Off to Fuente Alamo with a new signing and five youth players

“We’re going to have excellent conditions,” says coordinator Sascha Riether, having checked ahead several times to get an idea of the situation there.

“We’ve been impressed by the hotel, the rooms are in perfect condition and there are opportunities for recuperation after training sessions. What’s also important is that our journeys won’t be long,” continues the 36-year-old, who went on three winter training camps to Benidorm during his time as an active player for the Royal Blues. “Jochen Schneider said that it was time we did something different,” he explains, before adding that he agrees with the sporting director.

New addition Michael Gregoritsch will travel with the team. The Austria international recently joined S04 on a loan deal from FC Augsburg that lasts until the end of the season. Youth players Malick Thiaw and Can Bozdogan from the U19s squad will also be taking part in the training camp, as well as Sören Ahlers, Nick Taitague and Timo Becker from the U23s. They will get to work more closely with the first team over a longer period of time and gain some valuable experience.

Mckennie, Nastasic and Schöpf available, Sané and Stambouli miss out

Weston Mckennie, who suffered a dislocated shoulder during a home win against Eintracht Frankfurt in mid-December, will be making the trip to Spain alongside Matija Nastastic and Alessandro Schöpf. Salif Sané will stay behind in Gelsenkirchen to continue his recovery from a knee injury. Benjamin Stambouli will also not be in Spain. Scans have shown that the fracture in his foot has not healed as much as everyone hoped. The centre-back will not be able to train with the team until February.

Guido Burgstaller and Markus Schubert are currently unwell but will likely travel on Saturday to join the team. Fabian Reese was sold to Holstein Kiel on Friday and Steven Skrzybski and Mark Uth are on loan for the rest of the season at Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Köln respectively.

Friendlies against Sint-Truidense V.V. and Hamburger SV

As part of the training camp, the Royal Blues will face Sint-Truidense V.V. in a friendly game. The match against the Belgian first division side will take place on Tuesday (07/01) at 17:00 CET. The boys will then return to Germany to play Hamburger SV at the Volksparkstadion on Friday (10/01) at 18:00 CET.