The SG Wattenscheid has lost almost an entire squad. After the last two contract terminations, nine players are already gone.

With a radical rebuild to stay in the league. That must be the goal of SG Wattenscheid 09 in the Oberliga Westfalen.

After four new signings, contracts eight and nine have now been terminated at the Lohrheide. This time, the initiative did not come from the club. The two brothers Marco and Gianluca Cirillo will no longer be wearing the SG 09 jersey this season. “We have decided to leave the club, as we will be taking a different path and moving to a lower-class club in our home country. We wish the club all the best, of course to stay in the league, and would like to thank our teammates for the great time.”

Following the departure of Nico Lucas, who is moving to ETB SW Essen, these two losses were also not planned. Sporting director Hartmut Fahnenstich therefore emphasizes: “Of course it was surprising when they both came into my office and told me their plans. The timing, relatively at the end of the transfer window, is also not so favorable. But when you take on responsibility in a club like this and in this situation, it’s good to have a plan B up your sleeve. We believe that and are now trying to find a replacement. We are certainly losing footballing quality. Marco in particular has played with us for a long time now and was part of the regular team. But if the lads approach you and don’t want to stay, then you weigh things up and ask them to sleep on it for a night. But as the lads are sure of what they want and it’s also relevant to their job, there are no arguments to keep them here.

The winter transfers of SG Wattenscheid 09 at a glance

Additions: Umut Yildiz (TuS Bövinghausen), Maurice Haar (KFC Uerdingen), Nico Thier (TuS Bövinghausen) Niklas Lübcke (TuS Bövinghausen)

Departures: Nico Lucas (ETB SW Essen), Lars Holm, Ahmed Kulalic, Martins Williams, Karoj Sindi, Blerton Muharremi, and Yutaro Ichimura (all unknown), Marco Cirillo, Gianluca Cirillo (Solingen-Wald 03)