SSV Ulm 1846 is set to face an important home game against SV Wehen Wiesbaden. If coach Pavel Dotchev has his way, Max Brandt will stay with the team—and not join Rot-Weiss Essen.

It hasn’t even been a month since SSV Ulm 1846 last played at Rot-Weiss Essen. The Spatzen lost 2–3 on December 20, 2025, at Hafenstraße—notably without Max Brandt.

After the central midfielder had started all 18 of his previous third-division matches, he had to sit out the RWE game due to a yellow-card suspension. It’s somewhat ironic, given that he has since become a target for Essen. On Saturday, January 17, at 2 p.m., RWE will face TSV 1860 Munich. It’s a matchup between the fourth-place team and the bottom-place team. A win would put the Lions right on the heels of the Essen side.

But RWE isn’t the only team with an important game coming up. At the same time, SSV Ulm 1846 will host Wehen Wiesbaden at home. A strong team whose coach, Nils Döring, left no doubt about his promotion ambitions during his introductory press conference.

Will Max Brandt be back in the lineup for Ulm? SSV coach Pavel Dotchev made it clear at the pre-match press conference that he’s counting on his stalwart in central midfield. “As the coach, all I can say is that I’m aware of this story. After all, it’s all over the news. But I’m not concerned with it. Max still has half a year left on his contract. For me, letting Max go is out of the question. That’s why I’m not thinking about it at all. Max is with us; Max is our player. I’m planning with him. That’s all.”

Interesting detail: SSV Ulm had listed Max Brandt for sale on the well-known platform “TransferRoom” for 150,000 euros. The initial move, therefore, did not come from Essen. So are Dotchev’s statements just a ploy to drive up the price, or is there more to it than RWE would like?

Background: RWE is looking for a successor to Tom Moustier, who wants to leave. The defensive midfielder is drawn to the Portuguese first division, where he hopes to prove himself at CF Estrela de Amadora. As reported by the “WAZ,” Moustier has not been participating in team training with the Essen squad recently but has been keeping fit on his own.

According to information from this editorial team, however, he was not injured but was no longer 100 percent mentally committed. Negotiations between the clubs are ongoing. This weekend, in the promotion showdown at TSV 1860 Munich, Torben Müsel and Gianluca Swajkowski will likely start in the central defensive pairing.