72 m he can easily stay balanced in 1v1 situations. Sometimes he shows weaknesses in pushing out of the line in order to press the opponent immediately when he receives the ball. As a consequence, the ball carrier can sometimes dribble towards him without getting pressured. Or he is too aggressive and can get unbalanced. However, he recovers quickly due to his speed. Those mistakes in pressuring the opponent are very rare in Maffeos game. Usually, he gives the opponent no chance to turn with the ball.
His positioning defensively is also very solid, and his speed again helps him to cover the depth and defend quick attackers like Goncalo Guedes for instance.
But, Michael Reschke would not make Maffeo the most expensive signing in VfB club history if he could only defend well. The young man from Spain is an offensive threat for all opponents. He has great technical abilities, his first touch even after long switches is really good. But not only the first touch also his passing, crossing and dribbling skills promise a complete fullback who will definitely improve VfB Stuttgart offensively. At Girona, his main task was crossing the ball from the right side. Due to his technical abilities, Maffeo can cross the ball with both feet which makes him hard to defend because he can either go through to the baseline or he cuts inside and crosses with his left foot in the space behind the last line.
