Bundesliga soccer team Mainz 05 will have to do without central defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen for months. The Rheinhessen have improved in another position.
Central defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen will be out for a longer period at Mainz 05. The 26-year-old Norwegian has to undergo an operation on his ankle, as the Rheinhessen announced on Monday. He will be absent for four to six months. Coach Bo Svensson currently has to do without top talent Nelson Weiper (knee operation) for the troubled Mainz team. In addition, his storm colleague Jonathan Burkardt is permanently injured.
Because Maxim Leitsch is also missing with a long-term medial ligament injury, head coach Svennsson will only have three experienced central defenders and 18-year-old Philipp Schulz available for the foreseeable future: Stefan Bell, Edimilson Fernandes and Sepp van den Berg. Already in the 1:2 defeat at FC Augsburg, trained midfielder Dominik Kohr had to hold together the defense of the bottom team in the table. Two full-backs, Silvan Widmer and Phillipp Mwene, were also missing. Substitute Danny da Costa also had to be substituted before half-time after suffering a blow to his ankle.
Mainz 05 has a defensive problem
Mainz 05 finds it difficult to cope with the many failures in terms of sport. After conceding 14 goals in the first five games (only Darmstadt 98 is worse in this category), the defense is considered Mainz’s biggest weakness. Even sports director Martin Schmidt can’t explain this away: “If you look at the last five goals conceded, they are similar.” It’s the little things in defense that the bottom of the table is currently stumbling over. Schmidt says: “Of course it doesn’t help if there’s a new chain on the pitch every game day.”
These defenders could now help Mainz 05
After Hanche-Olsen’s long-term injury, Mainz 05 is looking for new defensive players. “We’re looking at the market,” Schmidt tells the Mainzer Allgemeine Zeitung.
Since the transfer market in Germany has been closed since September 1st, the Rheinhessen can only sign players without a contract. The Mainzer Allgemeine Zeitung already speculated whether Mainz 05 could sign the out-of-contract national players Nico Schulz (most recently Borussia Dortmund), Marvin Plattenhardt (most recently Hertha BSC) or Skhodran Mustafi (UD Levante).
Mainz 05 signs ex-Wolfsburg Guilavogui
Mainz 05 signs Joshua Guilavogui.
Mainz 05 has already signed a midfielder without a contract: As the club reported on Monday afternoon, Josuha Guilavogui will join Rheinhessen. The 33-year-old French midfielder played at VfL Wolfsburg from 2014 to January 2023 and was most recently loaned out to Girondins Bordeaux for six months. According to the sports newspaper “L’Équipe”, he will receive a two-year contract in Mainz. The bottom of the Bundesliga table has not yet commented on this.
