Grill replacement
©IMAGO
SG Dynamo Dresden has completed its fifth winter transfer. After four loans, the bottom of the second division presented a player on Tuesday who should stay on the Elbe permanently. Goalkeeper Elias Bethke (22) comes from Energie Cottbus, where he missed almost the entire season due to injury. A season earlier, the FCE homegrown team was a regular in Lausitz. A transfer fee of an unknown amount is due for him. The young professional’s market value fell to 600,000 euros during his injury in the first half of the season.
Dresden’s sports director Sören Gonther emphasized that Bethke “is in the notebooks of several Bundesliga teams. His particular strength in one-on-one situations and very good control of the penalty area set him apart and will significantly increase our competition in goal, similar to other positions. In the future, we believe he can make big leaps in his development and are pleased that he wants to follow the path with us after his injury. With Elias’ commitment, I am ahead of the curve with our transfer activities We are very satisfied with the start of the second half of the season. We would also like to thank those responsible at FC Energie Cottbus for the open discussions.”
At Energie, Marius Funk (30) has now made a name for himself as support between the posts. Cottbus starts the second half of the season on Saturday in Saarbrücken as the leaders of the 3rd league. At the bottom of the table one league higher, in Dresden, Tim Schreiber (23) was in goal in twelve second division games. In six games he was represented by Union Berlin loanee Lennart Grill (26). Since the latter is now injured himself, Bethke can be seen as his replacement.
In a statement from the Cottbus team, energy coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz reads: “Elias is a fantastic goalkeeper and a really good boy who has made the leap into professional football here from the youth academy. He still has his way ahead of him and has now been given the chance to prove himself in a higher league. Ultimately, we didn’t want to stand in the way of that, also considering the special situation here in our team, and we wish Eli all the best in his future journey.”
Bethke explained in the Dynamos statement: “The task in Dresden is very attractive, not only in the current sporting situation. We have a great opportunity as a team and want to do everything we can to keep the club in the league. I’m looking forward to the team – so far I’ve only faced many of the boys as an opponent. Now I’m trying to integrate as quickly as possible so that we can be successful together.”