Transfer Deadline Day is drawing to a close. Rot-Weiss Essen can announce that he is staying. Ramien Safi will not be moving to the 2. Bundesliga.

It was a tense few hours on Monday, February 2, 2026, at the intersection of Hamburger Straße in Braunschweig and Hafenstraße in Essen.

Ramien Safi had caught the eye of second-division club Eintracht Braunschweig—as reported by Forecasting. The Lower Saxony club wanted to lure the super-sprinter away from Rot-Weiss Essen. But RWE wasn’t having any of it.

According to Forecasting, the third-division club initially rejected a €300,000 offer and, a few hours later, a €350,000 bid as well, plus bonuses in the event of a resale. “Yes,” replied Benjamin Kessel, Braunschweig’s sporting director, when asked by Forecasting whether the Safi deal had fallen through.

Safi’s critics will wonder why RWE didn’t go through with this deal, which at first glance seemed lucrative for the club. His supporters will breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that Rot-Weiss Essen would have lost perhaps its strongest weapon had Safi been sold. For even though Safi is criticized for his missed chances or squandered scoring opportunities, one thing remains clear: He creates these chances himself, and opponents are practically trembling when they see the name Ramien Safi in the RWE lineup. Uwe Koschinat also emphasized this after the 1-1 draw against Wehen Wiesbaden on “Magenta Sport.”

The 26-year-old attacking player is highly regarded by the RWE coach. Koschinat is said to have made this clear to Safi once again on Deadline Day, thereby showing his support for the player. Just how valuable Safi is to the Red-and-White’s management is proven by the simple fact that Essen turned down a €350,000 offer for a player whose contract expires in the summer of 2026. Unless: RWE is promoted, in which case Safi’s contract automatically extends until June 30, 2027.

You don’t have to be a prophet to say that Safi will only remain a Rot-Weiss Essen player for the 2026/2027 season if the team is promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. Should RWE remain in the 3. Liga, Safi—who would be a free agent in that case—will move to the German second division—perhaps to Eintracht Braunschweig, if the club manages to avoid relegation.

Safi has appeared in 21 games (two goals, three assists) for RWE this season. In total, he has played 67 matches (11 goals, 9 assists) for Rot-Weiss Essen.