VfB Stuttgart's Alexander Wehrle has questioned Uli Hoeneß's criticism of the club's transfer policy.
Last weekend, the Bayern Munich club patriarch criticised Stuttgart's summer transfer policy on the BR programme 'Sonntags-Stammtisch'. The 74-year-old felt VfB were not taking enough risks.
"They sell him their best players every year and believe they can still reach the Champions League. That is simply wrong. When you have such huge potential as VfB do, including from industry in the greater Stuttgart area, you have to take a risk from time to time," Hoeneß said.
Wehrle rejected the criticism in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau and defended Stuttgart's approach. He called Hoeneß "a management legend of German football who has had a major influence on the Bundesliga", but said he was not properly informed in this case.
"I cannot understand these comments. We did not sell a single regular starter this transfer summer," Wehrle said. VfB had instead kept all their key players and strengthened the squad in specific areas. They had "invested significantly in the squad while also fulfilling the wish of all VfB fans by finally bringing another homegrown player, Dennis Seimen, into the team, someone who can be our number one for years to come."
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Stuttgart's board chief did not know "how much more risk we should take. And secondly, we have never said, either internally or externally, that we must reach the Champions League."
Which regular starters left VfB Stuttgart in the summer?
In fact, Stuttgart let only one potential regular starter leave in the summer: Chema Andres, who joined Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion for more than €20 million on deadline day. They invested €55 million in new players, bringing in Dzenan Pejcinovic from VfL Wolfsburg, Leo Sauer from Feyenoord Rotterdam and Bilal El Khannouss permanently after a loan from Leicester City. The five-time German champions also signed Grischa Prömel from Hoffenheim on a free transfer.
Even so, VfB are falling a little short of sporting expectations. After a poor start to the season, with just two wins from their first seven league matches, Stuttgart sit eighth in the table.
Recent results point upwards. Stuttgart have beaten Bayer 04 Leverkusen and SV Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, while seven points from four matches have kept them on track in the Champions League.