New faces at SV Elversberg
There have been a few changes to the SV Elversberg squad for the new season. Four new external signings have been confirmed, as well as one player returning from on loan.
The heads of SV Elversberg announced the first new signing for the upcoming season back in March: Filimon Gerezgiher was signed from SGV Freiberg in the Regionalliga Südwest. The Eritrean racked up nine goals and eight assists in 32 games. This 23-year-old player completed the majority of his football training in Baden-Württemberg. After early positions with FC Stuttgart-Cannstatt and MTV Stuttgart, Gerezgiher initially moved to SGV Freiberg as an U17 player and then on to SV Sandhausen, where he played up to U19. After other Oberliga stints at Wormatia Worms and FSV Bietigheim-Bissingen, in the summer of 2022 the offensive player decided to spend half a year at VfB Stuttgart II in the Regionalliga Südwest before returning to SGV Freiberg in the same league in January 2023. Gerezgiher quickly became a regular feature in Freiburg, and one of SGV’s top performers. Now he is taking the next step at SV Elversberg. Elversberg’s sports director Ole Book is also delighted about this new arrival:
We see great potential in Filimon Gerezgiher. His speed, assertiveness and technique make him a promising investment, and he has the opportunity to further his career here.
The second new signing’s profile is not dissimilar: Frederik Schmahl was signed shortly after from TSG Hoffenheim, who also play in the Regionalliga Südwest. Whilst Gerezgiher tends to play on the wings, Schmahl is more at home attacking in the centre – but can also play on the wing. He also boasts a considerable total of nine goals and nine assists across 32 games.
Freddy is a strong runner and technically experienced player. With his quick grasp and understanding of the game, he is perfectly positioned to do well in Elversberg.
SVE sports director Ole Book
This Berlin native trained at 1. FC Union Berlin. Schmahl stayed with the team in the Junior Bundesliga up until U19, when he switched to FC Energie Cottbus – also a Junior Bundesliga team – for a year. In the summer of 2021, the offensive player decided to move to the adult leagues and Regionalliga Nordost team FSV Luckenwalde. Schmahl made 35 regional league appearances (with 12 goals scored) for Luckenwalde in 2021/2022, putting him on Bundesliga team TSG Hoffenheim’s radar. For the 2022/2023 season, he joined Hoffenheim U23s in the Regionalliga Südwest and became a regular, which attracted the attention of SV Elversberg.
SV Elversberg has also snapped up another talented striker: 19-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud has come to Saarland from the VfL Bochum U19 team. Many Bochum fans in particular were surprised at this, as they were confident he would make the jump to the Bundesliga. This 1.9-metre tall striker was at VfL from an early age before moving to Borussia Dortmund’s youth training centre in 2016, where he spent five years training. He returned to Bochum in 2021 and immediately established himself in the B Junior Bundesliga, was deployed in all league games, and ultimately became the league’s top scorer for the season with 20 goals. In the summer of 2022 at the age of 17, Mahmoud returned to the Bochum U19 team, also in the Bundesliga. After a period of acclimatisation in the first year, Mohammad Mahmoud saw great success once again in the last 2023/2024 season and scored 16 goals in 20 games for the U19s in the A Junior Bundesliga, as well as providing assists for three other VfL goals. The young striker, who has also been able to train alongside the Bochum pros, additionally played in four matches (one goal) for the Palestinian U20 national team and three matches for the German U19 national team.
Mohammad has the skills and the potential to be able to perform at a high level for the long term. He has already proven his threat to the opponent’s goal in the Junior Bundesligas. We want to work with him to develop this to the next level.
Ole Book
Mohammad Mahmoud himself adds: ‘Moving to SV 07 Elversberg will be a new experience for me on a sporting and a personal level, and I am very much looking forward to it. It will definitely be a challenge, but I want to get used to the new environment as quickly as possible and then give it my all.’
Elias Baum has come from Eintracht Frankfurt as a loan rather than a signing. The Frankfurt native moved to Riederwald from FC 1957 Marxheim in the summer of 2015 and worked his way through all of Eintracht’s training years from U11 upwards. The defensive winger has established himself in the club’s U21s during the past two seasons. Last season he was a regular feature in the Regionalliga Südwest, completing more than 2200 minutes of game play in total and scoring a goal and four assists. In November 2023, the home-grown Frankfurt talent made his professional debut in the UEFA Europa Conference League with a 1:0 win in Helsinki. Head coach Dino Toppmöller then put him on the pitch five more times with the professional team. In the autumn of last year, Baum also made his debut with the German U19 national team, with which he has now played eleven matches. At the end of May, he captained the team under DFB coach Christian Wörns in a national game against Denmark. Eintracht’s sports director Timmo Hardung says: ‘This loan to SV Elversberg is a vital and significant step for Elias’s development, and we wish him all the best. We are also delighted that we are able to keep him with us for the long term.’ Ole Book is also more than happy with the loan of this national youth team player:
Elias will be enhancing our team for the upcoming season. He is an intelligent and versatile player with huge potential. Despite his young age, he always impresses with bold and self-confident play on the pitch.
And Baum adds: ‘SVE is the right environment for my personal development, and I am looking forward to the sporting challenge here. It is great that things are starting straight away – I am excited about the team and will do everything I can to ensure that our time together is a positive experience.’
Daniel Pantschenko is also returning. Pantschenko has been at SVE since 2016 and received his first professional contract last summer. To promote his development and gain more match experience, he moved to Luxembourg on loan for a year. The 21 year old played 17 matches in the 2023/2024 BGL Ligue.
Preparations are well underway. As part of their summer preparations, on Friday 5 July SV Elversberg have arranged another friendly against top-division Luxembourg team Swift Hesperange. The match will begin at 4 p.m. in Friedrichsthal. Entry to the game is free for fans, starting at 3:15 p.m. Horst Steffen and his team will then be heading to a training camp from 8 July. This will include a test match, on 12 July against Fortuna Sittard, but it will not be open to the public. Horst Steffen has already set out a clear goal for the upcoming season:
We are delighted to have achieved a second year in the 2. Liga. If you think how many people we had missing due to injury or illness in the second half of the season, this was an exceptional achievement. We want to establish ourselves even further, improve our game, play great football, and stay in the league for the following season.