This season, especially in the current phase of the season, the shoe is on the other foot for RWE in attack. Too bad for RWE: A potential summer addition from 2022 is currently scoring at will.
A short review: On the last day of the 2022 summer transfer window, 1 September 2022, Rot-Weiss Essen announced the loan of Luca Wollschläger (20) until 30 June 2023 from Bundesliga side Hertha BSC.
So far, this deal has not worked out for any of the three sides. The 1.95-metre striker has so far only made four short appearances for the Essen-based third-division club, playing a total of just 50 minutes. A win-win situation, as is often desired in loan deals, truly looks different.
Why are we writing this now? According to information from RevierSport, RWE had set their sights on another striker. His name: Oskar Zawada.
The 27-year-old Pole was supposed to audition for Rot-Weiss Essen. He had even flown to Düsseldorf from Poland and then this happened: Zawada called in sick and his advisor had to cancel the audition at RWE.
But the fact is that today you can definitely say: Too bad, RWE! Because the 1.92 tall Zawada, who was trained at VfL Wolfsburg and also played 68 times (eleven goals, four assists) in the Polish Ekstraklasa, ultimately did not move to the Ruhr area in Essen at the end of August 2022 but to New Zealand. Here he plays for Wellington Phoenix in Australia’s 1st league and is one of the best attackers (third place in the goalscoring list, editor’s note).
Zawada’s record: 15 games, eight goals! In January, he was even voted “Player of the Month” in Australia’s elite football league after scoring four goals in five appearances.
“This is the first award of this kind in my career so far. I am very happy and proud. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my coach and my teammates for helping me get this award. I am becoming a better player every day because of their help here. I also thank the Wellington fans for their support and positive energy in every match,” Zawada wrote on his Instagram channel.