Sportfreunde Siegen have hit the transfer market and brought in a central defender from the Regionalliga West. Meanwhile, a striker is leaving.

Sportfreunde Siegen have strengthened their squad with the addition of central defender Florian Mayer. The 1.90-meter tall defensive specialist comes from Regionalliga West representative 1. FC Bocholt.

“Florian is an elementary component and central player for us. We are very happy that we were able to convince him of our project,” said Sportfreunde coach Thorsten Nehrbauer.

Mayer himself, who “feels a lot of confidence”, is looking forward to the first matches at the Leimbachstadion, Sportfreunde’s home ground: “I’m very excited about the first games at the Leimbachstadion and I’m really looking forward to the support of our fans.”

He continued: “We have a very good team. I’m looking forward to meeting the lads. I want to help the team as much as I can, play as much as possible and stay injury-free.”

The former U20 international has a total of 60 appearances in Germany’s fourth-highest division, eleven of which Mayer played for 1. FC Bocholt in the previous season. Trained in the academies of VfL Bochum and Schalke 04, the central defender also laced up his boots for the traditional Dutch club Roda JC Kerkrade in the second division and defended for Mönchengladbach’s second team in the Regionalliga West.

He also played six games for Borussia in the UEFA Youth League (one goal) in the 2016/17 season and was also allowed to play in the Bundesliga the following year.

Meanwhile, Benit Dinaj will be leaving. The home-grown player played ten Oberliga games last season. The 20-year-old’s contract has now been terminated “to allow him to move to another club”.

“We have analyzed the past season openly and honestly with Benit and accept his desire to make a new start in a different environment. We are convinced that this is the best solution for both sides and wish Benit all the best for his future career,” said Siegen’s managing director Matthias Georg.