Maximilian Pronichev never really got going during his time at Rot-Weiss Essen. And now the striker is also on his way out at RWE in Thuringia.

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

But just a few months later, the situation is completely different: the 26-year-old striker, who played for Rot-Weiss Essen for a year and a half from the beginning of 2020, has been dropped by Erfurt. The club from the Northeast Regional League has removed Pronichev from training and match operations. He is free to look for a new employer in the winter, Erfurt announced.

“This decision is not popular. He was supposed to be the difference maker. But we expected more from him,” coach Fabian Gerber told Kicker magazine.

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

However, he only added one more goal in the following nine games – Pronichev was hardly able to stand out positively from the overall weak Erfurt team.

“Of course, I imagined it differently and hoped for more. But there was also a downward trend for the whole team,” he told Kicker magazine about his release. ”My contract has not been terminated. We will talk again and explore what is best for both sides.”

Pronichev with five Regionalliga goals for RWE

It sounds like Pronichev will be adding another club to his already colorful resume in the second half of the season. The two-time Russian U21 international has already played for seven professional clubs, repeatedly being loaned out by his parent club Hertha BSC.

At the beginning of 2020, he also spent a year and a half at Rot-Weiss Essen. However, Pronichev never really got going at the then Regionalliga club, which was certainly also due to injury problems and the coronavirus pandemic that began shortly after his move. Nevertheless, his record is respectable, with five goals and three assists in 15 Regionalliga appearances for RWE.

Things then went better for Pronichev at Energie Cottbus and Austrian second division club SV Horn, but his career suffered another setback when he was dropped by Erfurt.