Severe muscle injury: Hanraths exacerbates Aachen's personnel concerns

Alemannia Aachen will likely be without Mika Hanraths for several months. Picture alliance / Eibner-Pressefoto

Early in the first half of Aachen's friendly against Belgian second division side Padro Eisden ( 0:4 ) , Mika Hanraths injured his thigh. Fears of a more serious injury and thus a long-term absence have now been confirmed following an MRI scan.

As the Aachener Zeitung reports, the Alemannia captain suffered a major structural muscle injury and will be out for several months. A visit to a specialist on Tuesday should provide further information on the next steps for Hanraths, who joined the then fourth-division Black and Yellows from 1. FC Bocholt in the summer of 2023.

"This is bad news for us," squad planner Erdal Celik told the newspaper in light of the serious injury. Just before the end of the last season, in which Hanraths had been in the starting lineup in every one of his 36 matches, the defender extended his contract at Tivoli until 2027. New coach Benedetto Muzzicato also confirmed the 26-year-old as captain just a few weeks ago. His absence "can be compensated for, but then other players have to take on the responsibility," Muzzicato said.

The loss of key player Hanrath has exacerbated Alemannia's personnel shortage. Recently, the coach has been able to welcome only 14 outfield players to training due to several injured players. Furthermore, the search for urgently needed reinforcements has stalled—four to five new players are still expected to arrive—and Aachen is making no progress despite public efforts , as was recently the case with the Tolcay Cigerci case. Aachen would like to sign the Cottbus midfielder, but the offer is not yet sufficient from Energie's perspective.

However, time is running out to assemble the squad. In less than two weeks, Alemannia kicks off the new third-division season in Osnabrück on August 2nd (2 p.m., LIVE! on kicker).