Marcel Schäfer on Yan – “I only spoke to him yesterday”

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RB Leipzig

·4 Agustus 2026

Marcel Schäfer on Yan – “I only spoke to him yesterday”

Marcel Schäfer met with the media on Monday and spoke at length about a range of key issues concerning the Red Bulls. We have rounded up his most important quotes below.

Schäfer on Diomande: “A lot can still happen”

„Ich habe erst gestern mit Yan telefoniert. Er hat uns mitgeteilt, dass er an einem Infekt leidet. Damit gehen wir genauso um wie bei jedem anderen Spieler und stehen weiter mit ihm im Austausch. Sobald es ihm gesundheitlich besser geht und eine Rückkehr verantwortbar ist, hat er hier anzureisen.
“I spoke to Yan yesterday. He told us that he has an infection. We are treating the situation just as we would with any other player and remain in contact with him. Once he has recovered and it is safe for him to return, we expect him to report back here.It is no secret that several top clubs have expressed an interest in Yan and that he is considering his future. When he joined us last year, plenty of people were asking: What is his name again? Why have you signed him? Have you made an error somewhere?Yan then gave everything to help us achieve our objectives and made excellent progress alongside the rest of the team. The interest in him is therefore recognition of both his performances and our work. We have shown that we can develop and support young players at an extremely high level, perhaps better than almost any other club in Europe. In that respect, the interest is also something we can be pleased about.Our clear intention remains to keep Yan. However, when a player considers a possible move despite being under contract and enquiries have been made, treating him with respect means speaking to both him and the people around him.Those conversations are taking place, but that does not automatically mean there will be a transfer. No move is complete until every contract has been signed. A lot can still happen before then.”

Schäfer on squad planning: “We’ll have honest conversations”

“The squad is obviously too large at the moment. However, we deliberately wanted to give the new coaching staff the opportunity to form a comprehensive and impartial view of every player through to the training camp. At the same time, every player deserved a fair chance to show what he can do in training and in the friendlies.We will sit down over the coming days and discuss the coaching staff’s impressions. We will then have open and honest conversations with the players about whether they are part of our plans and what role we currently envisage for them. Roles can always change over the course of a season, of course. Even so, we owe it to the players to communicate our current assessment clearly.We need to reduce the size of the squad. However, with three competitions and further opportunities for our young players to feature in the new U21 league, we still need a certain amount of depth. In my view, a squad of around 28 players, give or take one, would be a sensible size.”

The latest on Raumi’s possible contract extension:

“We are having very open and honest discussions with David. We agreed that he would first play at the World Cup and that we would then talk about his future during pre-season.It remains to be seen whether that conversation necessarily takes place here at the training camp. The first step is to speak to David about the sporting side of things. Everything else will then also need to be discussed with the people around him.”

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