Fortuna disaster: 28 players gone, a reckless bet symbolizing the collapse

Sven Mislintat

Fortuna began the season eyeing promotion, yet now faces the very real prospect of relegation. Such an outcome would have severe consequences and reflect badly on two former decision-makers.

Should Fortuna Düsseldorf be relegated to the 3. Liga, the Rhineland club risks losing most of its first-team squad.

According to a Bild report, only seven of the squad’s professionals—either on loan or already at Fortuna—are under contract for the third tier. The remaining 28 first-team players could leave on free transfers if relegation is confirmed.

Fortuna Düsseldorf: Should they be relegated, only seven first-team players will stay.

Seventeen players are currently under contract at Fortuna; the deals of the others expire this summer, or their loan spells—notably those of the injured playmaker Florent Muslija (from SC Freiburg) and Sotiris Alexandropoulos (Benfica Lisbon)—are set to end.

Beyond 2026, only two players signed under the previous sporting directors Klaus Allofs and Christian Weber would stay if Fortuna were to be relegated: vice-captain Tim Oberdorf and first-team regular Sima Suso.

Unlike Mislintat, who insisted that his winter signings—Satoshi Tanaka, Kilian Sauck and Jordi Paulina—stay committed even if the club is relegated, Allofs and Weber failed to include such clauses for the many players they brought in during the summer. 

Fortuna Düsseldorf v Hannover 96 - 2. Bundesliga

Fortuna Düsseldorf is paying the price for a disastrous summer transfer window orchestrated by Allofs and Weber.

The club’s expensive signings—Cedric Itten (£1.3m), Anouar El Azzouzi (£1.3m) and Christian Rasmussen (£900,000)—risk becoming financial white elephants. Only Itten has justified his fee so far, scoring 13 goals. Rasmussen, signed from Ajax, has squandered chances, suffered injuries and shown mood swings, while El Azzouzi has been committed but lacking in tactical discipline and effectiveness.

In hindsight, Fortuna’s summer transfer window under the leadership of Allofs and Weber was an unmitigated disaster. Other signings who had been pencilled in as regular starters kept breaking down—an outcome that, given their checkered medical histories, was foreseeable (Christopher Lenz, Julian Hettwer, Luca Raimund)—while Tim Breithaupt, Zan Celar and Jesper Daland never convinced at Championship level.

In the wake of the club’s amicable split with Allofs last December, he has now owned up to his role in the sporting crisis on Welt TV: “I naturally bear my share of the responsibility from a sporting perspective. We had a very poor transfer window.”

Christopher Lenz

Allofs’s reckless gamble on Lenz has become a symbol of Fortuna’s disastrous season.

Allofs had already caused consternation among Fortuna fans with some of his public appearances during the season. After Düsseldorf’s slow start forced the club to abandon its promotion hopes, Allofs claimed he had never mentioned such targets before the campaign and even accused the regional media, which had quoted him as doing so, of spreading falsehoods. Yet numerous quotes from July and August directly contradicted his stance.

Tensions flared again at the club’s general meeting when a bet between Allofs and a supporter was disclosed. The wager concerned the number of 60-minute appearances by long-term injury victim Lenz, with the fan arguing he would not reach five. Allofs retorted at the AGM: “I’m certain I’ll win the bet!”

Background: Although Lenz had previously won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, he had managed only ten appearances since 2023, when recurring calf injuries curtailed his moves to RB Leipzig and then TSG Hoffenheim.

Allofs had ignored Lenz’s medical record and instead relied on a one-off medical check to confirm his fitness—a decision that backfired spectacularly. Lenz managed only two short cameos before missing nearly three months; his return was brief, and he has started just twice in the last seven matches. With four matches remaining, Allofs is in real danger of losing the bet: Lenz has clocked more than 60 minutes in only three appearances for Fortuna. It is a stark symbol of the club’s troubled squad planning under Allofs and Weber.

Christian Weber

Christian Weber has joined Elversberg after leaving Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Allofs is currently without a club after his dismissal, while Weber—to the surprise of Düsseldorf supporters—has actually advanced his career. He was swiftly removed as Fortuna’s sporting director when Mislintat arrived, yet now looks poised to oversee squad planning at a Bundesliga side. Since mid-April he has been serving in the same capacity at SV Elversberg, which is once again challenging for promotion.

The twist? On Matchday 33, Weber will return to Düsseldorf with Elversberg. With Fortuna facing a gruelling run-in and another injury crisis—six potential starters are currently sidelined—that visit could come too late for any remaining hopes of survival.

First, Fortuna host in-form Dresden on Friday, then travel to Schalke, who could seal promotion there. Should they still be clinging to safety, Fortuna will then face a potential relegation decider against Greuther Fürth on Matchday 34. By that point, the club’s professional future could well be on the line, with an exodus of players looming in the event of relegation.