During his time at Rot-Weiss Essen, Maximilian Pronichev never really got going. And the striker is also on the verge of leaving RWE in Thuringia.

Maximilian Pronichev’s move from the Austrian second division to Rot-Weiss Erfurt last summer was associated with high hopes.

But just a few months later, the situation is very different: The 26-year-old striker, who had been playing for Rot-Weiss Essen for a year and a half from the start of 2020, was dropped by Erfurt. The club from the Regionalliga Nordost removed Pronichev from training and match operations. He will be able to look for a new employer in the winter, the Erfurt club announced.

“This is not a popular decision. He was supposed to be the difference-maker. But we were hoping for more from him,” coach Fabian Gerber told Kicker.

The Berlin-born player with Russian roots got off to a promising start in Erfurt. He scored on his competitive debut and scored five goals (four assists, one goal) in the first five matchdays of the regional league season

In the following nine games, however, Pronichev was only involved in one more goal – he was hardly able to stand out positively from Erfurt’s overall poor form.

“Of course I imagined it would be different and hoped for more. But there was also a downward trend in the whole team,” he told Kicker about his release. “My contract has not been terminated. We will talk to each other again and find out what is best for both sides.”

Pronichev with five Regionalliga goals for RWE

It sounds as if Pronichev will be adding another club to his already colorful CV for the second half of the season. The two-time Russian U21 international can already look back on seven professional appearances and has been loaned out by his parent club Hertha BSC time and again.

At the beginning of 2020, he was also loaned to Rot-Weiss Essen for a year and a half. However, Pronichev never really got into his stride at the then regional league club – which was certainly also due to injury problems and the coronavirus period that began shortly after his transfer. With five goals and three assists in 15 regional league appearances for RWE, his record nevertheless reads well.

Things subsequently went better for Pronichev at Energie Cottbus and Austrian second-division club SV Horn – but the offensive man’s career took another setback when he was booted out of Erfurt.