FCA squad return to training

Thorup’s men back on the pitch

2024/25 has officially arrived, with Jess Thorup’s team returning to the training field for the first time on Monday. A small crowd was present at the WWK ARENA for the session.

“We’re delighted that the ball is finally rolling again. Over the next six weeks, we’ll be looking to lay the foundations for the whole season and get ourselves ready for our cup match in Berlin and our opening league game against Bremen,” explained Jess Thorup, who led the session alongside assistant coach Jacob Friis. The goalkeepers trained under the watchful eye of new goalkeeping coach Marco Langner.

With the exceptions of Robert Gumny (rehab after cruciate ligament injury), Ruben Vargas (on holiday after international duty, Kristijan Jakić and Finn Dahmen (both training individually), almost the full squad was out on the pitch for the session. This included new signings Nediljko Labrović, Samuel Essende, Keven Schlotterbeck, Yusuf Kabadayi and Steve Mounié as well as the returning Irvin Cardona, Nathanaël Mbuku, Masaya Okugawa, David Čolina, Lukas Petkov, Henri Koudossou and Daniel Klein.

All of this week’s morning sessions are open to the public, ahead of FCA’s first friendly on Saturday against TSV Schwaben Augsburg. Shortly after that game, the squad will travel to South Africa for their training camp in Mpumalanga.