January 2025 Transfer Primer: VfL Wolfsburg | OneFootball

VfL Wolfsburg

Estimated Autumn Transfer Balance = -€9.5 million

Germany's green company team - having spent two plus decades building up some sympathetic capital among German football fans - now again face reliable protests wherever they go thanks to the current state of their parent company Volkswagen. The string of layoffs employed by the VW AG strike a serious nerve among the German populace. How can a company placing workers on the unemployment line justify, of all things, investing untold millions in buying players for a football club that the locals can't even afford to support? Yikes. It gets quite dicey here.

To make matters more dicey still, Wolfsburg's financial backing always enables the club to maintain an exceptionally large roster. Whether the team is competing in Europe or not, the German Wolves generally keep 30 to 35 players on the payroll. The fact that the VfL hasn't competed in Europe since the 2021/22 campaign renders this state-of-affairs even more controversial. When will the club have to employ austerity measures? The man tapped to replace departing top personnel boss Marcel Schäfer - Danish functionary Peter Christiansen - doesn't strike one as a man keen on the lean.

Amid all of this, trainer Ralph Hasenhüttl has the team performing at its best since Oliver Glasner led the VWers to Europe four years ago. Algerian striker Mohammed Amoura counts as the most effective new attacking addition to join the Bundesliga this year. On the defensive side, new VfL defenders Konstantinos Koulierakis and Denis Vavro have matured into the best center-half pairing in all of German football. New keeper Kamil Grabara inspires awe every week with his physics-defying saves. A well-built and balanced team should absolutely be considered European contenders.

Dead-Weight Ledger = Rogerio (LB), Cedric Zesiger (CB), David Odogu (CB), Mathys Angely (CB), Bennit Bröger (ATTM)

Now that Hasenhüttl finally possesses a regular set of tactics and a preferred XI, moving the likes of Rogerio and the disaffected Cedric Zesiger count as musts for Christensen and his fellow administrator Sebastian Schindzielorz. Hasenhüttl could probably also do without the distractions of striker Jonas Wind and midfielder Salih Özcan, both of whom went through press channels to complain about their playing time. Each potential outgoing transfer comes with its issues. Rogerio carries injuries. Zesiger might still be needed as a back-up. Wind, for all his bluster, still leads the team with six league goals.

The remaining three names listed above are all teenage prospects ideal for parking elsewhere. It makes little sense to keep Odor, Angely, and Bröger in the Autostadt as their prospects for playing time will further diminish once Sebastiaan Bornauw, Aster Vranckx, Lovro Majer, and Kevin Paredes return from injury. Leaving the matter of public perception aside for the moment, there's absolutely no reason why this club must be run with such a bloated roster. Jörg Schmadtke proved that Wolfsburg can contend for and compete in Europe with 28 to 30 players during his reign here.

Expiring contracts =  Pavao Pervan (GK), Niklas Klinger (GK), Ridle Baku (RW), Lukas Nmecha (CF), Bartosz Bialek (CF)

It looks to be the case that several long-term WOB professionals are on the way out after the season concludes. Unsuccessfully loan-outs and injuries have derailed once promising Polish prospect Bartosz Bialek's career. It's already been made quite clear that Ridle Baku will continue his quest to rejoin the German national team elsewhere this summer. Baku's stall in the Autostadt makes German football lovers horribly sad, though certainly not anywhere as catatonically depressed as when we contemplate what might have been in the case of the perpetually injured Lukas Nmecha. Ouch!

After seven years working as the back-up net-minder, 37-year-old Austrian international Pavao Pervan looks to be heading toward retirement. Somehow, this feels like something of a sad occasion as well. Bundesliga enthusiasts became accustomed to watching him fill in for the congenitally injured Koen Casteels. Pervan ended up playing a full Bundesliga season (34 league deployments) as a back-up. Another VfL regular heads towards the exits.

Further Needs =  LB, LM, LW, RB

There appears to be quite a bit of credence to the rumors linking Sturm Graz's William Bøving with a move to Germany. Talk of Hoffenheim loanee Muhammed Damar having his loan-stint at Elversberg cut short in favor of a fresh loan to Wolfsburg is also reliably sources. Apart from these two names, a lot of the other links are speculative at best. Christiansen, Schindzielorz, and Hasenhüttl may focus less on procuring new players this January and more on securing permanent purchases of Amoura and Vavro, both of whom are presently working on loan.

Rumored Links =  William Bøving (LM), Muhammed Damar (ATTM), Dejan Ljubicic (DM), Bazoumana Touré (LW)