Why Mainz sold Brajan Gruda to Brighton | OneFootball

“We agreed: It had to be a sum that would also enable us to tackle a few projects here in the long term. Such as building the new office. We want and need to generate a transfer surplus, also to deal with infrastructure issues. This principle has made us an economically healthy club for decades. But we also used a good portion of the sum to bring in three more reinforcements.”

No, Nelson Weiper, who was promoted last season, is only 19, and Maxim is 18. Our professional squad is very compact again, including these two young guys we have 22 field players. There is hardly a squad structure like this anywhere else in the league, it is a conscious decision for the young players. Elsewhere the path for youth players to the pros is much, much longer. Even if three pros get injured there, it will be difficult for the young players.

Yes, to a certain extent. In addition to our own youth, the 2nd division plus the part of the Bundesliga that is financially viable for us will remain the most important pillar for us. We have had the best experiences with players from this pool, such as Anton Stach or JaeSung Lee, in recent years. Internationally, we are mainly looking at our immediate neighboring countries. And the Asian region remains interesting, as a look at our starting eleven recently shows.

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