The U23 of FC Schalke 04 gets reinforcement for the Regionalliga team.

FC Schalke 04’s U23s are in a solid tenth place in the Regionalliga West with seven points after five games. Before the home match on Sunday (2 p.m.) against 1. FC Kaan-Marienborn, the Knappen have now made some new additions to their squad.

Offensive player Soichiro Kozuki has joined the team. The 21-year-old Japanese player has been without a club since 1 July and was previously under contract with 1. FC Düren, a team promoted to the Regionalliga. The Schalke team is probably also reacting to the departure of offensive player Bleron Krasniqi, who moved to Berliner AK 07 on a loan basis.

Kozuki already convinced the officials during the preparation, where he took part in training sessions and test matches. He only came to Düren last winter, where he helped to realise promotion with five goals and five preparations. In 2018, Kozuki made two appearances for the Japanese U18 national team.

U23: Confident test match win against Vreden

During the week, the Schalke U23s played a test match against SpVgg Vreden (Oberliga Westfalen). The result was 4:1 after goals from Steven van der Sloot, Moritz Flotho (2) and Luis Klein. S04 coach Jakob Fimpel emphasised: “It was a great test match against a good opponent. Especially for the boys, who haven’t played much lately, it was important. Here they can also prove themselves away from training. For many of the boys who have just become fit again and can’t yet give one hundred percent, a test match like this is of course worth its weight in gold. We wanted to try different things and be brave without fearing consequences. Both we and Vreden did that very well. “