TSV 1860 Winter Transfers: Rumours & Analysis

TSV 1860 Munich is worried about captain Jesper Verlaat. Despite many absences, Manfred Paula does not expect winter transfers.

Belek – First, Markus Kauczinski explains what happened. Then Miran Qela comes over. “What’s wrong, Jess?” asks the substitute goalkeeper. Jesper Verlaat answers briefly: “Everything’s fine!” But the captain doesn’t look completely worry-free. On the way to the bus, when asked, he just grumbles: “Let’s see…” Wednesday morning in Belek – a scene in training that startles all the lions.

At the hotel, Verlaat was examined more closely. The left calf is apparently affected and the Dutchman missed the afternoon training session. Managing director Manfred Paula is cautiously optimistic. “I think it’s more of a minor story, a normal stress reaction,” he tells our newspaper. And yet it is clear: the personnel situation at TSV 1860 was already tense before this incident – now it threatens to get even worse.

Verlaat stops training: Löwen is still threatened with a personnel shortage

The staff blanket is like a tablecloth that is too tight: if you pull it in one place, it immediately slips away again in another. Four potential regular players are missing in Belek: Tunay Deniz (torn cruciate ligament), Sigurd Haugen (broken jaw), Max Christiansen (hip operation) and Florian Niederlechner (muscular). Manuel Pfeifer also has to slow down, Max Reinthaler sat out training on Tuesday. Verlaat was out for three months. If he were to be out again for a longer period of time, it would be a serious setback for the Lions’ ambitions – after all, the captain is also indispensable as a leader.

This inevitably brings the transfer question into focus. Paula knows the club’s financial needs – and takes a clear line. “We don’t look around, we just inform ourselves,” he says. “We have to reassess the situation from week to week. Winter transfers are not trivial. It’s a dance on a razor’s edge.” He rules out actionism: “We won’t do anything just to have done something. If you also look at our history: the added value was relatively manageable.”

Instead, 1860 is looking at internal solutions. David Philipp is considered an option to represent Haugen. In the defensive midfield, the sports director brings Samuel Althaus into play – also with a view to the start of the second half of the season against Rot-Weiss Essen on January 17th, when Thore Jacobsen is missing due to a yellow-red suspension. “We have boys who we have confidence in,” says Paula. “But we have to remain honest about what they can achieve – and what they cannot.”