Marc Lorenz (born 18 July 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.
Lorenz began his senior career with Schalke 04 II, before moving to Regionalliga West club SC Preußen Münster in 2009, where he won promotion to the 3. Liga in 2011. He then spent the 2011–12 season with Sportfreunde Lotte, also in the Regionalliga West, before signing for 3. Liga club Arminia Bielefeld in summer 2012. In his three seasons at the club, they were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga, relegated back to the 3. Liga and promoted to the 2. Bundesliga again. He remained in the 3. Liga, playing with Wehen Wiesbaden between 2015 and 2017, before joining Karlsruher SC. He spent five years at the club, earning promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in his second season there. In summer 2022, he returned to Preußen Münster in the Regionalliga West. He was club captain as they earned back-to-back promotions to the 2. Bundesliga in his first two seasons with the club. His contract was terminated by the club in August 2025 amidst alleged irregularities in his handling of charitable donations.
Career Early career Lorenz began his youth career with BSV Roxel and after a spell with 1. FC Gievenbeck, he joined Preußen Münster. In 2006, Lorenz moved to FC Schalke 04 and joined their under-19 team, who finished as runners-up in the U-19-Bundesliga West in 2006–07. Lorenz then was promoted to Schlake's reserve team with who in 2008 he won promotion to the Regionalliga West. He scored 5 goals in 28 Regionalliga appearances during the 2008–09 season.
Lorenz returned to Preußen Münster in summer 2009. and made 50 Regionalliga West appearances over two seasons, in which he scored three goals. He won the Regionalliga West with the club, and hence promotion to the 3. Liga, with the club in the 2010–11, but was released by the club at the end of the season.
In June 2011, Lorenz transferred to Sportfreunden Lotte of the Regionalliga West. He scored 7 goals in 33 matches across the 2011–12 season as the club finished as runners-up.
Arminia Bielefeld On 10 May 2012, it was announced that Lorenz would join Arminia Bielefeld subject to a medical. He made his professional debut for the club at home to Alemannia Aachen on 20 July 2012. With Arminia, Lorenz won promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in his debut season at the club, though he only made 14 appearances (7 as starts).
Lorenz scored a goal in three consective matches in December 2013, during which Arminia picked up 7 points, having gone seven matches without winning a point prior. The first of these goals was nominated for the Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2013. In December 2013, he also agreed a contract extension to 2016. In total, he made 25 2. Bundesliga appearances and scored three goals during the 2013–14 season, though Bielefeld were relegated back to the 3. Liga via the relegation playoff. He scored once in 16 appearances during the 2014–15 3. Liga as Bielefeld were promoted back to the 2. Bundesliga as champions of the 3. Liga.
Wehen Wiesbaden In summer 2015, Lorenz transferred to 3. Liga club SV Wehen Wiesbaden on a two-year deal. Across the following two seasons, he played in 70 3. Liga matches, in which he scored four goals.
Karlsruher SC On 12 May 2017, with his expiring contract at Wehen Wiesbaden not renewed, he joined Karlsruher SC, newly relegated from the 2. Bundesliga to the 3. Liga, on a two-year contract. He made his first competitive appearance for Karlsruhe in a 2–2 draw with VfL Osnabrück in the opening match of the 2017–18 season on 21 July 2017. He made 28 league appearances during the regular season, as the club qualified for the promotion play-off to the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the season, though they lost to FC Erzgebirge Aue.
Having failed to score in his first season with Karlsruhe, Lorenz netted his first goal for the club in a 3–1 away win against VfR Aalen on 26 September 2018. Lorenz scored four goals and provided six assists in 32 matches as Karlsruhe were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the season. He had extended his contract with the club to summer 2021 in April 2019.
He made 29 league appearances, scoring twice in the 2019–20 2. Bundesliga. Karlsruhe avoided relegation back to the 3. Liga in the final match of the season, though Lorenz missed this match due to a yellow card suspension. He subsequently made 28 2. Bundesliga appearances during the 2020–21 season and extended his contract by a further year in April 2021. He made 21 league appearances (also scoring once) during the 2021–22 season.
Return to Preußen Münster After his contract at Karlsruhe was not renewed at the end of the 2021–22 season, he returned to Preußen Münster after 11 years away from the club. He became club captain upon his return to the club. He established himself as a set-piece specialist at the club, taking free-kicks, corners and throw-ins. The club achieved back-to-back promotions in his first two seasons back, first to the 3. Liga in the 2022–23 season, followed by promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in the 2023–24 season. On 27 April 2024 he recorded 5 goal contributions in a single match against Viktoria Köln, scoring directly from a corner as well as providing four assists. On 10 June 2025, the club extended his contract for a further year. He scored 14 goals in 94 matches during this spell with the club.
Unfair dismissal claim and criminal proceedings On 19 August 2025, Preußen Münster terminated Lorenz's contract with immediate effect, and also filed a criminal complaint, over irregularities in his handling of charitable donations. Lorenz collected donations for the Clinic Clowns at Universitätsklinikum Münster; he claimed that, due to mental health issues, he had failed to settle the accounts for the donations on time, but that the outstanding funds were subsequently cleared. The public prosecutor's office began an investigation into the matter, whilst Lorenz filed an unfair dismissal claim at the Münster labour court over the termination of his contract. A hearing between the club and player was scheduled for 24 September 2025, but later moved to 6 October 2025 at the club's request. At the hearing, the two parties agreed to a revocable settlement, and Lorenz revoked the settlement on 17 October. Lorenz and Preußen Münster reached an out-of-court settlement on 5 March 2026.
In early April 2026, it was revealed that the public prosecutor's office had filed charges against Lorenz for Gewerbsmäßiger Betrug (commercial fraud). He was accused of organising ten fundraising campaigns and collecting money without forwarding the donations as claimed. Lorenz denied the accusations. Authorities claimed that Lorenz intended to keep donations for himself and only transferred portions of the donations after discrepancies were found and investigations had commenced.
Subsequent career As Lorenz had not participated in first team training since the end of July 2025, in September 2025 he began training with Oberliga club 1. FC Gievenbeck, where he had played during his youth.
He later became an assistant coach at FC Nöttingen in June 2026.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueDFB-PokalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSchalke 04 II2006–07Oberliga Westfalen10——102007–08Oberliga Westfalen296——2962008–09Regionalliga West285——285Total581100005811Preußen Münster2009–10Regionalliga West28311—2942010–11Regionalliga West22010—230Total7882100809Sportfreunde Lotte2011–12Regionalliga West337——337Arminia Bielefeld2012–133. Liga140——1402013–142. Bundesliga25310—2632014–153. Liga16130—191Total5544000594Arminia Bielefeld II2014–15Oberliga Westfalen10——10Wehen Wiesbaden2015–163. Liga362——3622016–173. Liga342——342Total7040000704Karlsruher SC2017–183. Liga28010103002018–193. Liga324——3242019–202. Bundesliga29230—3222020–212. Bundesliga28010—2902021–222. Bundesliga21130—241Total138780101477Karlsruher SC II2017–18Oberliga Baden-Württemberg10——10Preußen Münster2022–23Regionalliga West326——3262023–243. Liga30410—3142024–252. Bundesliga30410—314Total921420009414Career total526501611054351
References
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