According to media reports, foreign clubs are interested in the MSV Duisburg goalkeeper. Other Zebras are also of interest.
The Zebras have processed their first defeat of the season. The focus has long been on the top match between third-division soccer club MSV Duisburg and local rivals Rot-Weiss Essen on Sunday (7:30 p.m., Schauinslandreisen Arena). Despite the 1-3 defeat at TSV 1860 Munich on the last match day, the Meiderich team is still going strong. “That hasn’t dented our confidence,” says MSV sporting director Chris Schmoldt. The Zebras are fired up for the derby. “Mistakes are punished more quickly in the third division,” says Chris Schmoldt. The Zebras’ sporting director is referring in particular to the first two goals conceded at Grünwalder Straße. Before Munich’s 1-0 goal, Simon Symalla inadvertently initiated the Lions’ counterattack, which led to the goal, after an MSV corner kick. Central defender Tobias Fleckstein made the wrong decision for the hosts’ 2-1 goal. Both players had otherwise delivered strong performances – but individual mistakes then hit all the harder. In the second half, Schmoldt saw MSV play well against a deep-lying Munich side. “We lacked the necessary punch on the day,” said the 42-year-old. In any case, it was not goalkeeper Max Braune’s fault that Meiderich suffered their first defeat of the season. The 22-year-old is having a good season and has seamlessly continued his strong form from last year in the Regionalliga. This has apparently brought the Oberhausen native to the attention of other clubs. According to reports from Sky and Liga3-online, foreign clubs are now interested in the young Duisburg keeper. Dutch first division club PEC Zwolle is said to have already made an offer for the keeper. In addition, clubs from the Championship, the English second division, are also said to be interested. Former Zebra Caspar Jander recently found a home in this league with FC Southampton. It is part of the business that players with good performances attract “market attention.” This also means that player agents explore the market early on for options for their clients.
We have already sent him some signals in this direction.
MSV sporting director Chris Schmoldt on extending Max Braune’s contract.
Max Braune moved from the FC Schalke 04 youth team to the MSV youth academy in the summer of 2020. Under coach Torsten Ziegner, he made his third division debut in January 2023 in a 1-3 defeat to SV Waldhof Mannheim. In January 2024, the goalkeeper extended his contract. At the time, MSV announced that he had committed to the club until the summer of 2026 with an additional option. According to Sky, the contract is automatically extended after a certain number of appearances. Chris Schmoldt did not want to comment on this publicly. Basically, MSV wants to keep the keeper for the long term. Schmoldt: “We have already sent him some signals in this direction,” said Schmoldt.
It is not only Max Braune, who has been the number one goalkeeper for the Zebras since the summer of 2024, who is likely to have generated “market attention.” Wingers Patrick Sussek and Simon Symalla are also attracting attention with their strong performances this season. MSV extended both players’ contracts in the summer. In doing so, the club’s management wanted to avoid a situation where a player who develops above average at the Zebras can leave the club on a free transfer. This was the case with Caspar Jander, who moved to second division club 1. FC Nürnberg on a free transfer in the summer of 2024. Julius Paris will once again be on the bench as a substitute. New signing Omer Hanin (27), whom MSV signed in August as an experienced keeper, is still in rehabilitation training after bruising his ribs. As soon as the Israeli is fit, there will be competition for the number two spot at the Zebras.