This is bitter news for SpVg Schonnebeck: Coach Dirk Tönnies has lost a key midfield option.

SpVg Schonnebeck will have to manage without Simon Skuppin for months. He has suffered a torn tendon in his foot and will be sidelined as a result. This season, he has played in 14 competitive matches (one goal).

“This is extremely bitter news, both for Simon personally and for us as a team. He’s irreplaceable on the field; he always leads from the front and takes responsibility. Now it’s about supporting him as best we can so 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 on coach Dirk Tönnies’ roster.

In recent days, Schonnebeck has already released four players. SpVg Schonnebeck and Luca Pinke are parting ways. The 21-year-old, who can play flexibly on the left side, played a decent role in the first half of the season and was in the starting lineup for 65 percent of the Oberliga matches. 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 over 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 moved to Landesliga club 1. FC Wülfrath effective immediately, Kvesa—who plays in defensive midfield—is on loan to SG Essen-Schönebeck, also in the Landesliga, until the end of the season.

With Skuppin’s departure, there are now three defensive midfielders who have been unavailable to Tönnies 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.