Dynamo Dresden underlines its ambitions in the 3. Liga with the second top transfer in a few days.

With a 1-0 away win at Erzgebirge Aue, Dynamo Dresden have moved within striking distance of the top places in the 3. Liga. After six games, the team has three wins and three defeats, which puts it in tenth place in the table. Not enough for the club’s own ambitions. That’s why the club really stepped on the gas at the end of the summer transfer window.

On Monday, the club announced the signing of Akaki Gogia. The 30-year-old moves to Saxony from Swiss first division club FC Zurich and signed a contract until 2024. Gogia already played for Dresden in the 2016/17 season, then left the club for Union Berlin.

After Gogia, the club made the second return perfect on Wednesday. Niklas Hauptmann, who moved from Dresden to 1. FC Köln in 2018 for a whopping €3.4 million, will return to Dresden, according to information from Bild.

Hauptmann: For Dresden the record departure, for Cologne a bad investment

For Dresden it was the record departure in 2018, for Cologne a bad investment, because Hauptmann never really arrived in Cologne. He made just twelve league appearances for FC in more than three years, and was out for months last season. In the 2020/21 season, he was loaned to Holstein Kiel, where he got the playing practice he had hoped for, but without having any chances in the Cologne squad afterwards.

Now he returns to Dresden. The midfielder terminated his contract in Cologne, in Dresden he signed until 30 June 2024. There will be no transfer fee, and due to the high salary, Cologne will also have to pay Hauptmann a severance package.

Ralf Becker, SG Dynamo Dresden’s managing director of sport, emphasised: “With the signing of Niklas Hauptmann, we succeeded in signing a player of high quality shortly before the end of the transfer window who, on top of that, knows the city, the club and the entire environment very well. With him, we have gained an intelligent, versatile and technically strong player for the position in central midfield and we are convinced that Niklas will strengthen us with his way of playing football. We are therefore very pleased to welcome him back to the Sportgemeinschaft after four years.”

Gogia and Hauptmann could then make their debuts in the 3. Liga on Saturday, when the home match against Borussia Dortmund’s U23 is scheduled from 2 p.m.