He has proven himself to be very good in the second division, but the Bundesliga is new territory for Patrick Drewes. It is still unclear whether the returnee will be the new number 1 at VfL Bochum.
Patrick Drewes (middle) is in a great mood during goalkeeping training. IMAGO/RHR-Photo
Patrick Drewes was already under contract with VfL Bochum from 2019 to 2021 and played five games before moving on to Sandhausen and then to Karlsruher SC. There he earned a brilliant reputation as an extremely reliable keeper and likeable sportsman.
At KSC, however, they are relying on Max Weiss, who is more than ten years younger than them; in Bochum it is still unclear which position Drewes will take. They have full confidence in the returnee, stresses sporting director Marc Lettau: “Patrick Drewes has the athletic quality to be a goalie in the Bundesliga.”
The upheaval in Bochum is somewhat bigger, VfL is completely reorganizing the goalkeeper position. The decision has been made to part ways with Manuel Riemann, who was the reliable number 1 for years. Niclas Thiede and Paul Grave, who is returning from a loan to Wuppertaler SV, are also part of the squad. In contrast, the two veterans Andreas Luthe and Michael Esser have ended their careers.
But that’s not all: Since training began on Wednesday, there has also been a new goalkeeping coach on the training ground, after Peter Greiber left the local club after almost 20 years and joined 1. FC Cologne. The Bochum “keepers” are now working under the direction of Sebastian Baumgartner, who comes from the Austrian first division club Red Bull Salzburg.
Drewes, who is extremely experienced at 31, has plenty of opportunity to show what he can do on the first few days of training, as VfL is obviously considering several options. Should there be a clear number 1, or a young or experienced goalkeeper? Will Drewes then only have a place on the bench? “We are looking at several options,” says coach Peter Zeidler very vaguely.
Bochum’s wait for more candidates
One of the candidates was and is Daniel Peretz, currently under contract with FC Bayern, where the 23-year-old Israeli is considered a top talent and is to be developed for the future. A loan was actually planned for a long time, but the new coach Vincent Kompany naturally wants to watch the young candidate in daily training first.
So VfL is a little on hold here, but can calmly wait and see how things develop, knowing that they have an experienced and proven goalkeeper in their squad. Drewes is expected to be back in the Bochum goal for the first time on Saturday. Then VfL’s first friendly match will take place against Regionalliga relegated team Rot-Weiss Ahlen.
2024-07-05 12:50:27
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