Bochum

Poor, poor Bochum. No sooner do they have a good season, than they lose some of their best players to bigger clubs. This year is worst than most, with the small club having to swallow the departures of the league's top scorer, the squad's top playmaker and their starting goalkeeper -- Theofanis Gekas, Zvjezdan Misimovic and Jaroslav Drobny respectively.

Marcin Mieciel, Jan Lastuvka and Matias Concha are some of the new arrivals, but they're hardly household names. Then again, few Bundesliga fans had heard of Theofanis Gekas before last season either.

After being decimated in the off-season, Bochum's only goal for this season will be to avoid relegation. Even that will be a struggle.

Coach: Marcel Koller

Acquisitions: Marcin Mieciel (Saloniki), Jan Lastuvka (Schachtar Donezk ), Matias Concha (Djurgarden IF), Marc Pfertzel (Livorno), Philipp Heerwagen (Unterhaching), Thomas Rathgeber (Unterhaching, returns from loan), Benjamin Auer (Kaiserslautern, returns from loan), Danny Fuchs (Greuther Fürth), Stanislav Sestak (MSK Zilina), Mergim Marvaj (Darmstadt 98), Heinrich Schmidtgal (Verl), Marc Sand (Kärnten)

Departures: Thomas Rathgeber (on loan to Unterhaching), Jaroslav Drobny (Hertha Berlin), Theofanis Gekas (Bayer Leverkusen), Zvejzdan Misimovic (Nuremberg), Dariusz Wosz (retired), David Pallas, Alexander Bade, Fabio Junior, Peter Skov-Jensen, Heiko Butscher (Freiburg), Filip Trojan (St. Pauli), Joris van Hout (Westerlo)