Also last summer, numerous players took the plunge into professional soccer. We took a look at how things are going for them.

Champion and promoted Preußen Münster is also relying on a large part of its successful team from last year in the 3rd League. However, two key players, Henok Teklab and Nicolai Remberg, could not be retained in the summer.

Teklab took what was probably the biggest leap of all regional league players and joined Belgian first division club Union Saint-Gilloise. Injury set him back at the start of the season, but the 24-year-old is now making regular short appearances – and is at the top of the table with the capital club, putting them on course for the Champions League. On Thursday, Teklab could celebrate a very special debut. Saint-Gilloise is in the Europa League and hosts Liverpool FC at Anfield Road for the second matchday.

Remberg, meanwhile, wears the jersey of Holstein Kiel. With a little start-up time, the dynamic midfielder seems to have arrived in the meantime. Remberg was allowed to start for the first time at the weekend’s guest game at Karlsruher SC. Kiel won 2-0 – and provided no arguments for starting eleven changes.

Serhat-Semih Güler, last year’s top scorer, is now also playing in the 2nd Bundesliga. Things are not yet going well for the ex-Wuppertal player at Hansa Rostock. He played four times as a wild card in the 2nd Bundesliga, but did not score a goal. Most recently, Güler was not part of the squad and instead played for the second team. There he contributed one assist.

But things went very badly for Sidi Sané after his move from Schalke II to Eintracht Braunschweig. The brother of Bayern star Leroy tore his inner ligament before his first competitive match and has been out of action ever since.

Numerous players from the Regionalliga West transferred to the 3rd Division after the preseason. One in particular has stood out so far: Jannik Mause. The ex-Aachener, now in the service of FC Ingolstadt, leads the scoring list and has scored seven times in eight games – four goals and one assist in the last three games alone.

But that only plays a minor role for the 25-year-old at the moment, Mause recently explained in an interview with Kicker. “I like to be measured by the goals and team success after the season.” Not quite as strong, but also respectable quota can show Lars Lokotsch. Last season, he played for Fortuna Cologne and now has four goals and one assist in seven appearances for SC Verl.