After a year on loan at Rot-Weiss Essen, Manuel Wintzheimer is moving again. He will remain in the 3rd division.

The loan spell at Rot-Weiss Essen did not give Manuel Wintzheimer’s career the boost he had hoped for. After leaving Hafenstraße and returning to his home club 1. FC Nürnberg, the 26-year-old is making another attempt in the 3rd division. He is moving to 1. FC Schweinfurt, as the newly promoted club announced on Monday evening.

“In Manuel, we are not only getting a flexible, goal-scoring offensive player, but also another player from the region,” said managing director Markus Wolf. Wintzheimer already played for Schweinfurt in the youth teams and comes from nearby Arnstein. “He knows the club, the city, and our mentality, so he fits perfectly into our plans,” Wolf continued.

Wintzheimer himself said: “I played here in Schweinfurt as a young boy. It feels right to come back now and play in my home town in the future. I’m looking forward to the challenge and to playing with the team at the Sachs-Stadion.”

For the former Bayern talent, Schweinfurt is already the seventh stop in his professional soccer career after Hamburg, Bochum, Nuremberg, Braunschweig, Bielefeld, and Essen. He spent the past two years on loan in the 3rd division, first in Bielefeld before the striker moved to Hafenstraße a year ago.

The transfer of the former U21 international, who has experience in the second division (112 appearances, 15 goals, 17 assists), raised high expectations. However, Wintzheimer was unable to fulfill them. This was mainly due to injuries. He missed more than half of the season and was out for four months at a stretch due to a torn syndesmotic ligament.

At the end of the season, he had a meager record of 16 appearances (seven starts), two goals, and three assists. Wintzheimer and 1. FC Schweinfurt will be hoping for a better season in the coming year.