This is bitter news for SpVg Schonnebeck: coach Dirk Tönnies is losing a midfield option.

SpVg Schonnebeck will have to do without Simon Skuppin for months. He has suffered a torn tendon in his foot and will be out of action as a result. He has played in 14 competitive games (one goal) this season. “This is extremely bitter news, both for Simon personally and for us as a team. He is irreplaceable on the pitch, always leads from the front and takes responsibility. Now it’s a matter of supporting him as best we can so that he can make a full recovery,” said Schonnebeck’s sporting director Christian Leben.

Skuppin joined the Schwalben from Rot-Weiss Essen in the summer of 2018. This makes the 26-year-old defensive midfielder the longest-serving player in coach Dirk Tönnies’ squad.

In recent days, Schonnebeck has already let four players go. SpVg Schonnebeck and Luca Pinke are going their separate ways. The 21-year-old, who can be used flexibly on the left side, played a decent role in the first half of the season and was in the starting lineup in 65 percent of the Oberliga games. He has signed with ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen.

The same goes for Thorben Kern. The contract with the center back was terminated by mutual agreement. The 25-year-old joined the Schwalben in the summer of 2022 and made 117 competitive appearances in three and a half years, scoring seven goals as a center back.

Leon Bachmann and Henri Kvesa have also left the Oberliga club. While defensive midfielder Bachmann has joined Landesliga club 1. FC Wülfrath with immediate effect, Kvesa, who is at home in defensive midfield, is on loan to SG Essen-Schönebeck, also in the Landesliga, until the end of the season.

With Skuppin out, Tönnies now has three defensive midfielders unavailable since this winter. Schonnebeck, on the other hand, has not yet announced any winter signings. In the Oberliga Niederrhein, the club is in second place, six points behind Ratingen 04/19.