June and July: Altıntop says goodbye 

An exciting 2017 lies behind FCA. Twelve months with many highs and a few lows as well as several records set. As the year draws to a close, we take a look back at what’s happened. Today we look back at the events of June and July.  While the players could relax on holiday after an exhausting and highly dramatic end to the season, the preparations for the 2017-18 season were fully underway. FCA signed talents Rani Khedira (from RB Leipzig), Michael Gregoritsch (from HSV) and Sergio Córdova (from Caracas) to enable them to make the next step. Fabian Giefer (from FC Schalke) and Marcel Heller (from Darmstadt) also joined FCA.  On the other hand, FCA said goodbye to Halil Altıntop and Markus Feulner, two players who have shaped the club in the past few years. Altıntop went in search of a new challenge after four years in Augsburg and did not renew his contract. Feulner moved to strengthen FC Augsburg II in the Regionalliga Bayern.  There was also a change in leadership. Peter Bircks voluntarily stepped down from his position as head of marketing and moved to the business side of the club’s board of directors. Robert Schraml took over.  Award for “Augsburg Calling” fan project  Despite the summer break, there was still reason to celebrate – the “Augsburg Calling” project offers away fans at every FCA home game a diverse programme, which gives the fans the chance to learn about the city. The football magazine “11FREUNDE” awarded the project a special prize as fan initiative of the year.  The FCA squad headed to Mals, South Tyrol in northern Italy at the start of July to begin preparations for the upcoming season. The team made the final touches at the end of the month at a training camp in England. Florian Ernst and Jonas Scheuermann joined as assistant coaches for the new season to strengthen the coaching team around Manuel Baum, Zdenko Miletic (goalkeeping coach) and Andreas Bäumler (rehab and fitness coach). Tobias Zellner also later returned to Augsburg as an extra assistant coach.