That’s it then. Christoph Dabrowski, coach of Rot-Weiss Essen, will not be getting his absolute dream player

As the saying goes: soccer is a day-to-day business. Once again, this is confirmed in this case.

In the middle of the current week, the “Volksstimme”, which is very close to the events surrounding 1. FC Magdeburg, reported that talks are taking place between the second division club and Ahmet Arslan regarding an early termination of his contract. In other words, there is said to be real movement.

Naturally, all the Rot-Weiss Essen officials and fans were also eagerly looking towards Saxony-Anhalt. After all, Arslan, who is tied to FCM until June 30, 2026, is said to have reached a verbal agreement with RWE. Coach Christoph Dabrowski had long since convinced the attacking player and Arslan is considered Dabrowski’s absolute dream player – and has been for weeks

But now comes the setback for RWE in this personnel matter. As the “Volksstimme” reported on Friday, July 12, Arslan’s move to Essen has come to nothing. He and FCM were unable to reach an agreement regarding the early termination of his contract.

Arslan advisor: Player wants to receive less than half of severance pay

“In my opinion, the talks have failed. The club says he should leave, but is not prepared to budge”, Arslan advisor Benjamin Bertram is quoted as saying. Bertram told the newspaper “Volksstimme” that his player is not greedy and is not demanding his full salary until June 30, 2026, but would like to receive less than half of it from FCM in exchange for terminating his contract. However, such a settlement would still be too much for FCM. We are talking about around 800,000 euros in salary for the next two seasons.

Rot-Weiss Essen: Plan B is probably needed

Bertram has informed Rot-Weiss Essen of the failed negotiations between Magdeburg and Arslan and is said to have told them that a move to RWE has also failed. But there is still some hope: the transfer window does not close until the end of August. A lot can still happen before then. But, of course, the question remains as to whether RWE will wait until talks between Arslan and Magdeburg resume. Probably not